Event professionals gather for Association Meetings Conference

The Meetings Show 2014
The Meetings Show 2014
Avatar of Linda Hohnholz
Written by Linda Hohnholz

Over 100 association event professionals gathered at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre yesterday for The Meetings Show’s Association Meetings Conference.

Over 100 association event professionals gathered at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre yesterday for The Meetings Show’s Association Meetings Conference.

Paul Kennedy MBE, Strategic Business Advisor, The Meetings Show opened the conference and described the event as “bringing like-minded people together, to exchange knowledge and foster business relations & development.”

Kennedy went on to say that, “association meetings bring extraordinary economic benefit to the destinations that host them but unfortunately their impact is seriously underestimated by politicians.”

Linda Pereira, Conference Chair and Executive Director, CPL Events said the conference is a “great platform to bring together a group of people that really need to create a dialogue.”

“We PCOs tend to spend most of our time competing for business and not actually talking to the people whose business we should be developing,” she said. “Many associations don’t know exactly what we do and so they are still doing it the old fashioned way. This event serves as a platform to create a much needed dialogue between all parties.”

Over 20 industry professionals spoke at the Conference, including Dan Rivlin, CEO, Kenes Group; Joanna Lawlor, Global Events Director, AstraZeneca; Mark Handforth, Director, Compliant Venues; Kerrin MacPhie, Director of Sales, ACC Liverpool; and Aileen Crawford, Head of Conventions, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau.

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The Meetings Show – Overview / Notes to Editors.

In less than 50 words
The Meetings Show is a major event for the UK inbound and outbound meetings industry, organised by Centaur Exhibitions and taking place 8-10 July 2014 at Olympia, London. Organised by meeting professionals for meeting professionals it is focused around a large exhibition, networking opportunities and professional education.

In under 100 words
The Meetings Show is a major event for the UK inbound and outbound meetings industry, organised by Centaur Exhibitions and taking place 8-10 July 2014 at Olympia, London. Organised by meeting professionals for meeting professionals it is focused around a large exhibition, networking opportunities and professional education. The hosted buyer programme – the largest in the UK – will attract buyers from the corporate, association, agency and public sectors. The show will feature destinations from over 50 countries across 6 continents, venues, hotels and key providers of meetings products and services.

In detail
The Meetings Show is a major event for the UK inbound and outbound meetings industry, organised by Centaur Exhibitions and taking place 8-10 July 2014 at Olympia, London. Organised by meeting professionals for meeting professionals it is focused around a large exhibition, networking opportunities and professional education. The hosted buyer programme – the largest in the UK – will attract buyers from the corporate, association, agency and public sectors. The show will feature destinations from over 50 countries across 6 continents, venues, hotels and key providers of meetings products and services.

The Meetings Show team is headed up by Event Director Steve Knight – a well known and highly respected figure within the meetings industry.

The Show includes:
The Exhibition: Featuring destinations, venues, hotels and suppliers, the exhibition sits at the heart of The Meetings Show.
The Conference: Planned by education experts from across the industry, the conference will be timed so that the sessions work in harmony with the exhibition and in excess of 10,000 meetings taking place on the floor. The full programme will be unveiled nearer the show but will include topics such as ROI of meetings, strategic meetings management, economic impact, meetings architecture, hybrid meetings, association management, destination marketing and industry trends.
Networking: All five nights of the show, starting on Sunday 6th July will feature networking events across London’s latest and most exciting venues. For those looking to see more after the show has closed there will also be fam trips visiting key regional destinations around the UK.
Association Conference: For meeting organisers in the association sector, an association conference on Monday 7th July is a must attend opportunity to learn, meet and network with peers.

The Meetings Show has an Advisory Board that meets several times a year both in person and virtually, bringing together their wealth of experience, ideas and strategic understanding of the meetings industry.

The Advisory Board, chaired by Paul Kennedy MBE, provides valuable information and insight to help the show team steer the event successfully. A similar Education Panel is chaired by Sally Greenhill of The Right Solution.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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