The biggest common denominator among this season’s PCMA Convene podcast guests: Put your audience at the center of your design strategy and event execution, even if it means taking a different and unknown course. From AI and sponsorship reinvention to values-based design and measuring joy, the topics covered help shape the future of business events.
In December 2024, Skift Meetings published its annual Skift Meetings Megatrends 2025 report, outlining the forces expected to shape business events in the year ahead. One year later, the results are mixed. Several trends materialized decisively. Others showed early promise but stalled amid operational, financial, or regulatory realities. Here’s how each prediction played out…
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Eva started her career in the travel industry working as a Manager/Director for Thomas Cook and American Express Business Travel. After 6 years abroad in Ghana and Malta as an expatriate and family time she started working for Messe Frankfurt visitor services in 2006. After different roles and accompanying various projects within the visitor service…
The Knowledge Program, taking place on 9 February, is built around the theme, Expertise Matters!, highlighting the credibility, clarity and strategic influence that business events professionals bring to a rapidly changing global landscape, featuring high-impact keynote presentations and an extensive series of breakout sessions designed to sharpen skills, elevate strategic thinking and strengthen industry capability.
From Meetings International: A major boost for Kenya’s Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industry, President William Ruto on 15 December 2025 approved the operationalisation of the National Convention Bureau during a Cabinet meeting at State House – marking its re-establishment after being disbanded three years ago due to funding constraints.
A cooling labor market is compounding a long-simmering problem. Event professionals are being asked to do more with fewer resources, less institutional support, and, often, less pay. Simultaneously, seasoned professionals are exiting the industry at an accelerating pace. In many cases, they are replaced by less experienced workers, or not replaced at all.
The events industry rarely lacks opinions. There are countless conversations, articles, and posts, about the purpose, priorities, and mechanics of successful business events. There are prophets and preachers, pundits and partners – all promoting what they claim (or seek to sell) as the truth or the best way forward. Yet there are just as many…
It’s often the case that business event calendars tend to hit a lull towards the end of the year as employees enter the holiday season. However, APAC’s business event suppliers are noticing a growing shift away from this trend, fuelled by rising demand for more meaningful experiences, and strategic drives to navigate uncertainty…
Skift’s latest report highlights persistent uncertainty, talent gaps, condensed timeframes and rising costs, along with the impact of AI, political polarisation and the increasing prevalence of “micro events”. Lots of strategic issues are covered in this thought-provoking report, with clear insights on how to deal with the forces defining the year ahead.
Better understand the business of travel through Skift’s wide range of daily and weekly newsletters. From daily travel news to a deep dive into the events industry, you can tailor your subscription to the information relevant to you. Weekly briefings cover topics such as how AI and tech are changing travel…
The German Convention Bureau is looking to recruit 40 “research fellows” to participate in the first study in a series of research projects exploring the future evolution of business events, and is especially interested to hear from international meeting owners and organisers. Deadline for sign up is 28 February 2026. More details here…
ICCA has signed a landmark partnership agreement with Beijing Capital Group Exhibitions & Events to co-develop a three-level professional education certification programme designed specifically for China’s fast-growing business events sector. The Certified International Business Events Professional (CIBEP) programme will introduce international standards, foundational industry knowledge, and practical skills to emerging and mid-level talent across China.
The latest survey results show that unanticipated government actions are the biggest threat to meetings. Planner sentiment is trending downward again: Forty-four percent of planners are less optimistic than they were six months ago. Compression has eased and RFP responses have improved, though planner concerns over costs and contract terms have increased.
Destination DC’s Melissa Riley argues for the continued positive interrelationship between leisure tourism and business events, and that bed-nights will continue to be the dominant KPI for destination organisations in the US, funded as they are primarily by bed tax. However, her organisation is increasingly targeting events based on policy priorities of the DC district…
Stay informed with the latest association insights and trends by subscribing to regular updates from Boardroom, the global reference point both for the world of associations and within the meetings industry, with articles written by the sector’s most-experienced professionals and a magazine endorsed and supported by the members of its Association Advisory Board.
At ICCA Congress 2025, Conference Ambassador Professor William McLean presented the legacy story of the World Endodontic Congress (WEC) 2024, a finalist in the Incredible Impacts Programme 2025. Hosted by the International Federation of Endodontic Associations (IFEA) and British Endodontic Society (BES), WEC 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland, harnessed creative, engaging activities to boost oral health…
A unique collaboration between academia, event impact expert practitioners #MEET4IMPACT, AI events company Gevme and leading meetings destinations aims to help meeting owners and destinations to create unique impact reports on these events, making it relatively simple to plug a wide variety of large data sets into standardised reporting frameworks, for example “Theory of Change”…
ICCA and Destination Canada have unveiled The State of Sustainability in Associations Report, revealing that while global associations increasingly value sustainability, many still struggle to turn commitment into measurable action. According to the study, 66% of international associations rate sustainability as very or extremely important, up from 60% in 2023, but consistent implementation remains elusive.
Dubai will shortly have a new resource and additional motivation to attract international events specialising in environmental and circular economy fields, as such events will include potential investors, start-ups, and individuals who are potential employees of companies that base themselves in this new zone. From Meetings & Conventions Asia…
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