A good first half of the year for UK meetings business is set to continue for the rest of 2019, according to the latest HBAA Meetings Barometer. Average spend per meeting and per delegate have both increased. Rising confidence is shown by reductions in lead and conversion times. Photo: James Petts. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
NewcastleGateshead will host the annual meeting of a leading UK cardiac association in November. Working alongside Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals, the BCCA (British Congenital Cardiac Association) will hold its annual conference at Sage Gateshead, the concert music venue designed by Norman Foster. A gala dinner exhibition will bring art and medicine together. From Boardroom…
The UK government has launched a £250,000 competition to improve connectivity at conference centres that host international meetings. The funding will be awarded to venues across the UK to help them improve on-site broadband and attract more international business events. The competition is open for six weeks. From Association Meetings International…
Protests between demonstrators and riot police in Hong Kong, with flight disruptions at Hong Kong International Airport, have caused the cancellation of meetings and events. Asset manager BlackRock has postponed a forum scheduled for September. Games developer Capcom has also cancelled an event. Photo: Studio Incendo. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre has just hosted the 62nd International Statistical Institute World Statistics Congress 2019. Supported by convention bureau MyCEB, the event was attended by around 2,500 delegates, including attendees from national statistical offices, statistical experts and other professionals, academics and policy makers. From Boardroom…
UK industry charity Meeting Needs has celebrated its 15th birthday with a vow to get bigger and better. The anniversary coincides with another milestone for the initiative: a total distribution of £1 million to more than 287 charities in the UK and 68 countries across the globe since its foundation. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Sigurjóna Sverrisdóttir has taken over as Managing Director of Meet in Reykjavík. She follows Thorsteinn Orn Gudmundsson, who piloted the Icelandic capital’s new convention bureau from its founding in 2012. Last year Iceland welcomed about 135,000 international meetings delegates, and some years of solid business growth. From Meetings International…
The World Small Animal Veterinary Association has held its 44th World Congress in Toronto, at the same time marking its 60th anniversary. Over 2,200 vets from 80 countries attended around 50 streams. One legacy is a list of essential medicines that should always be available in any veterinary pharmacy. From Association Meetings International…
Agencies Lime Venue Portfolio and BCD Meetings & Events have just partnered to launch an extensive research initiative into food and sustainability in the meeting and events industry. Their initiative “Beyond Food” aims to shed light onto the economic impact of food production and the role that event businesses can play. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
New Zealand gave the AASA (Australasian Animal Studies Association) Conference 2019, “Decolonizing Animals”, an original spin when it hosted the event this July in Christchurch. Both local and international specialists, including indigenous perspectives, were all given a voice. Annie Potts, Director of the New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies, explains. From Boardroom…
The event industry talks a lot about “experience” in meeting design, and that “experience” should always be “immersive”. But what does it mean in practice for planners? How should they build experience into meetings they run, and then how should that experience made immersive? From Maritz Global Events…
The choice of Kuala Lumpur for last year’s World Library and Information Congress proved to be a winner for both the delegates and destination. Over 3,500 participants from more than 120 countries met in the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, with support from convention bureau MyCEB and also 300 congress volunteers. From Association Meetings International…
Plastic pollution is a blight on the world’s oceans. After an almost plastic-free staging of its annual conference, the Australian Marine Sciences Association, and event management organisation Encanta, have created a tip sheet for other planners. They share what they did, what they didn’t, what was learned, and what challenges remain. From PCMA…
Getting proactive with meaningful data is always a good idea. In 2018 the key metric for meetings and events was the number of leads. In 2019 67 percent of marketers are looking to calculate ROI. Here findings from some of the latest meetings and events research are explored. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The Iceberg is now identifying and celebrating the greater mass of hard-to-see business events legacies that lie hidden beneath the surface in a new podcast “Below the Waterline”. In the second of a series featuring significant meetings industry players, Iceberg founder James Latham catches up with the IMEX Group’s formidable CEO, Carina Bauer. IMEX…
Victoria is one of Canada’s most picturesque destinations for conferences. The oldest city in the Pacific Northwest is also a leader in ocean science, so a great spot to host conferences in the field. On the doorstep of the Pacific Ocean, Victoria boasts over a hundred sector-related organisations. Photo: Brandon Godfrey. From Meetings International…
Lyon’s leadership in oncology will soon be reinforced by two major events heading to the French city later this year. The 14th European Congress of Neuro Oncology is in September and should attract around 1,000 attendees. The 51st Congress of the Société Internationale d’Oncologie Pédiatrique will be held in October with 2,000 delegates. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
New Zealand offers meeting planners the chance to tap into market sectors like health sciences, agribusiness, tourism, advanced manufacturing and design, high value food and wine, ICT and earth sciences. Collaboration between learning and research centres and a strong focus on education and progress from government have placed Aotearoa centre stage globally. From Boardroom…
Aberdeen’s economy may once have been powered by oil and gas, but Scotland’s third city is now becoming an all-energy hub, with major investment in renewables, especially wind. It’s a life sciences hub as well, with coming new infrastructure in that sector, plus in transport, digital and the P&J Live venue (pictured). From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
The Convention Centre Dublin, which claims that its construction footprint was carbon neutral, has been chosen to host the Eurelectric Power Summit in 2020. This year’s event took place in Florence. Based in Brussels, Eurelectric is promoting “low-carbon electricity” and wants a carbon neutral industry “well before” 2050. From Association Meetings International…
Brussels is the preferred destination across Europe for association event organisers, and for the eighth year in a row, according to the Union of International Associations’ annual rankings. The capital has built up a network of over 2,250 registered associations, and 733 meetings of international associations were held across Brussels during 2018. From Association Meetings International…
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