With support from the IMEX Group, AIPC — the International Association of Congress Centers — has awarded five scholarships to aspiring convention center managers as part of its AIPC Academy Scholarship Program, it announced last week.
The AIPC Academy Scholarship Program gives scholarship recipients free tuition to the AIPC Academy Professional Development Program, which was started five years ago to help convention centers expand the skills and perspectives of staff preparing for senior management roles, as well as orient individuals who are starting a second career in the convention industry. The program is a weeklong in-residence program that utilizes the resources of faculty and guest presenters to address a "full range of topics" required for a "solid industry background." To date, the program has seen more than 125 graduates who have assumed convention center management positions all over the world.
"AIPC sees professional development as a key part of our association mandate, and the investment we have made in creating the AIPC Academy as one of the most highly regarded educational programs in the industry is evidence of this," said AIPC President Edgar Hirt. "However, we recognize that in these financially challenging times, not all centers are in a position to offer the level of support required to ensure their most suitable candidates can access this program. The Academy Scholarship program goes some way to addressing this problem and helps ensure their professional development is ongoing."
This year, IMEX funded three additional scholarships, in addition to the two that are funded annually by AIPC itself. Candidates have been accepted from the following convention centers:
• DIPOLI Congress Centre (Finland)
• Hyderabad International Convention Centre (India)
• Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (Malaysia)
• Coex Convention & Exhibition Center (Korea)
• Bahrain International Exhibition & Convention Centre (Bahrain)
"We are very grateful to IMEX for their support, and the fact that this signals their recognition of the importance of professional development in the industry," Hirt said. "It demonstrates a shared recognition of the importance of skilled managers to the future of the industry and is a commitment to helping create our future leaders."
The 2012 AIPC Academy Professional Development Program will take place Feb. 5-10 in Brussels, Belgium, and will host participation from 25 AIPC member delegates. For more information, visit www.aipc.org.