IMEX Injects Fresh Format into New Association Day Programme

Tuesday, November 06 @ 13:37:22 EST
“IMEX has introduced several new and innovative meetings techniques into the programme for its next Association Day, announced today.

With help from the World Café and Wiki Workshops, the Association Day (April 21st 2008), which provides a dedicated and discreet learning opportunity for 250 association meetings buyers, will offer guests more interactive and dynamic content than in previous years.

Paul Borawski, Executive Director & Chief Strategic Officer for the American Society of Quality, and World Café facilitator, will lead a session on “Innovation in Association Management”. The World Café concept provides meetings with a simple methodology for hosting conversations. The process ensures that participants’ discussions are linked together so that they build on each other as people move between groups and share ideas. The World Café approach to meetings has recently grown in strength across Latin America, Asia and the USA but is still relatively unknown in Europe.

Similarly, a session on “Meetings technology – Tomorrow’s toolkit” will be run in the brand new format of a Wiki Workshop. This new meetings concept aims to produce immediate results within small groups by providing them with flawless technology and a “Wiki” template to guide their thinking towards a clear outcome.

Says Carina Bauer, IMEX Marketing and Operations Director, “Our new programme will be very forward-looking and inspiring, with plenty of scope for participation. The Association Day audience has a great deal of experience and knowledge to share, and we hope that by increasing opportunities for peer-to-peer contact, we will help generate more discussion and, ultimately, more change for the better.”

The educational programme organized by ICCA (The International Congress and Convention Association) will also include a session on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) – guiding delegates on how to create a sustainable CSR strategy which promotes strategic objectives and motivates members. MCI will run a series of round-table discussions later in the day giving delegates the opportunity to discuss topics as diverse as membership recruitment & retention to conference VAT; as well as a number of sessions dedicated to German association executives.

The educational sessions will be followed by the popular Association Evening reception at the Intercontinental Hotel in Frankfurt, which allows recognised industry suppliers and exhibitors to network with association buyers. Over the past five years, this reception has become the largest event on the IMEX calendar.

Online registration is now open for The IMEX Association Day, which will again benefit from the high quality facilities of the Congress Centre, Messe Frankfurt. The full programme can also be viewed online at http://www.imex-frankfurt.com/assc-day.html.

Montréal becomes the first city to be recognized for Geotourism by the National Geographic Society

Thursday, November 08 @ 15:44:29 EST “Montréal, October 18, 2007 – Tourisme Montréal is proud to be the first city in the world to sign the Geotourism Charter of the National Geographic Society. The Society’s choice of Montréal as the first signatory underscores the work Montréal has accomplished in tourism outreach and promotion as well as the active collaboration between the tourism and cultural stakeholders of Greater Montréal. Committing to respect and promote the Charter’s principles, Tourisme Montréal together with the two co-applicants for Montréal’s candidature to the Charter – the World Centre of Excellence for Destinations (CED) and Héritage Montréal – signed the Charter at today’s press conference. The Mayor of Montréal, Gérald Tremblay, also signed the Charter.“We are thrilled about the recognition given to us by the National Geographic Society, a prestigious organization that contributes significantly to promoting responsible tourism,” said Charles Lapointe, president and CEO of Tourisme Montréal. “Montréal has long been recognized for its historic district, its creativity, and its festive spirit. Now our city can boast one more asset, namely, having been distinguished among the world’s largest tourism cities for its sound practices in cultural tourism.”The recognition, awarded for the first time by the National Geographic Society, reflects the Society’s vision to adapt the Geotourism Charter to urban agglomerations. As a signatory, Montréal agrees to respect the 13 main principles of the Charter. For Montréal’s tourism development, this implies adopting an approach even more attuned to the city’s natural, heritage, and cultural character and which corresponds to UNWTO’s Global Code of Ethics for Tourism as well as to the principles of the International Cultural Tourism Charter of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). Tourisme Montréal wishes to acknowledge the combined efforts of all Montréal stakeholders who participated in the application, including the two co-applicants Héritage Montréal and the World Centre of Excellence for Destinations (CED). The collaboration of the Ministère de la Culture et des communications du Québec, through its commitment to Montréal’s cultural tourism, was also invaluable for this achievement. Finally, Tourisme Montréal wishes to thank the National Geographic Society for this exceptional recognition of Montréal. For more information, visit www.tourism-montreal.org. “

ConventionPlanit.com “RFP Valet” a Useful Tool for Planners

Wednesday, April 06 @ 12:48:09 EDT “Becky Youngman, President-Elect of the Florida Foreign Language Association, needed a few competitive hotel quotes for the 2006 FFLA Annual Conference.To speed the process and ensure that it reached properties that were the best match, she used the “RFP Valet™” process on ConventionPlanit.com.“The RFP Valet™ was extremely valuable to me in selecting a property,” Youngman says. “ConventionPlanit.com provided personalized service to match my needs with the best properties available according to my specifications.” Sara Pitts of United Healthcare was equally grateful for the service. “Thank you for all of your help,” she said after using the RFP Valet™ process. “I have over 26 properties from Arizona that have responded. Your service has been a tremendous help; I wish I had used you from the beginning because it would have saved me a lot of time! I will keep ConventionPlanit.com in mind the next time I need to gather proposals from multiple hotels.” A new feature recently introduced on ConventionPlanit.com, the RFP Valet™ process is easy. A meeting professional fills out the RFP Valet™ form on the Web site, submits it, and quickly receives a phone call from a ConventionPlanit.com executive. The executive reviews the requirements listed in the RFP, asks a few key questions about the needs of the organization, and works with the planner to identify selected properties likely to meet the criteria. The meeting planner provides permission to send the RFP to each facility, bureau or service provider identified on the Web site. ConventionPlanit.com also makes sure that the RFP is not duplicated in the market. But the process doesn’t end there. The ConventionPlanit.com team follows up to ensure that the right person received the RFP and is providing the planner with rates and availability, a formal proposal, or declines to bid on the business. “The RFP Valet™ process puts buyers and sellers together and ensures that each lead is qualified,” explains ConventionPlanit.com Co-Founder David Markham. “Advertisers on our web portal pay an annual listing fee, therefore, ConventionPlanit.com receives no commissions nor are there any hidden fees for planners to worry about when processing RFPs online. We choose to offer meeting professionals this ‘valet’ service because there is a real need in the market for refining RFPs and providing personalized service. Meeting professionals appreciate it and return to ConventionPlanit.com repeatedly for a wide range of meeting needs.” Meeting professionals can access this service by visiting www.conventionplanit.com and clicking on “RFP Valet™.” “