Month: November 2022

This Monday’s Insights (28 November) feature brings you IBTM’s new gender equality report, the mia conference reigniting the sector, the IACC’s latest Meeting Room of the Future report, and more.

Headlines

IBTM’s new gender equality report is out now.

The report is focused on event managers in MICE and demonstrates that the industry is still “dominated by women but run by men”, according to IBTM.

IBTM states that the report was carried out with the aim of starting conversations on the topic and helping to make a change.

According to the study, men within the industry are more likely to occupy directorial positions than women. Taking a sample of 2,000 global LinkedIn profiles, only 16% of the women included were at this seniority level compared to 32% of men.

Read more about IBTM’s new gender equality on Conference News.

The mia has reignited sector with engaging annual conference.

That’s according to a report this week on eventindustrynews.com.

According to the report, ‘creativity, collaboration, innovation and sustainability were the key watchwords’ of the conference, as it ‘united, inspired and energised the sector to navigate the next normal.’

Read the full feature about the full-day REIGNITE conference, including input from representatives of ABPCO, beam, and more, here.

The IACC has released the latest in its series of ‘Meeting Room of the Future’ barometer reports.

With the meetings industry continuing its path to recovery, the Meeting
Room of the Future (MRoTF) initiative, conducted by IACC since 2016,
provides first hand insight from global venue operators into their recovery
trajectories, their investment priorities, and their responses to emerging
trends.

In the context of talent shortages, inflation, and the push towards net-zero
sustainability goals, this research illustrates the ways in which venue opera
tors are positioning themselves for the challenges and opportunities facing
the meetings and events industry.

For the November report, 98 global venue operators took part, with 59% of respondents from the Americas (US and Canada), 37% from Europe (Sweden, the UK, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands), and the
balance from Australia.

The report shows that two-thirds of respondents reported recovery to above half of 2019 volume and one-third reported having surpassed a recovery to 80% of 2019 volume.

Read the full November report, here.

According to Conference News magazine, the Elevate mentoring programme had recently launched its seventh annual registration.

Elevate is a free mentorship programme that has been designed with a specific goal in mind – to support, inspire and elevate ambitious people within the events, hospitality and creative industries. It’s a five-month programme connecting mentors and mentees and as a result, making the industry even better.

Find out more, including how to apply, here.

This Monday’s Insights (21 November) feature brings you a new Dallas convention centre, beam’s priorities, UFI General Assembly, and ExCeL London’s floor marking robot Lionel.

Headlines

A new $2 billion, 2.5-million-square-foot convention centre will be built in Dallas.

According to Skift Meetings, the new Dallas convention centre with elevate the city to compete with other major meeting and convention destinations. 

Craig Davis, president and CEO of Visit Dallas, told Skift, “This is such a big deal for us. The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center opened in 1957. It is 65 years old and looks every bit of it. Customers have been telling us for years it’s not cutting it. This new convention center will make a seismic shift for us and what our future is going to be.”

Get the full story here. 

M&IT editor Paul Harvey catches up with Sian Sayward, newly-installed chair of beam in the latest episode of M&IT Talks.

Listen now to find out what Sayward’s priorities will be and how she sees the sector’s fortunes over the next 12 months as the UK faces a perfect storm of inflation, recession and rising costs. 

UFI General Assembly wraps up a transitional year for the industry, highlights progress on key issues.

Representatives from UFI (global association of the exhibition industry) member companies from around the world met in Muscat (Sultanate of Oman) to review 2022 activities and confirm 2023.

The 2022 UFI General Assembly took place before the UFI Global Congress. At the end of a year defined by both the post-pandemic industry recovery and new global challenges, the Congress is welcoming hundreds of participants from around 50 countries and regions.

Chaired by UFI’s 2022 President, Monica Lee Müller, the General Assembly reviewed and previewed the association’s initiatives to support UFI’s members – more than 800 strong, and across 86 countries. Many new members are joining the Global Congress for the first time, as 70 companies from around the world have signed up as UFI members in the past twelve months.

Monica Lee-Müller, UFI’s 2022 President, began summarising the year as follows: “Throughout the last 12 months, so much has happened that deserves a mention.”

“As a global association, we need full participation by talented, committed women, and men, from different cultures and backgrounds, to drive our industry forward. Personally, I think there is work to be done. But I can see changes coming: If you look at the demographics of participants in this year’s Exhibition Management School, more than half of the participants were women. Among the six winners of this year’s Next Generation Leadership Grant, four are women, and the six come from a diverse geographical mix: Asia, Africa, Central America, Europe and the US. These talented young people with high potential will one day lead our industry upward and forward.”

Read the full round-up and plans at UFI.org

ExCeL London has undertaken the UK’s first use of the world’s most advanced floor marking robots as part of its long-term strategy to help make the industry more sustainable. 

Lionel (so called because he marks out lines), was recently used on the mark-out of Event Tech Live 2022 – which the venue hosts – to showcase both the business and the sustainability benefits available, as well as ExCeL’s commitment to operational excellence. 

The Lionel robots can drastically reduce environmental impact by eliminating the need for single-use carpets and other consumable materials used for manual marking. Indeed, according to a recent report by SASIE, it is estimated that as much as six million tonnes of carpet are thrown away each year by the UK event industry.

Furthermore, as the robots are completely autonomous, event organisers no longer need to hire specialist international marking contractors, saving tens of thousands of hours per year of travel time and transport emissions.

The robots were supplied to the venue by August Robots, the world leader in autonomous commercial robotic applications. The organisation supports dozens of exhibition centres worldwide and has marked more than one million square metres of exhibition space for large-scale events predominately in Germany and the USA. ExCeL will also be on the of the first venues globally to lease and operate their own Lionel robots, as previously they were only offered as part of a floor marking service.

Natalie Sykes, Sustainability Manager, said: “As a carbon neutral venue, sustainability is at the forefront of our agenda, and we are always looking for innovative new ways to help reduce our emissions and waste. As such, we’re delighted to be working with August Robotics to automate future floor marking operations and we’re delighted to have already undertaken the first UK application. From an operational perspective, this technology yields considerable cost savings, rapid build times for our clients and the elimination of costly mistakes and rework time. 

Alex Wyatt, CEO of August Robotics, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have ExCeL London as one of Lionel’s first lease clients. ExCeL are leaders in innovation and we’re proud to partner with them to advance a sustainable exhibition future with our technology. Our team has made tremendous strides to make the robots simple to use; we’re excited for ExCeL to enjoy all the advantages of autonomous floor marking.”

Located in the Royal Docks, ExCeL hosts around 400 events annually and welcomes some four million visitors. Earlier this year it became the first UK venue to be certified carbon neutral to the internationally recognised PAS 2060 status and has as an interim target for their journey to Net Zero.

This Monday’s Insights (14 November) feature brings you Belfast sustainability, Liverpool’s River of Light, non-stop flights between Dublin and Tel Aviv, ICCA Congress, and more.

Headlines

Belfast has climbed 11 places into the top 10 official list of sustainable destinations in the world.

According to Conference News, the 2022 results of the annual GDS Index sees Belfast move into eighth place.

The GDS-Index (Global Destination Sustainability Index) is a sustainability benchmarking and performance improvement programme for destinations and visitor economies. This year, Gothenburg took the top spot for sixth time. It was followed by Bergen in Norway and Copenhagen in Denmark. 

Read more about GDS-Index and Belfast’s achievement here.

According to Access All Areas, Culture Liverpool’s River of light has proven to be a major boost for local footfall.

In the feature, Liverpool City Council’s Culture Liverpool said its outdoor light trail River of Light has hosted 250,000 people across 17 days.

EDGE Venues featured the River of Light in its recent blog on 3 reasons event profs love the city on the Mersey. Read it here.

What’s the main message from this week’s Congress of the ICCA?

It’s that the association meetings industry is facing tough economic headwinds with a renewed sense of purpose. Held in Krakow, Poland this week, the ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) congress focused on legacy, sustainability, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Read the full overview on amimagazine.global, here.

C&IT has featured six event locations inspired by The Crown.

As the much anticipated final season of The Crown dropped into Netflix, C&IT has shared ‘six gorgeous location shots fit for royal functions.’

Check it out here.

El Al Israel Airlines will start non-stop flights between Dublin and Tel Aviv from the start of its summer 2023 schedule.

According to BTN, the route will operate three times per week from 26 March 2023, with a flight time of around six hours.

Read more here.

Double Take

Are Your Meetings Neuro-Inclusive?

In a new SKIFT Meetings feature, Google’s Megan Henshall explains how she is building a community focused on a neuro-inclusive future.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) remain a focus in the business events industry. Yet one group has been overlooked according to Skift – the neurodivergent.

Neurodivergent is a term used to describe people whose brains are neurologically divergent from what is considered typical. Common neurodivergence includes autism, ADHD, dyslexia, epilepsy, and Tourette Syndrome.

Read the full feature with Henshall’s insights here.

This Monday’s Insights (07 November) feature brings you BVEP’s rebrand, another new Tourism Minister, Elevate’s new training programme, and more.

Headlines

Bereaved families and survivors of the Manchester Arena bombing are reportedly “frustrated” that a security law for venues has still not been introduced.

Martyn’s Law (known as Protect Duty) campaigner Figen Murray, whose son Martyn was killed in the bombing, has called on the live events industry to support her.

Figan is calling on the industry to write an open letter and publish it in the newspapers, pushing for increased anti-terrorism measures at publicly accessible facilities such as venues.

Here’s what Figan told Conference News this week. 

A new UK Tourism Minister has been announced. 

Just weeks after Lord Kamall took up the post, Stuart Andrew has been appointed.

VisitBritain has welcomed Andrew to the post: “We are delighted to welcome The Rt Hon Stuart Andrew MP as the new Minister for Sport, Tourism, and Civil Society, and Minister for Equalities, appointed by The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).”

Rishi Sunak has told COP27 that investing in green infrastructure is morally the right thing to do. 

According to the BBC, Mr Sunak said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a critical moment, and should prompt developing countries to deliver green growth.

Read more on BBC News.

Should conference organisers pay their speakers?

That’s the questions asked by Holly Patrick at Meetings and Incentive Travel recently.

“There’s always a budget for caterers, AV, and carpet, yet speakers are often compensated in ‘exposure’ or travel expenses,” Holly writes.

“With event planners looking to save the pennies wherever possible, it might make sense to cut costs in places where people don’t always expect to be paid. But for some the ‘empty kitty’ defence is wearing thin.”

Read the full feature here.

The Business Visits and Events Partnership (BVEP) has unveiled its new brand identity, UK Events.

The BVEP says the move represents its commitment to strengthening its position as the collective single voice for the UK events industry. It also says it aims to continue growing its influence and collaboration with other aligned organisations and sectors.

The change follows a successful consultation period with the organisation’s member partners.

Chris Skeith OBE, Chair, UK Events said: “We are delighted to reveal the UK Events identity to our peers, members, and the wider industry, and truly believe the changes better reflect the diverse nature of the events sector our partners represent which has grown to not only include meetings, conferences, exhibitions, and trade shows, but also incentive travel, event hospitality, ceremonies, sporting, cultural, outdoor and festivals.

“Many positive things have been mused, actioned, and executed under the BVEP name, and BTP (British Tourism Partnership) before it, and I know I speak for many of our members and executives when I say we’re proud of all that we have achieved, and how we’ve evolved since the partnership was formed in 1999. 

“But progression is about moving forward and adopting alternative approaches, and I look forward to continuing our work with a fresh and exciting new look. The UK Events name incorporates how our members are adapting and growing in line with the UK’s ever-changing events industry, and demonstrates that as a collective, our sector is a serious contender for international trade, exports and inward investment.”

Elevate has launched a training programme called ‘ElevatingPeople’.

Elevate is a unique, free mentoring programme and consultancy for the creative and events industries. According to Conference News, its new programme is based on the three pillars of: sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion and mental health. It also forms part of a long-term ESG strategy – ‘Elevating Purpose’.

Read more on Conference News.