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Exhibitions 2018: A Half-Year Progress Report

What an extraordinary year 2018 has been so far in the exhibitions sector: from the merger of Informa and UBM and other players, to one Chinese organiser’s international ambitions, to changes to the trade show’s traditional format like the new CEBIT with its ferris wheel feature (pictured). From UFI Managing Director Kai Hattendorf via LinkedIn…

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Looking Beyond the Tiers: Affordable Destinations

Tier 1 cities have much to offer meeting groups in terms of their connectivity and facilities. But all that bang takes a lot of buck. To make a big impact on a smaller budget, meeting planners should consider small and mid-sized cities. So how do you find big-city appeal in an affordable destination? From Successful Meetings…

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Three Questions: BESydney’s Lyn Lewis-Smith

Lyn Lewis-Smith is CEO of Business Events Sydney. She also devotes her energy to championing women’s rights. Here she answers three questions: about how bidding for conferences has changed and evolved over time, about emerging association meeting trends and creating value, and about hosting and participating in the Global Summit of Women. From Boardroom…

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The Meetings Show: Impromptu Debates and Chocolate Biscuits

The Meetings Show has just drawn the UK events sector together at London’s Olympia in a brisker new two-day format. For one Iceberg media partner highlights included an interview with James Heappey, followed by an impromptu debate between the Member of Parliament and BVEP chair Michael Hirst. From editor’s blog at Meetpie.com…

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The 2018 IACC Meeting Room of the Future: Analysis

When IACC launched its Meeting Room of The Future report in 2016, it set out to predict and shape the future of events. Three years on, the series says as much about today’s meetings landscape as it says about tomorrow’s. Mark Cooper, IACC’s CEO, examines some key findings in areas like internet infrastructure. From Successful Meetings…

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Best Go Al Fresco: The Neglected Value of Meeting Outside

The glorious weather we are now enjoying cannot have escaped your attention. Simply being outdoors is healthy for both body and mind. But do event professionals forget sometimes the basic pleasures and benefits of getting out of the office? One Iceberg partner wants to take things outside. From editor’s blog at Meetpie.com…

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Greener Coffee… or Enjoying Caffeine with Less Carbon

Coffee in copious quantity sustains much of the meetings industry. Yet disposable coffee cups are in of themselves a major sustainability issue. As the sector aims to reduce its carbon footprint, one organiser successfully avoided the mountains of cups often left behind at events, while also helping fund clean water projects around the world. From PCMA…

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Groundbreaking Oklahoma City CC: “A Modern Town Hall”

In June officials ceremonially broke ground on the all-new Oklahoma City Convention Center. This is a $288 million venue, scheduled to open in 2020, that will offer acres of modern and flexible meeting space. According to Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, the building is set to become “a modern town hall”. From PCMA Convene…

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Making the Business Case for Holding Sustainable Events

Holding sustainable events can be hard work, and involve a variety of quite different challenges. The Vice President of Marketing for Oracle, Paul Salinger, discussed how to navigate the business aspects of sustainability during the Sustainable Brands 2018 conference recently held in Vancouver. Here are the four takeaways of his session. From PCMA Convene…

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Vegetarian Only Meetings: Further Sustainability Questions

When about 2,000 meeting delegates sat down for lunch at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Annual Conference, they were fed all plant-based food all conference long. In addition to the conference’s first-ever all-vegetarian menu, the organiser made another big move in 2017 by eliminating breakfast from the menu. From PCMA…

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Transforming Events: Seven Fears to Face

Fear has been described by the acronym False Expectations Appearing Real. Change is often accompanied by it, so here’s a look at seven fears that come up with big changes to meetings, conferences and trade shows. Can we can flip those fears around and think about transformation in a whole new light? From PCMA Convene…

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Desert Island Discs and the Conference Castaway

Dr Sue Black is a British computer scientist, academic and social entrepreneur. She also helped save the World War II codebreaking site Bletchley Park from falling into ruin. Recently Black was interviewed on a famous BBC radio programme, and told an interesting story of gender and the power of conferences. From editor’s blog at Meetpie.com…

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Indianapolis: An Eventful MPI World Education Congress 2018

Meetings Professionals International’s World Education Congress has just concluded in Indianapolis, having welcomed around 2,200 attendees. Since WEC 2017 MPI had totally reimagined the event, and the 2018 running was certainly eventful, even to the extent of a Sudanese-Australian speaker being unable to attend because of a US visa waiver refusal. From Meetings & Conventions…

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Sustainable Meetings: Six Areas to Shine a Light Upon

With an ever-increasing focus on the environment and growing demand for sustainable practice, green event and conference planning is now an established trend within the global meetings industry. Here are six areas to consider for a greener approach: the venue, carbon offsetting, the accommodation, the catering, technology and lighting, and the materials used. From the Event…

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Incentive Travel Industry Index: Survey Opens for Submissions

The Society for Incentive Travel Excellence, Incentive Research Foundation and Financial & Insurance Conference Professionals have now opened up submissions for their new joint survey of the incentive travel sector. The resulting crowdsourced evidence-based study will provide insights into the current and future direction of incentives. From SoolNua’s Pádraic Gilligan at Padraicino…

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Vegetarian and Pescatarian Meetings: The Sustainability Question

In the GDS-Index white paper The Iceberg just published in Research, Finland’s Visit Espoo is committing to serve only locally-produced vegetarian food and sustainable fish to association delegates. Would you ever serve only vegetables and fish to your event attendees? Would they accept such a proposal? From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…

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