With more than 37 million people living in greater Tokyo, the city is probably the world’s largest metropolitan area. As the 2020 Summer Olympic Games approach, Japan’s capital is growing even busier with the preparation of infrastructure, transport and human resources. Business events are right at the centre of this development fever. From Boardroom…
Australian cities are leveraging medical knowledge and research specialities to secure major events and realise the investment, employment, healthcare and other legacies that result from them. The 20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014), which took place in Melbourne after over two years’ extensive planning and preparation, might well be the epitome of this. From Boardroom…
The events and meetings industry is hardly short of its own professional associations. A good many of them are even Iceberg partners! You join for the networking, education and advocacy, then get much more. But which are right for each of the different tribes within our overall sector? From SoolNua’s Pádraic Gilligan at Padraicino…
It is not unusual for conventions to include recreational options for significant others and children. It is more enticing to register if the business trip is also a family vacation. But Destinations International Annual Convention organisers took the idea to the next level by holding an education session for the whole family. From PCMA…
The decision of Marriott International to reduce group-intermediary commission rates has already made a major impact on the North American independent planners, many of whom have business models built entirely around commission. Now Hilton is doing the same. What will this mean for both the planners and the wider industry? Photo: Daderot. From Meetings & Conventions…
Port Covington in Baltimore, Lake Nona in Orlando, Hudson Yards in New York, and Quayside in Toronto are all being built or rebuilt from the ground up to promote mobility, connectivity and livability. In 2018 both the Consumer Electronics Show and South by Southwest launched tracks dedicated to smart cities for the first time. From Skift…
For some years the event sector struggled to find a voice. Now being more recognised as part of the marketing mix can only benefit the industry as a whole. The MD of marketing communications agency Triggerfish, Andrew White, believes the events sector could be about to hit boom time. From editor’s blog at Meetpie.com…
The Faroe Islands are in the North Atlantic Ocean above Scotland. They belong to Denmark but are semi-autonomous. They also have a meetings industry and are seeking to attract international congresses. Visit Faroe Islands even has an Ambassador Network, with an Ambassador Day and Ambassador Awards, to do just that. From tmf dialogue marketing…
For the sixth year in a row, visit.brussels has just staged the European Association Summit 2018 at the newly-rebranded SQUARE Brussels Convention Centre. This year’s EAS was the biggest to date, with over 200 participants, twenty themed workshops and three plenary sessions. For the first time industry associations ICCA and PCMA also participated. From Boardroom…
When the Chicago-based Society of Architectural Historians ran its 70th Annual International Conference, it left the US for the first time in forty years and visited Glasgow. The Glasgow Convention Bureau, VisitScotland, and the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow all helped showcase the local built environment and start a wider conversation about the future of cities. From Skift…
The Durban International Convention Centre is staging a 21st anniversary celebration campaign with a series of nationwide events leading up to a gala dinner in October. In 21 years the venue, officially opened in 1997 by Nelson Mandela, has contributed over R34.4 billion towards South Africa’s GDP, R32.6 billion directly benefitting KwaZulu-Natal. From Meetpie.com…
The number of international business events won for Australia continues to decline, according to new data from the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux. The latest edition of the AACB’s Forward Calendar showed bid wins at 361, down from 396 six months ago. But delegate numbers and associated delegate spend is up. From CIM News Magazine…
The financial services event Sibos is heading back to Sydney in October and already looking to create new legacies in the destination (see JMIC Case Studies). Organisers SWIFT have launched the 2018 SWIFT Institute Challenge, which tasks Australian students with devising new ways of protecting personal information in an open banking environment. From CIM News Magazine…
Business Events Canada is to host Innovate Canada, its first sector-focused event for Information and Communications Technology. The three day meeting, taking place in Montreal during May, will discuss artificial intelligence and deep learning, VFX and gaming, life sciences and health tech, plus data centres and cybersecurity. Photo: Guerinf. From Meetpie.com…
ICC Sydney has held an industry open forum for organisers from across Australia. The meeting let the venue update the PCOs on both its facilities and multi-streamed Legacy Programme, which helps events connect with local and regional businesses to create measurable benefits. The forum is to be held annually. Photo: Camera Creations. From CIM News Magazine…
Two young scholars from Africa, Stalin Tawanda Mau Mau and Mercy Cherono Too, are the first awarded by the inaugural GainingEdge Scholar Programme, which recognises the importance of meaningful work experience for students who wish to pursue careers in the business events industry and who also demonstrate outstanding potential for future leadership. From Boardroom…
The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre is creating a legacy by partnering with a new wind farm. MCEC’s involvement with the power project at Ararat in regional Victoria will enable the venue to purchase renewable energy certificates equivalent to the projected electricity consumption of its current 20,000 square metre expansion plans. From CIM News Magazine…
Brussels’ convention centre SQUARE has celebrated its 60th anniversary at an event celebrating the key role it has played in the economic growth of both Brussels and also Belgium. Founded for the 1958 World Expo, SQUARE Brussels Convention Centre (its new name) was at the time one of only two of its kind worldwide. From Boardroom…
Two months after Marriott International’s announcement that it is reducing North American group-intermediary commission rates from ten to seven percent, Hilton has said it will make the same rate drop in October. The changes are likely substantially to reshape both the US and Canada’s independent planner sectors. From Meetings & Conventions…
Meeting Professionals International and the Meetings Mean Business Coalition will together present a free live stream from many of the Global Meetings Industry Day events taking place around the world on April 12th. The GMID Virtual Event starts at 6 a.m. US CDT and concludes at 6 p.m. CDT. Registration is required. From Meetings & Conventions…
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