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After first postponing the event due to COVID-19, World Environmental Education Congress organisers then had no time to plan any community service project for the Ukrainian refugees suddenly housed in the Prague Congress Centre alongside them during their delayed meeting. But participants even so found ways to demonstrate their support. From PCMA…
In the heat of the pandemic, meeting tech evangelists were hailing the switch to virtual as a transformational moment, rather than a practical necessity. It was always odds on that most would return to meeting in person once the worst was over. So, is the new normal the same old normal? From Association Meetings International…
An unexpected artistic legacy now hangs in Salt Palace Convention Center, Utah. Monumental Mattie, by Chad Farnes, portrays Martha Hughes Cannon, a local physician and suffragist who became the first female state senator in America in 1896. The mosaic is made of carpet samples donated from a flooring trade show. From PCMA…
Iceberg partner IMEX has now been championing sustainable exhibitions for over two decades. With its two huge global events generating zero waste and powered by renewable energy, the Group has just set its sights on zero carbon. CEO Carina Bauer explains how exhibitions need to become much more sustainable in order to survive. From Exhibition News…
In the film world, “slap” once meant make–up, slapstick comedy, or the slap of a clapperboard synchronising picture and sound. But for meeting planners, a rather different slapping incident at the 2022 Oscars reveals the need to have a full emergency response plan and code of conduct in place. From Associations Now…
Meeting organisers will often make blanket assumptions about which accessibility services participants, including speakers, will need. A very common wrong assumption is that all deaf people know sign language, then failing as well to understand how COVID mask-wearing affects event participation for delegates who lip-read. From PCMA…
Marjorie Anderson, the Founder of Community by Association, tells the Deep Dive podcast how associations should be addressing DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion). After definitive definitions of DEI, the conversation looks at how to be more inclusive at conferences, accommodating those delegates with impaired hearing or mobility, or with neurodiversity or photosensitivity. From Association Meetings International…
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen international associations with either Russian or Belarusian members, or exhibitors, or events planned, forced to take hard decisions fast, and hold difficult discussions about ending or suspending long-standing, lucrative collaborations. Ioannis Pallas, the European Society of Association Executives’ Association Manager, offers a guide. From Associations Meetings International…
International Women’s Day, which has now been marked for over a century, offers the opportunity to remember the key conferences and other events that have helped move the needle on women’s rights. The 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women (pictured) in Beijing, China, featured participation by future Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. From PCMA…
Australia’s recent reopening to the world, and the lifting of domestic border closures and restrictions, makes this an important moment in the county’s business events sector. Andrew Hiebl, the CEO of AACB (the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux), discusses the upcoming pipeline plus Tourism Australia’s Business Events Bid Fund. From Association Meetings International…
Over thirty charities have benefited from the materials used at last year’s COP26 as part of the positive legacy of the UK’s largest business event ever, which was held in Glasgow. Identity Group, which delivered the meeting for the UK’s Government and venue SEC, tasked Event Cycle with redistributing materials. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Community libraries in Sarawak, Malaysia, are leaving incredible legacies. One of them, Batang Ai’s Nanga Ukom Longhouse Library, is even a business events CSR project organised by BESarawak together with Iceberg partner ICCA on the occasion of Kuching, Sarawak, staging the Asia Pacific Regional Hub of the 59th ICCA Congress. From Options…
“Mini-Grants” for diversity, equity and inclusion are being used by the US Brewers Association to ferment legacy at craft beer sector events. One meeting funded was a 2021 hybrid conference at which local female music producers created beats inspired by different craft beers to attract new consumers. From Associations Now…
“MICE” is a term long-associated with the meetings sector. But now the small and wily mouse-deer of Malaysian folklore has become a metaphor for how Business Events Sarawak has crossed the river after the pandemic and resumed business events activities through its Legacy Impact Initiative. Photo: Dave Curtis. By Jane Vong Holmes, Senior Manager Asia, GainingEdge….
Fay Sharpe, Founder of the mentorship programme Fast Forward 15, was awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s New Year’s honours for services to mentoring women, gender equality and charity fundraising. Sharpe has also retraced her career on M&IT’s Talks podcast. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Hospitality Helping Hands (HHH) during PCMA Convening Leaders 22 left a legacy advancing child literacy across 62 schools in the Las Vegas area. The nonprofit Spread the Word Nevada brought in four big boxes to Caesar’s Forum with 10,000 books for children that volunteers sorted and prepped. PCMA’s Foundation also donated $10,000. From PCMA…
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