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Putting a Price on the Knowledge Imparted at Events and Meetings

Can the knowledge imparted at a congress really be worth close to €1 billion? That’s the claim made by the European Society of Radiology and Vienna Convention Bureau about the European Congress of Radiology held in Vienna earlier this year. What does it say about the way we value knowledge? From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…

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Missing the Irony: Planning Brexit in the EU Funded ICC

The recent Conservative Party conference offered little clarity on the UK’s route forward to leaving the European Union. But did delegates also miss some irony? The event’s venue, Birmingham’s International Convention Centre, was partially funded by the EU with a donation of £50 million in 1991. Photo: Philip Pankhurst. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…

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David Peckinpaugh: Designing Experiences for the Future of Events

Event designers are always imagining new ways to harness audience attention and make experiences memorable. But the pressure to be bigger and better than last year always seems to grow. David Peckinpaugh spoke at the Experient “Change Agents”-themed conference earlier this year, and here offers views on video about experience design. From Maritz Global Events…

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Event Waste: Meetings’ Green Credentials Take Centre Stage

The meetings industry has a huge environmental impact, from the distance delegates fly, to the reams of paper printed and kilowatts of energy used. As green culture takes hold, events with environment-friendly certification already have a market advantage. As expectations rise, this will become a minimum requirement. Views include Iceberg partner IAPCO. From Skift…

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Meetings Industry Gender Equality: Quotes on Quotas

Only seven percent of global CEOs are women. That stark fact opened a discussion about meetings industry gender equality at Cvent CONNECT Europe in London. Sitting on the panel were the CEO of Iceberg partner IMEX, Carina Bauer, and Fast Forward 15’s Fay Sharpe. Views on gender quotas proved extremely interesting. From editor’s blog at Meetpie.com…

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Convention Centres: The Legacy of Action on Homelessness

Most convention centres are publicly owned, so local laws are framed to allow community access. When it comes to the homeless this can present challenges. But being public institutions, venues can also play an active role in assisting the homeless. The International Association of Venue Managers offers nineteen amazing cases in point. From PCMA Convene…

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The Watkins Report: City Rankings from Meetings Professionals

The Watkins Report for US and Canadian convention bureaux is published biennially, and Curt Watkins of Watkins Research has been conducting the study for the past 25 years. Here he shares his perspective on how the features planners are seeking in their host destinations have changed over recent decades. From PCMA Convene…

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Charleston: $63m Events Loss After Hurricane Florence

While Hurricane Florence didn’t touch down in Charleston, the destination estimates it took a $63 million hit as a result of cancelled events. Some organisers postponed early to avoid potential issues, others tried to move forward right up until the governor issued the call for mandatory evacuation. Some groups even turned events virtual. From PCMA Convene…

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Homeless Hackathon Glasgow: A Legacy of Hacker Action

In 2017 Gallus Events’ William Thomson read in a Scottish newspaper that in his native town of Glasgow, one homeless person dies every week. He created Homeless Hackathon Glasgow, which brought together forty hacker participants, and which has yielded not one, but three projects currently under development, including an app for distributing surplus food. From PCMA Convene…

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CVBs: Giving Planners the Personal Touch During Site Visits

Comments from planners surveyed by the biennial Watkins Report show that when convention bureaux go out of their way to make personal connections with them, it has a big impact on site selection. Making introductions, escorting planners round hotels, and demonstrating how well stakeholders will work together, all make an impression. From PCMA Convene…

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Dubai: Hosting the Institute of Internal Auditors

Getting the Institute of Internal Auditors to hold its conference in Dubai began with the United Arab Emirates IIA Chapter and the Al Safeer Congress Ambassador Programme. It helped that the city had hosted the IIA Global Council back in 2014. The four-day 2018 event attracted 3,000 experts from over 100 countries. From Boardroom…

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Meetings and Events Across a World of Political Disruption

Where meetings and events choose to go, and how they approach their content, are affected by many factors, not least the influence of political disruptors like Brexit or the 2016 US presidential election. So says Rod Cameron, Executive Director of the Joint Meetings Industry Council, which presents The Iceberg. From CIM News Magazine…

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Agencies and DMCs: The Future of the Sector Model

A Society for Incentive Travel Excellence conference session recently brought together both agencies and destination management professionals to examine the future of the sector model. The subject was defined as “the changing landscape of third party intermediaries”. The panel’s moderator reports. From editor’s blog at Meetpie.com…

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IMEX America: Five Experiences to Watch out for in Las Vegas

IMEX America will soon take place at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. Here are five experiences to keep an eye open for: the MPI Carnival, C2’s Learning Labs, the IMEX Live Zone, the IMEX Tech Zone, and a welcome import from IMEX Frankfurt, the Legacy Wall (pictured). From the Event…

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Corporations: More Events, Measurement Still a Problem

A new Harvard Business Review report called “The Event Marketing Evolution” (already available in The Iceberg’s Research section) shows that more than half of corporations place more value on face-to-face than other marketing channels, and have upped their event activity. Yet they still struggle to quantify return on investment. From PCMA Convene…

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Mutschlechner: Thought Leader and Game Changer

The retirement of Christian Mutschlechner from the Vienna Convention Bureau next year may, or may not, mean he is departing from the wider industry. But the fact Vienna consistently out-performed bigger cities, and has become one of the world’s top convention destinations, owes a great deal to him. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…

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