The Australian Federal Government shut down all non-essential indoor events for over one hundred people on March 18th (then for more than two people on March 29th). Event venues like ICC Sydney no longer are able to deliver events. This is an unprecedented situation, says CEO Geoff Donaghy. From Boardroom…
The coronavirus crisis is the biggest challenge ever faced by the events industry. Get ready for business as extremely unusual. In an editorial posted before the United Kingdom locked down, one Iceberg partner promised the UK meetings industry “to amplify its voice at every turn”. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Meeting planners should be working with hospitality partners to donate leftover food from events cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis or for any other reason. The non-profit Food Rescue US works in seventeen of the fifty United States, facilitating the logistics of meetings donating their excess food. From PCMA…
The President of the Joint Meetings Industry Council, which presents The Iceberg, has addressed on video the disruption of meetings, events and exhibitions worldwide caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Kai Hattendorf called upon all industry members to actively support measures to help restore and build confidence in event participation including: Making sure policies and procedures…
A resource from Iceberg partners AIPC (the International Association of Convention Centres) and UFI (the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry) for venues addressing the challenges related to COVID-19. The guide focusses on updated health and safety policies, plans and procedures. It includes both strategic and practical guidance in form of advice, suggestions and best…
The European Exhibition Industry Alliance, representing nearly 400 European exhibition organisers and venue operators in Brussels to the European institutions and wider stakeholders, has welcomed recent economic support measures for the industry the European Commission has announced in the wake of COVID-19. From Exhibition World…
The owner of Scandinavia’s largest convention centre is making 350 people redundant due to “a brutal slowdown” caused by the COVID-19 crisis. BC Hospitality Group, which runs the Bella Center Copenhagen, as well as the Comwell Conference Center and several hotels, has not said where the cuts will fall. From Association Meetings International…
Iceberg partner UFI has released the first economic impact assessment on global exhibitions and trade shows of COVID-19. At least €23 billion ($26.3 billion) total worth of contracts have not concluded with shows not taking place as planned. The industry’s economic output in total is down €14.4 billion ($16.5 billion). From UFI…
Edinburgh International Conference Centre has created a sustainability programme called “Step Change”, which it claims as a “world-first” for the events industry. From now each meeting taking place at the venue will receive a detailed and tailored Event Impact Report, designed to focus on the environment, society and the economy. From Association Meetings International…
Toulouse is the fourth French city to join Iceberg partner GDS-Index (the Global Destination Sustainability Index). The Toulouse Convention Bureau intends to use membership to map and showcase its business tourism partners’ initiatives around sustainable development. Bordeaux, Lyon and Nantes have already joined the GDS-Index. From Boardroom…
The 13th International Conference on Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes has just been held in Madrid, Spain. Despite massive event cancellations due to the COVID-19 crisis, the meeting brought together more than 3,800 healthcare professionals from 81 countries, start-ups and investors, reaching a new delegate record. From Boardroom…
What’s the number one challenge facing business events? When this question was posed in November 2019 by Convene as part of its 29th Annual Meetings Market Survey, just a few answers talked about dealing with the unknown. One respondent alone cited the management of risk, and specifically of epidemic risk, as a challenge. From PCMA…
Iceberg partner IMEX has just taken the “devastating decision” to cancel IMEX Frankfurt. Citing the danger of the German health ministry forcing a last minute shutdown very close to the trade show’s opening this May, the meetings industry stalwart has just given the sector a textbook lesson in how to make a difficult call. From PCMA…
Public views about COVID-19 have seemed to polarise around either very sensationalist panic or similarly dangerous complacency. Perhaps we should choose to hear neither of these extreme positions. The events industry is going to take a battering from this crisis. The sector should try to accept this. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
GESS Dubai is a global exhibition showcasing educational products, plus a CPD accredited conference. Held at the end of February, the 13th edition of the show was to feature a Chinese pavilion with 30 companies confirmed as exhibiting. Ten, plus one more international exhibitor, cancelled participation because of the COVID-19 crisis. From UFI…
Organisers of the 2020 American Physical Society March Meeting opted to cancel their event due to concerns about bringing COVID-19 into Denver. With more than 10,000 attending, some from risk countries, the “gut-wrenching” call was taken “out of an abundance of caution”. But the decision was made less than two days before opening. From PCMA…
Julia Sonnemann, PR Manager for ITB Berlin, was all smiles during a press conference on February 19th. On February 28th, days before its opening, the travel and tourism trade fair was forced to cancel because it couldn’t meet local health authority requirements on COVID-19. Sonnemann now picks through the difficult decisions that were faced. From EventMB…
Geneviève Leclerc is Chief Executive Officer of #MEET4IMPACT, and the best person to ask the difference between “legacy” and “impact”. This Iceberg partner is now working with Tourism New Zealand on the project “Enrich New Zealand – Conference Impact”. This will measure outcomes of three meetings held over two years. From PCMA…
Action to fight climate change is a growing part of CSR. But companies are starting to align activities around all the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Meetings contribute to quality education, or SDG 4. The industry’s engagement on SDGs has now been surveyed by Fiona Pelham, CEO of Iceberg partner Positive Impact. From PCMA…
With social impact moving ever higher up the business events agenda, ICC Sydney’s Legacy Program has set out to inspire conference organisers to make wider a contribution in the Australian host destination and beyond. Five streams of legacy creation guide associations and event planners towards the best fit for their own organisation. From Boardroom…
The purpose of this document is to outline key planning considerations for organisers of mass gatherings in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. It should be read in conjunction with the World Health Organization’s Public Health for Mass Gatherings: Key Considerations, which provides general advice on the public health aspects of mass gathering events. It…
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