The Seattle City Council has voted unanimously to allow work on the expansion of the Washington State Convention Center to go forward. The $1.6 billion project, for which ground will be broken this year, aims to double the size of the facility to more than than 850,000 square feet of space. From Meetings & Conventions…
The German events sector continues to grow, with meetings and conferences responsible for 31 percent of business trips. Digitisation and internationalisation are key for the industry, according to the newly-released Meeting & Event Barometer 2017-2018. Delegate growth in 2017 was 2.8 percent, with 405m participants in all. 24 percent of planners are organising hybrid events. From Meetpie.com…
ICC Wales has reached an important milestone, with more than half the steel of the build now in place, including the framework of the 1,500-seat auditorium. The £84 million joint venture between Celtic Manor and the Welsh Government will accommodate 5,000 delegates and bring £70 million a year into the Welsh economy. From Meetpie.com…
Istanbul’s standing as a destination for international association meetings is in tatters, with ICCA’s city rankings suggesting that its popularity for conferences has collapsed. For years the city proudly occupied a top ten position. Because of terrorism and other political turmoil, it dropped first to 39th place, and this year to 133rd. From Association Meetings International…
Barcelona hosted more international association meetings than any other city last year, according to statistics from the International Congress and Convention Association. There is a familiar look to the top five of ICCA’s city rankings, but the Catalonian capital has claimed the headline spot for the first time since 2004. From Association Meetings International…
Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company and ExCeL London are celebrating ten years of ownership following ADNEC’s acquisition of the venue in May 2008. Continuous investment from ADNEC in ExCeL, along with support from London’s convention bureau and the Mayor’s Office, has made the venue and city itself a world-class business events destination. Photo: Senseiich. From Meetpie.com…
Oklahoma City is one step closer to opening a new convention centre, according to local newspaper The Oklahoman. Bids from builders have arrived and are “substantially below budget”, the lowest being for $173.3 million. If the numbers bear out, construction could begin in late spring, with a projected opening by summer 2020. From Successful Meetings…
“Legacy” is the talking point not just of The Iceberg but also of the IMEX Group’s 2018 events. So as the global industry gathers in Frankfurt, The Iceberg is reposting thoughts on legacy published earlier this year by ICC Sydney CEO Geoff Donaghy. In 2017 the venue unveiled a multi-streamed legacy programme. From Geoff Donaghy via LinkedIn…
As politicians and policymakers gather at the IMEX Policy Forum in Frankfurt, key partners of The Iceberg are providing a timely reminder of the transformational contribution of business and professional events and their ‘beyond tourism’ benefits. GainingEdge CEO Gary Grimmer and Gregg Talley, President and CEO of the Talley Management Group, discuss what meetings actually…
Despite a recent report that men give more than twice as many talks than women at scientific conferences, there are signs that female-to-male ratios are improving at some events. One of the best strategies for tackling the gender agenda is to include women as part of the team that selects speakers. From PCMA Convene…
While The Iceberg prefers to write “familiarisation trips”, the rest of the industry seems to stick with the shorter “fam trips”, or sometimes the capital “FAM trips”. Which should be considered correct? One of our more particular partners places the use of that shift key under the microscope. From editor’s blog at Meetpie.com…
At the recent International Association of Professional Congress Organisers Annual Meeting in Tokyo, an Iceberg partner asked four distinguished industry voices – including IAPCO’s new president – what value a PCO brings to the table for associations, what sector trends they were seeing, and how they saw the importance of IAPCO certification. From Boardroom…
The new £30 million hall at the Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre is now open for business. A year after an initial tour of the site, one Iceberg partner finds the finished facilities to be “gleaming” and “sparkling”: the new Hall 1 big enough to house three football pitches. From editor’s blog at Meetpie.com…
London’s threatened QEII Centre has had its most successful financial year to date, achieving a £14.2 million turnover in 2017/18, an increase of 24 percent on the previous year. A £15m capital investment project and rebrand began at the venue in 2013, since when turnover has increased by 48 percent and occupancy ratio by 38 percent. From Meetpie.com…
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