Organisers of the 24th International AIDS Conference will create lasting legacies by helping on site and virtual delegates from poorer countries to attend the 2022 event. An “ambitious” scholarship programme will let more attendees take part either in Montreal or else online. The society will also provide internet data and hardware devices. Association Meetings International…
Business leaders in Hong Kong are joining to promote “the vertical city” as a top meetings and conventions destination. One hundred inaugural ambassadors are being led by the Hong Kong Tourism Board with the aim of revitalising business events and strengthening Hong Kong’s reputation as a destination. From Association Meetings International…
One year into the pandemic, meetings industry professionals gathered with leaders in business, government and the media to mark Global Meetings Industry Day 2021. This year the GMID theme is “Meet Safe”, recognising the industry’s top priority of operating meetings and events with health and safety at the forefront. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
As Iceberg partner the IMEX Group launches its latest digital platform IMEX BuzzHub, CEO Carina Bauer explains how the community is key to COVID-19 recovery. Bauer reveals also latest plans for IMEX America in November, and why organising any trade show right now is “an exercise in extreme preparedness”. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
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…
Global Meetings Industry Day was celebrated in New York City with a hybrid event. An enterprising sector publication chose to experience the meeting both online and in person, so here are two contrasting views on different ways to experience a single event, including the role of serendipitous encounters, dessert and champagne. From PCMA…
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…
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…
During the past twelve months, marketing activities have been severely curtailed. This global report looks at both what channels destinations have been using to remain engaged with audiences and what is being planned for the future. PR agency Davies Tanner has now launched the second stage of research to ensure continued up-to-date intelligence for the…
The “Future Meeting Space” (FMS) innovation network was launched by the GCB (German Convention Bureau) in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO. This research project focuses on trends, innovations and social developments, identifying their possible influence on the event industry. In this context, research questions focus on how future events should be…
A slightly higher percentage of planners and suppliers described feeling exhausted and burned out in the February Dashboard survey than in January’s survey, but that can probably be chalked up to yet another month of enduring the COVID crisis. It’s coming up on a year now since the lockdowns began. Some especially harsh winter weather…
The GSM Association intends to welcome 50,000 attendees on site to Barcelona during Mobile World Congress at the end of June, plus many more digitally for the entirely hybrid event. The show welcomed over 100,000 visitors in 2019. Every physical attendee will need to give a negative COVID-19 test every three days. From Conference News…
The World Congress on Railway Research will be taking place at ICC Birmingham, following a global bid process. On behalf of the UK’s rail industry, the RSSB and the University of Birmingham will jointly stage the meeting in June 2022. Birmingham is a key hub across both current and forthcoming railway networks. From Conference News…
Following on from the publication of two very different views on business events recovery, Juliano Lissoni, the Managing Director of MCI Group in Canada, makes a further and more academic argument for face-to-face meetings. The Iceberg partner chief makes his case around an in depth analysis of our innate “need to meet”. From PCMA…
The impact of the pandemic on Australia’s business events is well documented. The Business Council of Australia has reported a loss of AU$35 billion in direct expenditure for Australia’s economy and over 230,000 jobs affected. But what about the country’s knowledge economy, asks ICC Sydney CEO Geoff Donaghy? From Meetings International…
In Barcelona, organisers of Mobile World Congress are counting on a comeback, and have booked their event to resume in late June. The industry association behind MWC, the GSMA, thinks it will draw less than half of its usual turnout, but the Barcelona Convention Bureau says the numbers aren’t important. From the Washington Post…
As well as about 3,000 delegates taking part for PCMA Convening Leaders 2021 virtually, 300 more joined in person on site at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. Organisers worked closely with the venue and also the Singapore Tourism Board, making sure the event was safe with protocols in place like rapid antigen testing. From PCMA…
This autumn the Global Forum of Iceberg partner BestCities Global Alliance returns in Madrid. Other major congresses are also heading to the Spanish capital, including World Blindness Summit, the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology and the Spanish Society of Stomatological Prosthesis. All are committed to leaving legacies. From BestCities Global Alliance…
US distribution of the vaccine in the weeks that followed initial rollout was anything but smooth, with vaccine shortages around the world, confusion around US distribution plans that vary state by state and challenges with registration systems. Those frustrating realities dampened the hopes of participants (491 planners and 219 suppliers) in this latest survey, conducted…
According to the COVID-19 Recovery Dashboard conducted between December 14th and 17th, eleven percent more suppliers and planners checked off “hopeful” when asked how they were feeling, nearly half of suppliers (49 percent) and 54 percent of planners. Planners in particular have come a long way since October when the were first asked to share…
Confidence among exhibition organisers that profits will double this year has been revealed in the latest UFI Global Barometer survey of 457 companies. The exhibition organisers’ association and Iceberg partner reported said that though over half of members have had to reduce workforce, the crisis has reinforced faith in face-to-face events. From Meetings International…
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