SITE has launched the first three of its new Specialty Certifications, expanding its professional development offering with focused, on-demand education in incentive travel psychology, risk management and wellness. The new credentials respond directly to demand from SITE members for practical, career-advancing education that can be applied to their work immediately.
Kai Hattendorf conducts a deep dive into Informa’s recent state-of-business report for the first half of 2026, drawing our attention to the impact of geopolitics on global trade show sector performance, and the company’s strategic and tactical decisions on issues such as event postponement vs cancellation, regional prioritisation and differentiation, and risk management.
Planners are confronting a broader and more complex risk landscape, from violence and cyberattacks to fraud and workplace safety gaps. In response, a coalition of industry associations is working to revive and expand a security initiative designed to help convention centres, trade shows, and meeting organisers better prepare for a widening range of risks.
GainingEdge experts summarise this year’s GainingEdge Knowledge Exchange at IMEX Frankfurt, themed on risk management: the business events industry does not lack experience with crisis, but lacks a shared structure for managing it. That gap, and what the industry can do about it, is what the session spent an hour unpacking.
Building on the Copenhagen Risk Assessment White Paper from 2023, the Copenhagen Risk Navigator 2026 aims to elevate risk management to a core business discipline across the entire international business events ecosystem. The Navigator equips organisations, associations and destinations with a shared framework and structured approach to understanding, prioritising, and mitigating risk.
Copenhagen Convention Bureau is collaborating with FERMA (Federation of European Risk Management Associations) and RIMS (Risk and Insurance Management Society) on analysis and solutions to risk in the business events world. Copenhagen Risk Navigator reveals a consistent “Blind Spot” paradox between high-priority leadership awareness and a disconnect with the realities of event planning and preparation.
Business event professionals must be prepared for the unexpected while safeguarding their events’ and their participants’ safety. This dynamic two-session course dives deep into the critical elements of crisis and risk management. Session 1 will cover the fundamentals of crisis management, including understanding the difference between risks and crises, the preparedness paradox, and how decision-making biases…
A report produced for the European Travel Commission by TOPOSOPHY Ltd: In today’s interconnected world, the tourism sector is among the industries most susceptible to the ripple effects of global crises. From terrorism and political instability to the unpredictable nature of pandemics and natural disasters, destinations’ challenges are varied and profound. In this context, resilience…
The 61st International Congress and Convention Association Congress was held last month in Kraków, Poland. The four days of content programming concentrated on three key industry topics: diversity, equity and inclusion, sustainability and legacy. Some of the legacy speakers also contributed to this Iceberg video Feature, here presented together with video of five of the legacy sessions….
The 36th edition of the CityDNA Summer School was hosted in late August. This year the Iceberg partner educational meeting graduated 43 students from Europe and South Africa. As well as video about the Summer School itself from Turin, Italy, this feature looks at participating medical associations and their meetings, sustainability and also hybrid meetings….
Last year, the IBTM World Trends report found itself looking at new frontiers. How had the meetings and events landscape changed in the wake of the pandemic, what behaviours had been adopted, how were other industries looking at this same landscape? Also, how was the global economy dictating the future welfare of our own market…
The 12th annual Global Meetings and Events Forecast is based on a survey of 580 meetings and events professionals from around the world and interviews with industry leaders. The survey ran in May and June 2022. Respondents represent corporations, associations, buyers and suppliers from five continents and 23 countries. The result is a statistically and…
During COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative launched its Roadmap. This is designed to aid suppliers, venues, and businesses along their journey to reaching Net Zero by 2050. Net Zero Carbon Events, itself launched at COP26 in August 2021, now has 400 supporting organisations from 55 countries. From Exhibition News…
Gothenburg is the world’s most sustainable events city for a sixth year running as once again the Scandinavian destinations dominated Iceberg partner the Global Destination Sustainability Index. Bergen in Norway clinched second spot, with Copenhagen in third. The 2022 GDS-Index list was announced at the 61st ICCA World Congress in Krakow, Poland. From Association Meetings International…
Sarawak in Malaysia has published the first volume of a new academic journal designed to help the sector “reset and recover” while identifying legacy opportunities. Business Event Sarawak joined with several bodies, including Iceberg partner ICCA, to create the International Journal of Business Events and Legacies IJBEL. Photo: Nicky Tay. From Association Meetings International…
IMEX organisers heralded the eleventh edition of IMEX America “the big comeback we’ve all been waiting for” in regard to the events, meetings and incentive travel sector. The show was 45 percent larger than last year due to the easing of travel restrictions and also returning exhibitors taking more space. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The second annual Convening EMEA conference, organised by Iceberg partner PCMA (Professional Convention Managers Association), has been held in Vienna at Messe Wien Exhibition Congress Center. The omnichannel event gathered about 400 sector professionals in person and virtually. Sustainability was a significant running theme. From Association Meetings International…
The CEO of Iceberg partner UFI, Kai Hattendorf (pictured right!) has been looking into his crystal ball yet again as the year ends. With the pandemic lingering in some territories, Russia’s war in Ukraine, inflation skyrocketing and the climate crisis, what are the key trends to see business events through 2023? From Exhibition News…
Jane Cunningham has worked for hotels, a convention centre, a DMO (destination marketing organisation) and a PCO (professional conference organiser). She has also worked for two Iceberg partners, BestCities Global Alliance and Destinations International. Here she offers her thinking on legacy and Net Zero Carbon Events. From Meetings International…
As preparations for COP27 were being made in Egypt last month, Glasgow Convention Bureau was showing how the Scottish city had benefited from hosting the UN’s Conference on Climate Change twelve months earlier. Sixty percent of city tourism businesses improved sustainability credentials as a result of COP26. From Boardroom…
Last year Goodfellow Publishers released “Business Event Legacies: Global industry case studies”, from Carmel Foley, Deborah Edwards and Karin Weber. Previous work by Foley and Edwards includes the first JMIC Case Study published here on The Iceberg, and this book cites all of those studies. Here the volume’s content is outlined. From Meetings International…
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