ICCA 60TH ANNUAL CONGRESS SHOWCASES REVIVED ASSOCATION MEETINGS INDUSTRY At the 1st first face-to-face meeting for the global association meetings industry since the start of the pandemic, more than 1200 delegates from 83 countries came together across 5 cities and a cutting-edge virtual platform. The 60th Annual Congress delivered a unique and expansive programme that set a new standard for business events. The entire event brought more than 100 hours of live content and 120 world-class speakers to the stage. Under the theme “Forward to our Future”, the Congress demonstrated what delegates can anticipate from business meetings of tomorrow. The hub-and-spoke model featured live events in the Congress host city of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia and C ongress Hubs in Abu Dhabi, UAE; Paris, France; Nagaski, Japan; Seoul, Republic of South Korea; and Johannesburg, South Africa.
Delegates benefited from a global educational programme and sessions tailored to the regional business events industry of their Congress Hub. Those who joined on the virtual platform enjoyed a seamless experience with dynamic learning and networking opportunities. Flexible registration allowed people to change their registration type up until two weeks before the Congress w ithout incurring an additional fee. As a result, the ICCA Congress attracted a record number of delegates during a time when many are still deali ng with travel uncertainty. A revolutionary component of the educational programme focused in on current meta trends shaping the business events industry and the world. Meta trends are drivers of change that influence trends and megatrends. The panel sessions brought together experts from diverse fields and leading companies. The speakers provided global and regi onal perspectives into these 8 meta trends: innovation, agility and collaboration; sustainability; organisational culture; the future of work; consumer choi ce and event experience; future generation; diversity and inclusion; community building; and the imp act of technology.
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN EXCELLENCE RECOGNISED IN 2021 ASPIRE AWARDS 11 exceptional Western Australian researchers, academics and professionals have today been announced as the winners of Business Events Perth’s 2021 Aspire Awards. The 22nd Aspire Awards, provide travel grants to outstanding West Australians who are making notable strides in their fields, to support them in attending international conferences where they can showcase their expertise and innovation on a global platform, network with likeminded professionals, and explore new avenues for collaboration, trade, and innovation into Western Australia. The Aspire Awards have led to a number of large-scale international conferences being confirmed for Western Australia over the years, including the International Congress on Neuromuscular Diseases (ICNMD) 2024, in which 2020 Aspire winner Dr Craig McIntosh played an integral role in Perth’s successful bid. In 2020, Business Events Perth secured the world’s largest marine mammal conf erence, the 25th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals 2023, after 2017 Aspire winner Dr Simon Allen travelled to Barcelona in late 2019 alongside BE Perth to pitch Perth as the destination of choice to the deciding committee.
