The 2019 Conference on Artificial Life will take place at Newcastle University from July into August. Over 200 international delegates from across various disciplines are expected to meet and discuss the latest developments in the field. Organisers will also use remote talks and presentation streaming to make the meeting more sustainable. From Boardroom…
Canada’s capital, Ottawa, is to launch a conference ambassador programme. Together Ottawa Tourism, the Shaw Centre (above) and Invest Ottawa will offer bespoke support to local experts becoming “trailblazers” by helping the city to secure major meetings. ThinkOttawa will work with its ambassadors to prepare bid documents and provide support. From Association Meetings International…
José Zuniga of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care has been named Executive Director of the Year in Gothenburg at the International and European Association Awards. The Association of the Year Award was the European Society of Endocrinology. The event is a highlight of the Associations World Congress. From Association Meetings International…
The Events Industry Council has announced the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer, Amy Calvert, after a global search. Calvert is currently Senior Vice President of Convention Sales and Services with Visit Baltimore, and has worked in the past for Long Beach Convention Bureau and Intercontinental Hotels Group. From the Events Industry Council…
Destinations International and its Foundation have announced the 2019 “30 Under 30” class, which will convene at the 2019 Destinations International Annual Convention this July in St. Louis, Missouri. The young honorees (the 2018 class is pictured) come from a variety of destination organisations, and will receive mentoring and other opportunities under the scheme. From PCMA…
Several hundred association executives and exhibitors from across the meetings industry have gathered in Gothenburg, Sweden, for the two-and-a-half day 2019 Associations World Congress. The event kicked off with a special forum for medical associations and an uplifting musical reception with performances from various choirs and orchestras. From Association Meetings International…
School computer labs across rural Sarawak, Malaysia, will be benefitting after convention organisers and their delegates complete surveys from the Sarawak Convention Bureau. Sarawak CB will be making a donation for each returned form to the Chumbaka Junior Innovate Fund. By Jane Vong Holmes, Senior Manager Asia, at Iceberg Partner GainingEdge (second left). Many of the world’s…
In advance of the Business Visits and Events Focus North conference in Leeds, organiser John Gallery has been making the case that the north of England offers meetings industry planners good value for money. Some of the region’s destination marketing organisations are also aligning economic development ambitions with events in target sectors. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The Associations World Congress has just taken place in Gothenburg, Sweden. After an opening forum for medical associations, with a keynote on collaboration from Volvo, a new format encouraged delegates to move freely between content streams. Highlights included sessions about governance, communications and also the association of the future. From Boardroom…
No convention bureau would be seen dead without a conference ambassador programme. But why are they important? Here’s a round up from Edinburgh, where budget cuts recently threatened the very existence of its ambassadors, to Glasgow, Dubai, Montreal (whose ambassador gala awards is pictured), Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto and Korea. From Association Meetings International…
The meetings industry has joined others in condemning anti-LGBT laws in Brunei, where sex between men just became a capital offence and sex between women punishable by up to ten years in prison. IAPCO and DRPG have warned of damage this will cause to the sultanate’s destination status. From editor’s blog at Meetings & Incentive Travel…
How can events have a “positive impact” on their destination? James Latham of The Iceberg discusses key trends in legacy and how meetings can create them, legacies being those outcomes relating to the purpose of an event in trade, innovation, education, healthcare, conflict resolution etc. which grow over time. From BestCities Global Alliuance…
The artist Paul Klee suffered and eventually died from scleroderma. The wasting disease remains rare, and used to be addressed only on the fringes of larger rheumatology conferences. Then the World Scleroderma Foundation and PCO AIM Group International partnered to launch the Systemic Sclerosis World Congress, a meeting that emphasises patient participation. From PCMA…
Ten of the UK meeting and event industry’s brightest emerging stars have been named winners of the first Tomorrow’s Talent initiative, launched by The Meetings Show together with Iceberg partner M&IT. The initiative is championing young planners and providing a platform to nurture, mentor and support future industry leaders. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Organisers, venues and convention bureaux have celebrated the 2019 Global Meetings Industry Day to promote the economic and societal benefits of the sector. Hundreds of events took place to mark GMID, which was founded by the Meetings Mean Business alliance in the US four years ago to spotlight industry legacies. From Association Meetings International…
The International Congress and Convention Association’s board of directors has selected Senthil Gopinath to serve as its new CEO. Gopinath’s career in the meetings travel industry spans more than twenty years, with eighteen of them spent working within ICCA member organisations. He joined the ICCA team in 2016. From Meetings International…
Seven researchers from Brisbane will share in AUS$30,000 funding from the Lord Mayor’s office to help lure significant international conferences to the city for the first time. The Convention Trailblazer Grant funds early career professionals to attend an international conference in their field, then help attract that meeting to Brisbane. From Association Meetings International…
Lyon has become the latest city to join Iceberg partner the Global Destination Sustainability Index, a ranking of meetings destinations’ environmental credentials. Only Lyon, the city’s convention bureau, is the 48th destination to sign up to the index, which benchmarks them on how well they are meeting UN Sustainable Development Goals. From Association Meetings International…
Fourteen Club Melbourne Ambassadors have been awarded at the annual Club awards ceremony, held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, for securing nine international conferences in 2018. The nine events are expected to generate around AU$95 million in economic impact for the state of Victoria and deliver 63,700 delegate days. From Melbourne Convention Bureau…
You just can’t keep a good man down! Christian Mutschlechner, former Director of the Vienna Convention Bureau, will enjoy a “soft” retirement after taking an unsalaried position on the board of Congrex Switzerland. Here he answers questions about his new position, his retirement and his other goals. From Association Meetings International…
The looming threat of climate change poses huge questions for the international meetings industry, particularly for high profile global events under intense media scrutiny like COP24, the World Economic Forum and the UN Climate Change Conference. But does the sector itself have the answers, and how is it approaching the problem? From Association Meetings International…
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