In order to foster collaboration between international association meeting planners and international association meeting suppliers, the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) has introduced a new annual event that will bring both groups together for the purpose of shared learning and relationship building, it announced this week.
Called the Association Meetings Programme (AMP), the new event will be open both to ICCA members (who supply association meetings) and to international association executives (who plan them). It will replace ICCA's previous meeting, the Research, Sales, and Marketing Programme (RSMP), which was open only to ICCA members.
"Success in tomorrow's meetings industry will increasingly depend on an ability to partner and collaborate with clients and with other suppliers. To avoid becoming caught up in a commoditized marketplace where low cost and standardized services are the norm, ICCA members need to learn new skills and adopt new business concepts. Likewise, to reach the often ambitious objectives of their meetings and deliver ROI to their delegates, international association executives need to learn how to build more constructive relationships with destination marketers, venues, PCOs, and airlines," ICCA CEO Martin Sirk said in a statement. "AMP aims to bridge this gap: to build mutual understanding of objectives and business cultures; to identify practical new ways to work together; to generate ideas for improving the effectiveness and value of the meetings themselves."
ICCA's first annual AMP will take place July 4-7 in Stavanger, Norway (pictured). Its goal is to attract 150 participants, including 120 ICCA members, 20 association hosted buyers, and 10 faculty. The small numbers, ICCA said, will allow for a more personalized program.
"The AMP is not a new meeting concept. For many years we have been running an event linked to IMEX in Frankfurt called the ICCA Association Expert Seminar (AES). Enormously popular and always with a waiting list, this event brings together 20 association executives and 40 ICCA members for a structured series of discussions on issues of mutual interest. AMP could be described as an 'AES on steroids,'" Sirk continued. "There will be a larger faculty; more in-depth education sessions; tougher group exercises; more opportunities for private consultations and advice; extensive guidance on using all of ICCA's research tools and business services; and inspirational meeting design concepts. It's important to note that this is not a workshop or hard-sales event; the emphasis is strongly on education, mutual understanding, and relationship building."
MeetingNews Minute is now 30 Seconds to Smart. Up your meetings-industry IQ now!