THE
P C O A Dynamic Asia Pacific
“It’s hard to ignore the seemingly endless energy and activity being generated in the Asia-Pacific meetings world. In IAPCO we are witnessing that very same energy as our relationships within the region go from strength to strength” commented Jan Tonkin when she took over the IAPCO Presidency on 1 April this year. At IMEX’s recent Gala Dinner Yoshihito Takahashi from Congress Corporation, Japan, won the IAPCO 2015 Innovation Award. An IAPCO Bespoke EDGE Seminar takes place in Suzhou, China, in July and EDGE Seminars are scheduled for Seoul in November this year and Kuala Lumpur in September next year. These follow on from the EDGE Jan Tonkin, President IAPCO. seminar held in Auckland which received outstanding reviews. IAPCO has been proud to partner with MEHK for four years and, more recently, with Melbourne. The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) has become a Convention Centre partner and will host the 2017 Council Meeting in their venue. This list is capped by the selection of Tokyo as the location for IAPCO’s 2018 Annual Meeting & General Assembly. Jan was delighted when IAPCO Council member, Kayo Nomura, offered to lead the portfolio of IAPCO in Asia. “Exciting times”, added Jan, “so much is happening in this part of the world and it will certainly continue as our membership, currently 20% in the region, and profile increase”.
NEWS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL CONGRESS ORGANISERS
Issue No. 75
IAPCO’s great business pyramid – economic impact revealed
IAPCO’s annual survey of its members for 2015, its 9th annual survey to date, makes for heartening, if perhaps unsurprising, reading. With the recession hopefully finally consigned to history and an economic turnaround in full swing, IAPCO members had a busy year in 2015, organising an average of 113 events per member – a grand total of 8591 meetings. This included a 7% rise in the number of corporate meetings compared with the previous year. However, while there was a 10.6% increase in the number of meeting participants handled by IAPCO members, with more than 3.165 million attendees registered in 2015, the average number of participants attending each event fell
IAPCO awards winners at IMEX IT Director of Congress Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, was the proud winner of the 2015 Innovation Award, supported by IMEX, which was presented during the IMEX Gala evening.
Three award winners were announced by IAPCO at IMEX 2016: its 2015 Innovation Award, its Regional Client Award and its International Supplier Award.
The submissions for the Yoshihito’s innovation was 2015 Innovation Award an app that streamlined were impressive, and the process of participant highlighted the fantastic attendance for lunch semicalibre of the candidates, nars. The app ensured that who were clearly focused Yoshihito Takahashi there were none of the dreaded queues on generating creative and efficient and that delegates could check availideas to bring added value to their ability for seminars in real time – and it clients. Yoshihito Takahashi, Congress
EVENTS’ CALENDAR Year
Month
Date
Event
Location
2016
June
15 – 16
The Meetings Show
London, UK
15 – 17
IBTM America
Nashville, TN, USA
26 – 29
PCMA Education Conference
St. Louis, MO, USA
July
4–6
IAPCO Bespoke EDGE Seminar Suzhou, China
Aug
13 – 16
ASAE Annual Meeting & Expo
Salt Lake City, UT, USA
14 – 16
HCEA Annual Meeting
Savannah, GA, USA
27 – 31
ECM Summer School
Zagreb, Croatia
7–8
CIBTM
Beijing, China
27 – 29
IT&CMA
Bangkok, Thailand
13 – 16
IAPCO Council Meetings
Washington DC, USA
Sept Oct
Nov
2017
18 – 20
IMEX America
Las Vegas, NV, USA
19 – 21
UTB Asia
Singapore
3–4
Uia Round Table Europe
Monaco
12 – 16
55th ICCA Congress
Kuching, Malaysia
17 – 19
IAPCO EDGE Seoul
Seoul, Korea Barcelona, Spain
Nov/Dec
29 – 01
IBTM World
Dec
5–6
IAPCO Bespoke EDGE Seminar St. Petersburg, Russia
Jan
8–9
PCMA Convening Leaders
Austin, TX, USA
19 – 21
IAPCO EDGE Athens
Athens, Greece
Feb
7–9
IBTM Arabia
Abu Dhabi, UAE
8–9
Convene
Vilnius, Lithuania
16 – 19
IAPCO Annual Meeting
Dubai, UAE
21 – 22
AIME
Melbourne, Australia
22 – 24
ACE OF MICE Exhibition
Istanbul, Turkey
5–7
ASAE Great Ideas Conference
Orlando, FL, USA
8–9
COCAL
Punta del Este, Uruguay
11 – 14
IAPCO Council Meetings
Gothenburg, Sweden
16 – 18
IMEX Frankfurt
Frankfurt, Germany
July
3–7
IAPCO Bespoke EDGE Seminar Sri Lanka
Sept
13 – 16
IAPCO Council
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
18 – 20
IAPCO EDGE Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
March May
info@iapco.org
Q2 2016
had the added bonus of being a completely paperless solution. “I am very happy that my innovation was evaluated in this way by IAPCO, which sets the standards for our industry”, said Yoshihito, “this is a great honour and will stimulate me to strive even harder to come up with more beneficial technology in the future for our constantly evolving industry.”
The runners-up for the 2015 Innovation Award were Martin Rasmussen, of Copernicus Meetings, and Gaia Santoro, of AIM Group International. Both deserve a special mention for their innovative concepts: Martin was nominated for PICO, which stands for ‘Presenting Interactive Content’, while Gaia created an event within an event using social media.
Annalisa Poncha with Patrizia Buongiorno, AIM Group.
The PCMA Column from 400 to 368. There are a number of potential explanations for this, including greater specialisation of meetings, meetings attracted more targeted and relevant audiences, and participants only attending those events that truly benefit their professions. In contrast with the lower number of participants per event, there was a staggering 27.2% increase in the average exhibition space per event – with IAPCO members managing more than 804 000m² of space in total in 2015. This potentially reflects the returning confidence in the industry meetings marketplace. One big but expected change compared with 2014 was the fall in the number of room-nights managed by IAPCO members, from 3.817 million to 2.429 million in 2015. This may lead one to question whether room blocks are a thing of the past. On a more positive note, employment among IAPCO members is rapidly returning to its pre-2012 level – in 2015 there were 5429 staff employed by IAPCO members, an increase of 3.92% over 2014. Overall, the economic impact to local economies of all this activity was enormous, at an estimated €5.12 billion. To put IAPCO members’ impact into perspective, that would be enough to build the Great Pyramid of Egypt at today’s prices – and to buy 3 Dreamliners to take everyone there to see it being built! along with the respective CVBs – even at the bid stage. “We recognise the strong collaboration that ESOT has with IAPCO,” AIM Group stated, “and believe that we share the same vision: fostering education, expanding the network, and facilitating exchange with innovation.”
Finally, the IAPCO 2015 IAPCO was pleased to present its 2015 International Supplier Award was Regional Client Award to the presented to Société d’Exploitation de European Society for Organ l’Acropolis de Nice in recognition of Transplantation (ESOT), which had their long-term partnership and great been nominated for the award by co-operative relationship with the AIM Group International. In AIM Group’s nomination they explained how ESOT were instrumental in creating an advanced and innovative meeting concept, producing a conference that was digitalised, interactive and green. The meeting maximised the attendees’ engagement and connectivity, which, as AIM Group highlighted, are concepts that Eric Abramson, Directeur du Développement Associatif (left) and are fundamental to the future Bernard Carre, Directeur Général (right), of the Société de l’Acropolis de Nice, with Dan Rivlin, Kenes of international meetings – and d’Exploitation (centre). thus ones to which IAPCO IAPCO member that nominated them, subscribes. Kenes Group, of Switzerland. Kenes’ AIM Group also recognised that ESOT has close relationships with IAPCO members, and always involves them in the organisation of its conferences,
Inter nal dis tribution please for ward to:
citation highlighted how the venue has always supported its aims of striving to achieve global accreditation and acknowledgment of PCOs, and noted
Global planners share their tips and insights By David McMillin, PCMA Staff Writer Did you know that gift-giving in certain Asian countries is customary? Or that in Europe you should be prepared for potential tap water charges? Here are some insightful lessons that were shared by meeting industry professionals during PCMA’s Global Hub Open Mic Session:
1. Contract management – when in doubt, ask questions. Planners highlighted that in Europe, for example, every negotiated outcome should appear in the final, written contract in order to ensure expectations are met. This is because, in some European contexts, handshake agreements are more meaningful.
2. Doing business – it’s all in your approach. In Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East sometimes planners must forgo establishing surface relationships and invest in cultivating an atmosphere of trust… and there is a time commitment required to build trust.
3. Communication – you don’t need to be fluent in the local language, just flexible. In Australia, communication is more conversational, while in Asia it is more formal – you also need to adjust working hours to accommodate business discussions in these regions.
4. Cultural perceptions – keep an open mind. While security must be considered when deciding on a location, perceptions of the safety of some destinations aren’t as factual as we may initially believe. With extra effort and research, planners can open doors to an endless selection of possible destinations.
5. Cultural training – a worthwhile investment. We live in a highly globalised world that is shrinking by the second. Working to expand cultural awareness for both professional and personal reasons makes good business sense. that Kenes, as a PCO, always received the venue’s co-operation and support, enabling them to raise their standards and to enhance the recognition of the professional with international clients. “You undertake research work concerning all the problems confronting professional organisers of international meetings,” Kenes acknowledged, “and thus seek and promote relevant solutions.”
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