Much is said about serendipity at events. A recent gathering of the Membership Committee for the African Society of Association Executives, attended by Gary Grimmer of Iceberg partner GainingEdge, saw a chance encounter develop into a legacy collaboration helping Girl Guides to learn beekeeping. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
On paper, travelling to meetings is less friendly to the environment than meeting virtually. But events face-to-face have value add hard to quantify. Human interaction is vital for challenging entrenched ways of doing business. To tackle climate change, we must surely collaborate in person as well as online. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Boardroom Chief Editor Remi Deve just returned from Lausanne where he attended the Annual Conference of Iceberg partner AIPC. He shares here a few things he learned about the future of the sector from both the meeting’s programme and from reconnecting with colleagues at the SwissTech Convention Center. From Boardroom…
The event sector is being urged to take more and earlier action over climate change, in advance of this November’s COP26 conference at Glasgow’s SEC. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, UK government and SME Climate Hub were part of the special event at which the call was made. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The relationship between major associations and the cities hosting their meetings, although generally happy and fruitful, is beset by the similar issues to any relationship essentially transactional in nature. So, how will things change in the industry landscape redrawn by COVID-19? From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
BestCities Global Alliance has just celebrated twenty-one years since its founding. Managing Director Lesley Williams reflects upon the Iceberg partner’s past and future, and upon the role collaboration has played in the journey. She also pays tribute to the BestCities’ member destinations and to more recently formed alliances. From BestCities Global Alliance…
Sherrif Karamat is the President and CEO of the Professional Convention Management Association. He claims here that the pandemic is raising the need to focus now on why we meet and why events like congresses are held. He also has some interesting ideas about The Iceberg’s favourite subject of legacy. From Meetings International…
The Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe has published an update of its 2020 study on The Impact of Coronavirus on Europes Convention Sector. The new report, prepared by Tourism Economics, provides three recovery scenarios to reflect the possible range of developments given the level of uncertainty about how the pandemic situation…
Convention bureaus have operated as key stakeholders in the meetings industry for over a century, assuming major responsibility for marketing their cities, regions and countries as destinations for the hosting of business events, from small corporate gatherings to the vast annual conferences organised by international associations. During all of that time it has been clearly…
In April’s survey against March’s, much of the sector is experiencing a sense of languish. In the month between the two, vaccinations in the US (where the majority of survey respondents live) have averaged around three million shots a day, certainly the country’s best chance of recovery. Yet seven percent fewer planner respondents reported feeling hopeful…
To mark Global Meetings Industry Day, Iceberg partner BestCities Global Alliance and the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO) have joined together to help associations articulate their new hybrid congress guidelines. In the wake of the pandemic, associations must rethink the design and delivery of events to make sure they can bring together international…
Chapter IV of Beyond Food looks at the devastating effect of the pandemic on the conference and events market, and at how the industry is addressing a new way of working post-COVID. Beyond Food: Beyond COVID-19 (Lime Venue Portfolio website, registration required)
Between February and March, a flurry of news articles predicted a huge surge in leisure travel, sometimes referred to as “revenge travel”, as people celebrate the end of the pandemic, make up for lost time and splurge after the stress of living through COVID. Airlines have reported substantial jumps in air travel demand during March…
With the competing forces of the vaccine rollout and the emergence of variants waging a battle across most of the world, there are few simple scenarios for the future of the events sector. Rod Cameron, Executive Director of the Joint Meetings Industry Council (which presents The Iceberg), asks “where to from here?”. From UFI…
Event Director David Thompson (pictured left), is a familiar figure around the show floor at Iceberg partner IBTM World. In this podcast, he talks through the experience of running IBTM World Virtual in 2020, and why he is certain there will be a live event in Barcelona this year. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Join us for a 24 hour exploration into the role of human interaction in progressing SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. Aligned with the 2021 theme of the UN International Day of Peace, join a select community of global corporate event planners on an experiment to explore the role of human interaction in progressing SDG…
Get access to 5 webinars covering the future of events across 2021. Each webinar costs £15 so this offer will save you over 30%. 100% of the £50 will go towards funding the Climate Action Framework for the event sector.
In celebration of Earth Day, we’ll be discussing the strides the exhibition industry is making to becoming more environmentally sustainable. Join us to hear case-studies, get tips on best practices, and ask questions to the experts.
Last September, the “Incredible Impacts” programme run collaboratively by Iceberg partners ICCA and BestCities Global Alliance selected three winning associations for the meeting legacy projects they submitted. Each of the three had shown a dedication to creating legacies that went far beyond the conference walls. The three winners were: Ecocity Builders and the BCIT Ecocity…
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