In January, the Javits Center in New York was hosting a meet-and-greet for the American Kennel Club. Now the space is housing 2,600 hospital beds. Across the US the story is the same, inside venues like McCormick Place in Chicago and the Michigan Expo Center. But why choose them for this use? From Fast Company…
Once they relied on actors or even mannequins, but more and more medical associations now involve real patients in their congresses. Whether as speakers, panellists or co-designers, they add a different perspective. The result is meetings that are engaging, insightful and enlightening. From Association Meetings International…
Everything has changed. Meeting and travel are banned. Venues are hospitals. Events are online. We are learning so much about ourselves, but also need the world outside to learn about us and our £70 billion sector. Together we have to keep banging the drum. From editor’s blog at Meetings & Incentive Travel…
New York’s Javits Center has been put to use in crises before. It was a command and control base for the Federal Emergency Management Agency after 9/11, and in 2012 also had minor government operations running after Hurricane Sandy. But the venue has never been used as a hospital until now. From PCMA…
Globalisation, the world’s closer integration, is under attack. After nativism, terrorism and of course climate change, now a microscopic pathogen is even stopping us from gathering to meet. If globalisation does have a positive legacy though, international association meetings may be the best of what closer integration gives society. From Association Meetings International…
Māori culture gives New Zealand its distinct identity, but is also moving centre stage at meetings hosted in the country. This was very evident during the 2019 International Union for Health Promotion and Education Conference, which drew to Rotorua 1,185 attendees from 73 countries. From Association Meetings International…
Expo 2020 Dubai is almost certain to be postponed. Organisers said they wanted to show “solidarity” with the participating countries now fighting coronavirus. The event is likely to be put back a year, but a final decision should be made in June. Expo 2020 was hoping to attract eleven million visitors. From Association Meetings International…
The German government has run a hackathon to brainstorm solutions to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. 42,869 took part online in #WirVsVirus (“us versus the virus”). The result was more than 800 ideas on topics like shopping, childcare and symptom monitoring. Some of them have now been selected for funding. From Euractiv…
There has never been a more vital time for the services and value that associations provide, at precisely the moment traditional business models are falling apart. With a strong focus on societal mission, and by making urgent challenges the top priority, associations now have a unique opportunity to make difference. From Martin Sirk via Boardroom…
In the wake of so many meetings cancelling due to the COVID-19 crisis, and the resultant economic losses, the Founder of The Iceberg James Latham has been discussing how event organisers are reacting, and why the sector could be leading the charge when business does start to return to normal. From Duetto…
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 associations sector is vast and diverse, but one community dealing with particular challenges is that of the medical associations. Significant demographic changes are changing how healthcare professionals work and meet together. Ben Hainsworth, Managing Director at EASL (home of hepatology) explains what these are. From Boardroom…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Associations sit right at the heart of the legacy debate in business events. During the recent Dubai Association Conference, sessions focused on both the societal legacies they can leave and the strategies necessary to leave them. The emirate itself is a major hub for the sector, having set up the Dubai Association Centre in 2014….
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…
Wellness continues to be a topic highlighted in both professional circles as well as in our personal lives. For this 2020 study, the Incentive Research Foundation explored how wellness is specifically represented in incentive travel programmes as well as in general meeting types. Of the individuals surveyed for this report, 68 percent noted that wellness…
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