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VOLUME IX, ISSUE 7 // September 2015

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NEW EUROPE MEETINGS INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

52ISSUE

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KONGRES MAGAZINE IS MEDIA PARTNER OF

THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THIS ISSUE

GORAZD ADEditor of the magazine is in his profession a geographer and historian. He united his professional education and love of discov-ering new lesser-known convention destina-tions with love and passion for the meetings industry. In meetologues he will try to share his enthusiasm with the readers.

PELA JERUC With her youthful energy pela carries out even the most difficult journalistic tasks. Over the past two years she has become an important part of the Kongres team and is now ready to conquer the media world

NATALIJA BAH AD An unforgettable member in the editorial board of travelogues, who at each desti-nation adds her icing on the cake. She has insight into the soul of destinations based on many years of practical experience with the organisation of events. She is interested in everything from the history, geography and destination marketing to care for the tiny little things that make the big events.

POLONA SIMI The knowledge and experience she accu-mulated with organisation of advertising festivals and conferences, she successfully transfers to the meetings industry. She tells stories of the project Conventa and takes care that they are always up to date and fresh.

ROBERT COTTER Alongside his work for Kongres, Rob is a regular contributor to MPIs One+ maga-zine as well as MICENET Asia and Eventbiz Japan. He attends international MICE events to seek out best practice and share this with the international meetings community.

DANIELA KOSDaniela Kos graduated from Zagrebs Faculty of Business and Economics. An entrepreneur with a specific interest in marketing, after starting her career in the IT industry and culture Daniela has gone on to today run the first Croatian media for the meetings industry.

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Editor in Chief Gorazd adAssistant to the Editor in Chief

pela JerucEditor of Croatia Addendum Daniela Kos

Editor of Kongres Telescope Robert Cotter

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Official magazine of the Slovenian Convention Bureau

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OUR SELECTION

Page 14 CVB Briefing CVB should be smarter that Mr. Google by Miha Kovai

Page 18 In Focus How and why content marketing and PR works?

Page 26Been There Meeting Brand Value Propositions for Slovenia Meetings, Portorose

Page 50MeetologuePULA, Croatia

Kongres Face2face Page 74 BELGRADE vs MONTREAL Page 91 LJUBLJANA vs BUCHAREST

Page 68 Hidden Congress Guest D-RESORT, IBENIK HOTEL KOMPAS KRANJSKA GORA HOTEL HOLYWOOD SARAJEVO HOTEL PARK PLAZA HISTRIA WELNESS HOTEL LIVADA PRESTIGE

Page 48 Who Is Who Dijana Kustudic Bukilica, Talas-M, DMC Taja Maek, DT Slovenia

Page 16 Creative Break #MeetInIstanbul

Page 79Croatia Addendum By Daniela Kos - RSVP The first event festival for event

experts in Croatia and the Region- How to organize a successful incentive

travel in Croatia?- Successful first Private MICE Forum in

Dubrovnik

Page 101Conventa Experience Catalogue

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4Kongres magazine

POPULAR KONGRES MAGAZINE CONTENTSStories you wont find in any other media .

Whats next? The November issue will be hotter than ever and will not only amuse our loyal readers, but will also be cheering up international meeting planners attending IBTM world trade show in Barcelona. To meet up with the Kongres Magazine team and to get your printed issue of the magazine stop at our stand number i15. As always, we look forward to catching up!

VEN

UES

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SPE

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CASE STUDIES

Examples of good prac-tice cases of events and

meetings industry projects presented with concrete

results.

INCENTIVE IDEAS

The most comprehensive collection of incentive ideas

that already includes 270 programmes and is being

up-dated weekly.

CREATIVE BREAK

Examples of good practice in the field of marketing

of meetings destinations, hotels and events.

WHATS HOT

Presentation of the most interesting destinations

through the TOP 10 column. We are rating convention ho-tels, car launch destinations,

special venues,

VOICE FROM THE TOP

Exclusive interviews with meetings industry experts

on the current challenges of the meetings industry.

WHO IS WHO

Interviews with meetings industry professionals

that reveal their stories of success.

YOUNG TALENTS

Generation Next- young talents that will shape the

future of the meetings industry.

ENFANT TERRIBLE

In each of us lies a little enfant terrible. The editorial

board chooses the most interesting ones.

MEET BUSTERS

Busting or confirming 10 meetings destination

myths you always wondered about.

MTLG MEETOLOGUES

Meeting organizers golden guide that has been since 2010 revealing fresh and

interesting European meet-ings destinations.

KONGRES TELESCOPE

Secrets about Un-Europe-an meetings destinations

through the editorial word of the brilliant Robert Cotter.

CROATIA ADDENDUM

Fresh news, experts articles and trends from Croatia

written by the lovely Daniela Kos, editor of the Croatia

Addendum.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Editorial look behind the scenes of the most

exciting congress hotels in the region.

OFF THE BEATEN MICE TRACK

Introducing new innovative congress products that surprise with aesthetics

and creativity.

HIDDEN GUEST

Unique evaluation of hotels by hidden

congress guests using more than 400 criteria.

VENUE OF THE WEEK

Overview of interesting congress providers through experiences and special offers.

5A word from the editor

COOPETITION IS IT POSSIBLE IN THE CROATIAN MEETINGS INDUSTRY?Coopetition is one of the best ways to reduce costs

Daniela Kos, Editor in Chief, Poslovni Turizam

Coopetition is a relatively new neolo-gism. The word was formed by merging of seemingly incompatible concepts of cooperation and competition. The best known examples of coopetition can be found in IT, au-tomotive, pharmaceutical industry, commerce and even in tourism. The interrelation of large tour operators and small agencies is based on coopetition: at first glance are mutually compet-itive because they sell the same product to the customer but in fact, they cooperate in the cre-ation of tourist packages, their distribution and marketing.

The examples of coopetition in recent years can be found in the Meetings industry. For example, the key for success of most successful meetings and incentive destinations in the world is based on this model where national or local Convention Bureau is kind of a glue which brings together competing hotels, agencies and other suppliers and motivates them to create joint programs such as Ambassador program or marketing and sales campaigns. Also, many of the neighbouring meetings destinations which are part of the common or similar geographical or economic area are joining forces and having shared offer on third markets of the world. The last example is the association of 17 European national Convention Bureaus (European DMO Alliance) at the end of 2014, with a common interest for Europe to remain the worlds No. 1 destination for meeting organizers, particularly for the ones from USA. Although members of the Association, led by Germany and Netherlands Convention Bureau still have to create detailed cooperation framework. Croatia is not and can not be a member of this Association since doesnt have a Convention Bureau.

COOPETITION WITHOUT DISHONESTY OR HYPOCRISY

The most important goal in all kinds of busi-ness is to make profit by increasing revenue or reducing costs. Coopetition is one of the best ways to reduce costs; for example, the joint pro-curement process of two companies will achieve

better negotiating position and conditions with suppliers. With joint marketing activities will also share the cost and dispose with larger assets in order to achieve greater visibility in the market, and so on. During sales, each partner can still independently determine the prices and terms of cooperation for customers but can also act as a part of common, greater brand. To achieve this, certain requirements have to be completed.

First of all, there should be a positive inten-tion when making arrangements with some-times the greatest competition without dishon-esty or hypocrisy. Transparency and creation of mutual trust is one of the foundations of cooper-ation. Organizations similar in size will quicker find mutual interest for cooperation even if that means to subordinate its own ego. After finding common points, they will easily find specific el-

ements of cooperation, either through joint par-ticipation in the market, in the organization of procurement, distribution or something else. At the end of the process will define mutual right and obligations as well as the sharing of risks and profits. For example, in Croatia has twenty quality specialized DMCs and PCO agencies, but they are mainly small companies with few employees who are all fighting each other for the same or similar clients and still perform mainly in the local market. Wouldnt they have more benefits and success on the market if their know-how united and would jointly performed on the regional and global market competing with bigger players who currently in the organ-ization of major international conferences just hire our local suppliers?

Croatian Meetings industry has no signif-icant cooperation programs and coopetition is often used just when necessary. For example, the convention centre that has no accommoda-tion facilities will have to cooperate with the closes hotel to be able to organize multi-day events. On the other hand, if the above-men-tioned hotel has smaller conference rooms than the total number of rooms, the near convention centre will come handy because it disposes with several rooms. In this case, each of them will at first glance lose part of the earnings because the client might arrange lunch or a gala dinner somewhere else, but in the long run they are both in profit because without mutual cooper-ation none of them wouldnt be competitive for getting a job.

If Apple and Samsung, otherwise enemies can cooperate in certain segments of the manu-facturing process, where Samsung makes chips for IPhone, isnt it time that members of Croatian meetings industry join forces and present their joint offer to local and international clients?

www.poslovniturizam.com

"If Apple and Samsung, otherwise enemies

can cooperate in certain segments of the manufacturing process, where Samsung makes chips for IPhone, isn't it time that members of Croatian meetings industry join forces

and present their joint offer to local and international clients?"

6Exclusive Interview

"Both Slovenia and Croatia have a rich and long history in the meetings industry, however both

destinations are suffering from a lack of focused development of their physical infrastructure."

7Exclusive Interview

YIN - PATRICK DELANEY

Q: Tell us a little bit about your background and how you and Pdraic met?I did Hotel Management at University and worked initially in hospitality before moving to the Irish Tourist Board as a hotel inspector. I was then given the opportunity to move to sales and marketing and headed up the Irish Tourist Boards interface with the growing MICE in-dustry in the United States for over 10 years. I then returned to Ireland as Sales and Marketing Director for Adare Manor, a 5 star resort in South West Ireland. Finally in 1994 I started Delaney Marketing Consultants with Padraic.Pdraic and I are lifelong friends and despite the commonly held opinion that you should never go into business with your friends we have successfully worked together for over 20 years. Padraic comes from an academic background, having taught at secondary and university levels for many years. I started my career in hotel operations and moved on to des-tination marketing promoting Ireland in the United States. We joined together in 1993 and formed Delaney Marketing, which evolved into Irelands leading DMC, Ovation Group. Ovation, in turn, merged with the MCI Group and we launched the Ovation brand in over 100 desti-nations worldwide.

Q: Youve been in Slovenia and Croatia re-cently. What are your impressions of the local meetings industry?Both Slovenia and Croatia have a rich and long history in the meetings industry, however both destinations are suffering from a lack of focused development of their physical infrastructure. Thankfully this situation is changing and they are now involved in a major drive to catch up. The other challenge, of course, is that of limited air access, especially in the case of Slovenia.

Q: How did you feel about the Slovenian Convention Bureau brief for cooperation? We are really excited about this co-opera-tion as the Slovenian Convention Bureau, and Miha Kovai in particular, have a reputation for innovation and not being satisfied with the status quo. We firmly believe that a destina-

tion can only be successfully marketed if it is willing to be disruputive in its actions. There are too many safe, me too destination activ-ies which are not based on a clear, measurable and focused strategy. If you are going to cut through the clutter of the avalanche of messag-es in todays marketplace, you need to re-en-gage your customers with content that matters.

Q: What was the biggest challenge in demon-strating the effectiveness of your work?We have been working in the Meetings Industry for over 25 years, running meeting and events in every continent and being actively involved in the promotion of the various Ovation desti-nations world wide. During this time we made many mistakes, but we also had the oppor-tunity to be involved with and observe many of the most successful destination promotion activities. These campaigns have used social media and training to drive and deliver in-creased market share among customer groups and supplier partners. In particular we have been passionate proponents of training pro-grammes that genuinely engage participants and we have been delivering this type of train-ing within our own company as well as all the main Industry Associations. The challenge was to showcase these capabilities to a wider audience, which thankfully is now happening.

Q: What kind of initial advice would you give to destinations that want to host interna-tional meetings?There are no quick fixes to being recognised as a viable meetings and events destination. It takes time, hard work, funds and will not take place without a clear strategy and total destina-tion stakeholder support. A first piece of advice would be to look in your own back yard and find an academic, a professor or an industry thought leader who is contributing something of signif-icance to the knowledge economy. Leverage his international contacts to bring international meetings to Slovenia.

Q: What advice would you offer to someone just starting out in the meetings industry?Be interested, not interesting; that is, try to be open to understand what is important

to your customers and then try to deliver it. This attitude will make you always on the lookout for new ideas and ways of doing business that are relevant and realistic.

Q: How strong is the outlook for DMCs, what services might they offer and will they still be around in 10 years time?Absolutely, but not as we know them today. With the rapid growth of technology and the sharing economy many of the services and added values a DMC used to provide are no longer needed, or, to be precise, customers are not willing to pay for them. However, a good DMC is totally immersed and connected in their destination and is uniquely positioned to mediate a custom-ers goals and what the destination has to offer.

Q: What do you think are the biggest chal-lenges facing our industry today?To stay relevant to our customers. The real ben-efits of organising face-to-face meetings and events need to be highlighted and celebrated. In a world where societies are disconnected and individuals feel disenfranchised and al-ienated, collaboration is greatly enhanced and facilitated when interested parties get togeth-er in a structured, face to face environment.

YANG - PADRAIC GILIGIAN

Q: So why SoolNua and why now? Why does the world need another consulting agency?Weve been truly blessed by the opporunities weve had in our careers. Prior to working in the Meetings Industry I was a teacher for 13 years while Patrick worked in the public sector for the Irish Tourist Board in North America. Then we ignited our enterpreneurial spark and started Delaney Marketing, which became Irelands largest MICE agency with over 60 staff and revenues of 20m. Next we joined MCI and continued worked as global directors, opening 100 Ovation offices all over the world.SoolNua is the next natural step in a career tra-jectory that started with a small, boutique envi-ronment, got big, then bigger. Now we need that start-up intimacy and energy again. We want to be client facing, personally involved in projects,

THE YIN AND YANG OF MEETINGS INDUSTRYAnother Viewpoint

Text by Patrick Delaney and Padraic Giligan Interview by Gorazd ad

8Exclusive Interview

sharing the insights that come from the many mistakes weve made over the past 20 years!

And, to be really honest, the world doesnt need another consulting agency. However, our indus-try can always benefit from practical wisdom and hard earned experience. Thats what we bring to destinations, venues and hotel clients and the PwCs and McKinseys of this world need have no fear that were taking the bread out of their mouths!

Q: You are from Ireland? How did that shape your route in terms of your career and getting into meetings industry?My own entry point into the Meetings Industry came purely by accident. I was doing PhD re-search in Italian at University and our depart-ment was contacted by the Irish Tourist Board as Alberto Moravia, the famous Italian author, was visiting Ireland to write a series of travel ar-ticles. I was hired as his guide. I discovered then how much I loved mediating the destination experience on behalf of visitors to the country. I worked about 6 seasons as a tour guide in Ireland and that provided the basis for moving into the DMC sector.

Q: Why is the Meetings Industry important in todays global economy?The term Meetings Industry is not really understood outside of its own confines. Most com-mentators will categorise us with travel and tourism and while

these sectors are hugely important in the global economy the impact and importance of the Meetings Industry goes way beyond the bounds of travel and tourism and has few, if any, of the downsides of leisure tourism activity. In terms of tourist revenue, meetings outperform most niches a meetings visitor will contribute 3 4 times more revenue to a destination than a leisure visitor, for example. But meetings bring far more than that think foreign direct invest-ment, knowledge transfer, destination reputa-tion etc.

Q: How innovative is the international meet-ings Industry? We are very innovative internally within the Meetings Industry and appalling, completely lacking in innovation, in our external relations!Meetings today in relation to their delivery and execution are increasingly pushing out the creative boundries using new meeting design, formats and, of course, technology. Its really exciting to see this theres a vibrant, pulsating heart of creativity across everything that we do these days.However, were very poor at communicating this externally with the result that were still a hidden economic presence, a powerhouse without a name.

Q: What is the hardest part of the process of attracting international meetings and events?For new and emerging destinations like Croatia and Slovenia the challenge is profile, identi-ty, image. Conference organisers are afraid to select a destination thats unknown, as this may impact attendance.However, when they start to research the des-tination theyll use the standard filters with access and infrastructure top of the criteria list. If access is poor or challenging and there are not other mitigating reasons why the destina-tions should be selected for example a hugely compelling brand value proposition then that destination is dead in the water.

9Exclusive Interview

Q: What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in the regional meetings industry of South-East Europe?The challenges are image, access and infrastruc-ture and, unfortunately, there are no quick fixes for any of these!But there are opportunities too and these relate specifically to the fact that South-East Europe is still undiscovered. The on-going demograph-ic evolution in workplaces means theres a gen-erational shift which is also impacting prefer-ences regarding destinations. Young meetings delegates are more curious, more adventurous and more culturally sensitive than their older counterparts. They value authenticity over luxury, direct experiences over hands-off expla-nations. They want to taste and feel new desti-nations also because theyve been everywhere mainstream already they grew up in an era of democratised travel. Theyre the Ryanair and EasyJet generations.

Q: Which meeting brandbesides your owncurrently impresses you?From a destinations perspective I really like what Slovenia is doing its fresh and friendly. I also like Icelands approach. Its quirky and dif-ferent, just like the destination itself. The Swiss Convention and Incentive Bureau (SCIB) is also impressive I really like the short movies they present each year that give the lie to the common belief that the Swiss have no sense of humour.I also love the new independent hotels, particu-larly Citizen M and, at the other end of the scale, Im intrigued by Firmdale, The Doyle Collection and Kempinski hotels.

Q: What makes new meeting destinations stand out from the competition?You cant stand out when youre sitting side by

side with everyone else, so new meet-ings destinations that stand out do so

because theyre different, unusual, quirky, funny-looking, disrup-

tive. Once you get attention by standing out then you have

the chance to establish a connection, a dialogue, a face to face conversation.

ONE-ON-ONE WITH PATRICK AND PADRAIC

Q: Whats the first information you consume in the morning?[PD] World and local news via the radio, then followed by emails and social media platforms like Linked In, Instagram, Facebook and industry blogs.[PG] I use Feedly to curate content from a variety of on-line sources including business and meetings industry sites and sites like HBR, Monocle, Wallpaper etc. Thats where I go first thing in the morning. I also read MeetPie, MeetingsNet, Kongres Magazine.

Q: Tell us about your social media habits - who do you follow?[PD] I read all the industry blogs, of course Padraics first, and people like Bruce Macmillan, Alan Jordan and Ron from BookBuzz, and I love to read Seth Godin and Bernadette Jiwa for their insights on business and marketing in particular.[PG] Im active on Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook and click thru to other on-line content from there usually. Ive recently joined the editorial team at Event Manager Blog where Ill be writing about venues besides posting weekly at http://padraicino.com/

Q: What have been the mistakes in your career and what did you learn from them?[PD] When I knew something was wrong, I felt it but did not give enough cred-ibility to my instincts.Culture eats strategy for breakfast, so concentrate on protecting your culture and values above all else and the rest will follow.[PG] Ive made all the classic blunders from sending out an unprotected spread-sheet to a client with all our wholeprices displayed to pressing reply to all on email communications that everyone should definitely not have seen!The biggest mistake, I think, was not following the classic advice to Hire slowly, Fire quickly. The people around your organisation are the life blood of your culture and values. If theyre the wrong people then your culture and values are compromised and you should never allow this to happen.

Q: Whats on your reading list?[PD] Benjamin Black, the pen name of the Irish author John Banville: The Silver Swan - a murder mystery with a wonderful main character called Quirke. Bernadette Jiwa: Difference - a wonderful book about reimagining your business and reinventing your marketing.[PG] Im a graduate in English Literature but felt I was a fraud because I avoided George Eliots Middlemarch. I just spent the past 4 weeks reading it and now feel like I really earned my degree.

10

In Focus

BUSINESS IS BOTH COMPETITION AND COOPERATION

Christian Mutschlechner, Vienna Convention Bureau

Interview by Gorazd ad

Q: What is the value of strategic co-opetition?We wanted to generate value for our custom-ers and marketing-wise, especially in overseas markets, work together to show clients that there are two top destinations in Europe.

Q: What makes your project with Barcelona significant?This cooperation/coopetition started many, many years ago when both cities chose the same representation company in New York. It was logical that sooner or later our sales people would go together on sales trips and then our people learned about the infrastructure etc. and were able to also sell the other destination to clients. Later on we also expanded this mar-keting cooperation into Asia with a common booth at CIBTM in Beijing, or we went together on sales trips to China and India. And finally we managed three or four years ago to propose our destinations together to clients and clients picked up this new idea and booked both cities in a row for their meetings, either exclusively or in a three/four year rotation, where Barcelona and Vienna were clear and the remaining open years are tendered to other destinations.

Q: Who are the players in your network and how can you collaborate to maximize value?The key is the right chemistry between the Directors of the Convention Bureau it helps

a lot. It is based on confidence and respect, keeping in mind that we are competitors but that very often we can achieve more together. And this cooperation is not only executed in a posi-tive way by our staff, but also the key suppliers in our cities, especially the conference centres.

Q: What will you do to sustain competitive advantage over time?It is an ongoing fine-tuning and talking to make sure that the service level remains high and wherever possible becomes even better.

Q: Lessons from co-opetition with Barcelona so far?It was and is a great idea, especially if you achieve concrete business results.

Q: Your definition of co-opetition?Coopetition maximizes the benefits of a part-nership based on respect that there will always be competition.Q: Short info about destination: Why do you think that Vienna is a good place to do MICE business?Excellent meeting infrastructure, excellent ac-cessibility, enough hotel rooms in the city and hotels understanding the meeting business, politics supporting where needed and a good, client-focused convention bureau.

EFORT PICKS COOPETITION OFFER FROM BARCELONA AND VIENNA

Messe Wien The European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EFORT) has chosen for the annual congress in 2017 and 2020 Vienna and for 2018 and 2021 Barcelona, The years 2019 and 2022 will be organised in different cities.

The EFORT congress in Vienna will take place from May 31 June 2, 2017 at the Messe Wien Congress and Exhibition Center. In Barcelona the venue will be the Fira Gran Via.

EFORT congresses last 3 full days and approx. 8,000 par-ticipants attend the scientific sessions, educational meetings and training courses. It is expected that the congress gener-ates 40.000 overnights.

11

In Focus

Christoph Tessmar, Managing Director, Barcelona Convention Bureau

Q: What is the primary role of your co-opeti-tion with Vienna?Both Convention Bureaus have the same role: we have decided to approach several associations together in order to present a joint bid for both cities. We are coordinating the bidding process with the partners in our cities in order to collect all the offers for the needs required in the RFPs.

Q: How did the partnership start?Back in 2007 both cities showcased in Chinas CIBTM trade fair, with a joint promotion cam-paign for both destinations with the aim to save costs and time for customers by promoting the two cities sharing the same stand. As the experi-ence was very positive we decided to extend the Barcelona-Vienna brand to the United States. Several commercial visits were carried out showcasing the attributes of both destinations and this was very well received by the US cus-tomers. The idea of joint promotion strategies addressed to associations started in 2012.

Q: What are the common values that bring two destinations together?The highly attractive synergy of this Austrian-Mediterranean positioning has been very well received. It is a synthesis between two urban destinations which offers a good sales pro-motion in terms of Marketing. Barcelona and Vienna are two leading destinations, one with the Central Europe tradition and the other with the charm of the Mediterranean. Both can offer to the customers the guarantee of a successful and profitable event.

Q: What challenges are you facing at the moment?A novel trend, with several major medical asso-ciations in Europe reducing the number of lo-cations where they hold congresses, which is a

good opportunity for our joint promotion. The main challenge is to be selected as hosts for all these congresses and we have achieved it with several important ones.

Q: Lessons from co-opetition with Barcelona so far?In the demanding field of the Meetings Industry in times of globalization everybody wants to dif-ferentiate himself. Good sales arguments and new ways of promotion are very welcome in this highly competitive market, in which many destinations are competing to attract business. The return of this new way of promotion and this collaborative effort aimed at resource op-timization is evident with the achieved results.

Q: Your definition of co-opetition?We are not competitors; we are partners with some exceptions. One can help the other and strength is in unity.

Q: Short info about the destination: Why do you think that Barcelona is a good place to do MICE business?First of all the great infrastructure of the city. The offer of new and different venues is growing year by year. Connectivity is improving day by day. For example, the metro from the airport to the city centre will start in February 2016. Barcelona has the capacity to host any kind of event. Barcelona is continuously working on innovation, especially on technology. All rele-vant partners of the MICE sector, such as the Barcelona Convention Bureau, Hotels, Venues and service providers, are like a big family and working very well together. That makes life for customers much easier. But the most important thing is that all attendees will feel great in our wonderful city and have a lot of fun.

"Coopetition or Co-opetition (sometimes spelled "coopertition" or "co-opertition") is a neologism coined to describe cooperative competition. Coopetition is a portmanteau of cooperation and competition, emphasizing the "petition"-like nature of the joint work." Source: Wikipedia

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Kongres magazine

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Kongres magazine

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CVB Briefing

CVB SHOULD BE SMARTER THAN MR GOOGLE. Convention Bureau needs to provide true benefits to the client, PCO and delegates.

Text by Miha Kovai Photo credits Katja Jemec

Feel the people. Taste fresh ideas.

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www.slovenia.info www.slovenia-convention.com

1-AD_SLOVENIAN_CONVENTION_BUREAU_234x287.pdf 1 21. 03. 13 18:47

Please select your choice:

CVB + PCO = X

CVB + PCO = ?

CVB + PCO =

This is a statement: Meetings industry values the role of a Convention Bureau.

Do meeting profes-sionals value to role of a CVB? Some yes and some dont. Like in every business, right? Do PCOs value to role of a Convention Bureau? Ask the PCOs.

After working in this business for almost 20 years and spending the last 10 years in the CVB I would love to give you a clear answer. Yes they do. But only if you understand them and you bring added value on the table. That means CVB needs not only to understand the role of a PCO but also the challenges of a todays PCO environment.

CVB job is not just organising the site inspec-tion, providing a list of hotels and restaurant, access to civic veneues and other logistics. CVB should be smarter than Mr Google.

Convention Bureau should provide true benefits to the client, PCO and delegates. Everything in cooperation and agreement with

the a PCO. All these bene-fits must be tailored to the needs of a particular con-gress. There are so many benefits for each stake-holder that the length of this article does not allow me to list them all. Before CVB is copying what the other CVB is doing I would suggest first to dig and find what bene-fits could my destination bring to the congress and its stakeholders.

There are destinations that compete which one will offer higher financial

support for the congress. I dont believe this is the longterm solution. Nobody will truly gain over longer period of time. With this we are just destroying our own business. Bear in mind that meetings business is a long term business.

There is a place for Convention Bureau at the table when PCO comes into city. Not just that, it should actually be the best budy of a PCO. His/her right hand for the destination enbling him/her to organise the best congress experience for attendees and provide the best ROI for the association.

As we all know the saying in our industry. You are good as your last event. So Convention Bureau how did you perform your last job for the PCO?

LATEST NEWS:

"As we all know the saying in our industry. You are good as your last

event. So Convention Bureau how did you

perform your last job for the PCO?"

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1-AD_SLOVENIAN_CONVENTION_BUREAU_234x287.pdf 1 21. 03. 13 18:47

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Creative Break

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN:Our aim has been to create a hashtag as #MeetInIstanbul so as to provide the congress delegates a social platform on Twitter where they can share their experiences about Istanbul and the congresses that they participated in. Whilst at the same time

gaining new followers to our social media chan-nels to create a broader digital platform

And also increasing the number of engagements on social channels to promote the activities managed by Istanbul CVB.

#MEETINISTANBUL

CHALLENGES: Low Twitter usage of mid-

dle-aged congress delegates. Limiting the hashtag to a

pre-defined group of users. Time limit, as the cam-

paign was only for a 3-month period.

SOLUTION: Finding the right keywords

for the search results Spend a limited budget

on Twitter advertising Reaching the younger gener-

ation of the meeting indus-try that uses social media much more intensively

Giving a weekend-stay in Istanbul for 3 partic-ipants as a reward

A desk opening to promote our campaign at 3 dif-ferent international con-gresses held in Istanbul

RESULTS: Managed to achieve a great

number of engagements and participation during the campaign. Moreover, the campaign was praised by our members.

The campaign reached a number of approx. 114k engagements and around 3.63m views in 3 months. The campaign attracted around 2.5k new followers.

Raised Istanbuls business profile on social media.

3 lucky followers around the world have been chosen for the reward.

Campaign: #MeetInIstanbul Twitter CampaignClient: Istanbul Convention & Visitors Bureau

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Q: Is PR important as a discipline in the overall marketing/sales mix? If yes, how and why?The importance of PR has significantly in-creased in the last few years, although I can un-derstand it more as content marketing. At a time when campaigns are taken over by our custom-ers, there are only a few tools that enable com-munication through various channels, with the exception of content marketing. Many of them do not separate the usual press releases from content marketing. The basic difference is in the useful value of the message for the final user and through which different channels it is sent. The most important difference here is in the storytelling rather than selling services. Stories must be personal, sincere and written in the good old journalistic manner, and even better if its written in a classic five-level logic of Greek

tragedies with their concept, twist, summit, de-nouement and catharsis. Such integrated stories are easy to place within the different commu-nication media, which generally does not apply to sales messages with which most providers regularly bombard us. Personally, I have accu-mulated a lot of sugar in my blood vessels from all Valentines offers

Q: Which kind of companies, suppliers, ser-vices, or products do you think might be unable to benefit from professional PR?The answer to this question is unambiguous: I dont know any company that wouldnt profit thanks to the support of professional PR. Can you imagine the life of congress providers without their own blogs, newsletters, video channels, infographs, white papers, tweets, Facebook posts and more?

Good and successful brands have become their own media houses. The most typical example is Red Bull, which has recently posted on Twitter that they are actually not selling drinks, but are the media house.

Q: What do you think is most beneficial (to a company/supplier/service/product): to have an in-house PR professional or to hire a PR agency?Its definitely best to have your own in-house PR professional or, even better, a team for content marketing. They should be well qualified, oth-erwise they could do more harm than good. In such instances it is better to hire a professional PR agency that has mastered the language of the meetings industry. Nevertheless, the time will come in the meetings industry when new professions like content president, audience de-

HOW AND WHY CONTENT MARKETING AND PR WORKS?FAQ to Editor of Chief about PR and Content Marketing

Text by Gorazd ad

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Kongres magazine

velopment manager, e-media manager and more will all show upGood content has also never been free. In an article in The Marketer magazine an interest-ing analogy was set out that content marketing is like buying a house rather than renting. Nobody these days would build a house without consid-ering who best to engage for the job, which is the same for content managers who are today the masters of multimedia tools and who have a range of special tools at their disposal. The major problems arise because today, unfortunately, everyone thinks they know how to write

Q: What makes you open and read a press release or a press invitation?Im always impressed by crystal clear, elegant and exciting content properly tailored to a niche audience. The key is the emotional element of the story, which we know as EMQ emotional meetings quotient.Otherwise, structurally Im most convinced by:

- Title: as the most important enhancement of the message

- The length of the message: which may not exceed the generally accepted journalistic standards

- The structure of the message: which allows me to read the message in an orderly way and for further use

Through years of practice, we have learned that when it comes to articles always apply the Pareto principle 20% of the words affect 80% of the communication. Q: What then makes you delete a press release or a press invitation?Mostly the title. A good title is short, interest-ing, clear and identifiable. Im disturbed by the words BEST, AMAZING The Perfect Conference Destination A top destination for meetings and events Your ultimate MICE destination

Q: What would make you publish a press re-leases or a piece of news?Sometimes we can also spice things up with a bit of conflict, because as human beings were naturally interested in conflict.

Mistakes and room for improvement can be grouped into the following categories:

1. LENGTH OF PRESS RELEASESTodays acceptable length of the message is from 100 to 150 words. If you look at published mes-sages, at least 60% of them exceed this standard.

2. MESSAGE STRUCTUREPress releases should be clearly structured and composed of several keywords, an attractive title, a lead-in, core and a clear indication of sources. In this way, you will facilitate the work of journalists and other readers.

It is necessary to take into account that: - TITLE is extremely important and is the first

contact with the reader.- SUMMARY is all-essential information about

the campaign condensed into a concise, strik-ing and interesting paragraph.

- THE CONTENT should be clear and under-standable, grammatically correct and readable.

- THE LAST PARAGRAPH contains infor-mation about the organisation and addition-al information and web link related to the contribution.

3. THE TITLE OF MESSAGE A good title is short, interesting, clear and iden-tifiable. Words which need to be avoided are those such as best, amazing The title is the enhancer of your press release.

4. THE CONTENTGood content stories comply with the above written formula to be more newsworthy. Concretely what this means is that we should be publishing presentations of new congress servic-es, the results of market research, credit reports and awards, reports on exceptional business results and new strategic partnerships. What is most disturbing being presented as news is the enumeration of congress halls or descriptions of the services they offer in the hotel rooms

5. UEP - Unique Emotional Point Very exceptional messages act on our emo-tions and heart, which is the basic element of a good congress story. Many events dont have the potential to host a large number of people, but they have tremendous emotional impact and are worthy of the attention of the general public. Think about the stories that emotionally hit the planners, but not you as the storyteller.

6. SALES OFFERS ARE NOT press releases The worst mistake to make is certainly a sales offer release. There are plenty of them in the

IMEX System where we can see offers in which exhibitors offer discounts and all-inclusive con-gress packages

Q: How can PR people make your job easier?You have to think 24/7 about what meeting planners are interested in and not about what you find interesting in the destination. Meeting planners are interested in the stories of people from the industry, looking behind the scenes of the industry and more into the lifestyle.I recommend preparing a substantive brief adapted to our destination. With the help of such a methodology, you will certainly be more successful in your communication. In the prepa-ration it is important that you keep up with your flow of thoughts. Above all, you have to clarify the aim of the communication and target group. The decision on WHAT TO LET GO is as im-portant as what to include in your message. You constantly have to think about what makes your content different from others.

Q: What other advice would you like to share, such as great examples of PR work or cam-paigns that really stand out in our industry?Your own communication is more definitely a best practice example that I often speak about to participants at content marketing seminars, and it is one that I carry our across the region. Otherwise, I was recently impressed by the fol-lowing examples:- Glasgow CVB- SoolNua- Brisbane CVB- C-IN PCOA good practice case for us is one that is meas-urable due to its excellent results, such as that of the project Conventa.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU READ!

Instead of a conclusion, I state our five internal editorial golden rules: Do not defile the name of the corporation Do not give false testimony Do not kill Do not participate in theft

HONOUR READERS SO YOU WILL LIVE LONG AND HAPPY

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PCO VIEWS What would be the perfect PCO?

Text by Gorazd ad

01 ALAIN PITTET, Managing Director at Congrex Switzerland

04 BREDA PEOVNIK, Congress and Events Management Director of CD Congress Centre Ljubljana

02 PETER DE MERLIER, Managing Partner at C-IN

05 RANKO FILIPOVI, Director at PerfectMeetings.hr

03 MICHEL NEIJMANN, IAPCO President

06 DAN RIVLIN, CEO of Kenes Group

LONG-TERM-CONSULTANT AND NOT ONE-OFF LOGISTICS PROVIDER: THE SUCCESSFUL PCO"The real PCO of the future will consult its clients on a medium and long term basis"

NEVER TIRED AND WITHOUT ENERGY, ALWAYS SMILING, WELL PREPARED, WELL ORGANISED"I would say that small PCOs will be back on the scene, because they can provide exactly that a person and a face behind the machine, investing all of the knowledge and effort into the implementation.

AMCS ADDING MUCH MORE VALUE THAN PCO"So, shall we dare to say that the future of the PCO is dead? Probably yes, unless the PCO of the future converts its spectrum of services to the level of AMC with integrated PCO services."

THE PERFECT PCO WOULD BE ONE THAT PROVIDES A PEACE OF MIND TO A MEETING PLANNER"The future of the PCO which has already begun is the ca-pability to change and adapt to novelties in order to survive"

GOOD PCOS BECOME AN IAPCO MEMBER"Good PCOs take responsibility for the outcome of their clients meetings, whilst keeping their businesses healthy, and staff members well looked after."

THE IMAGE OF PCOS IN THE MARKET NEEDS TO IMPROVE DRAMATICALLY" I suspect that one of the greatest challenges will be that of working globally and delivering a global experience with a 'truly' local touch."

WHAT IS AN IAPCO PCO?An IAPCO PCO is a Professional Congress Organiser or Meeting Planner who adminis-ters and brings to fru-ition the organisation of a congress, meeting, event or convention in a professional manner. Such a pro-fessional manner will include timeliness, efficiency, financial responsibility and good management.An IAPCO PCO has achieved a profes-sional standard as judged by their peers and their clients.

Source: www.iapco.org

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01ALAIN PITTET, Managing Director at Congrex Switzerland

Long-term-consultant and not one-off logistics provider: the successful PCOQ: PCO in the futureLong-term consultant and not one-off logistics providerThe successful PCO of the future will increas-ingly act as a consultant of its client. The tra-ditional, more logistical services will become a commodity every client expects and which in my opinion in the future will not be the differ-entiator between real PCOs.Unfortunately a lot of companies call them-selves PCO, even if their core business is defin-itively not professional congress organisation, but a more partial delivery of logistical services around a conference.This is why Associations should choose their PCO and consultants among the members of IAPCO (International Association of Professional Congress Organisers). IAPCO members have to gain their yearly quality stamp through continuous education and stringent ad-mission procedures.The real PCO of the future will consult its clients on a medium and long term basis providing stra-tegic business planning, brand development, fundraising, compliance consulting and will develop and implement a comprehensive, tai-lor-made activity plan for two to three years. The consulting services can be combined with other association management or conference planning services to provide an integrated solu-tion for any organisation.Obviously this is not possible for those clients who opt for a yearly rotation of the event organ-iser, where the working relationship needs to be re-established and a lot of time has to be invest-ed to transfer the knowledge about the vision of the organisation and the goals and objectives of its event.Considering the consultative approach the future PCO has to adopt, only a long-term part-nership can create continuity, understanding of the needs of the different stakeholders and sup-porters and help to gain a lot of efficiencies. All associations, also very big ones with an in-house conference team, can profit from the experi-ence and multi branch know-how of a PCO and should therefore plan regular external business plan reviews and consider a medium- or long-term partnership with an agency. The future PCO will be pleased to act as core PCO, but also to deliver only part services on a

02PETER DE MERLIER Managing Partner at C-IN

AMCs adding much more value than PCO

Q: PCO in the futureWhen professional congress management ser-vices (PCO) were introduced in Europe at the end of the 70s, it was positioned as a specialised profession with an exclusive focus on the man-agement of the congress of academic and pro-fessional associations. Up to the beginning of the 90s - before the abolition of internal border controls and the introduction of the digital ser-vices - the focus remained on handling logis-tics and commodities. At that time, the PCOs became challenged by competitive activities like in-house management and AMCs, and this trend has been observed till today. After the global economic downturn and the Congrex bankruptcy, many associations reconsidered their way of cooperation with PCOs, looking for increased transparency and financial security. This resulted in a wave of in-house management. So, shall we dare to say that the future of the PCO is dead? Probably yes, unless the PCO of the future converts its spectrum of services to the level of AMC with integrated PCO services. The AMC acts as an association partner offer-ing modular services varying from commodi-ties to participative leadership, including the congress management as most visible activity of the association. The congress objectives and expected outcomes should reflect the specific strategic priorities of the association (e.g. focus on young professionals and career develop-ment, digital services, involvement of patient organisations, new financing sources etc.). And the business potential? There are still plenty of associations in demand for profes-sionalising their services and brand, so the pool for new business remains promising. Smart research and a well evaluated initial approach can avoid tenders. There are also new formats of professional organisations that are not neccessarily membership-based or even registered. Last but not least, in a fast evolving technology and health science market, new associations are being launched. Once a PCO was warning their DMC colleagues about their blurry future, now it is the AMCs adding much more value than PCOs through a long-term, outsourced, modular service partnership.

Q: What would be the perfect PCO?The perfect PCO acts as an association partner aiming for the best expected outcome of the con-gress. This will be done by an evaluation survey

long-term basis i.e. as a core housing agency, a core delegates relationship agency and so on.The vision of a PCO should be to achieve memo-rable conferences, host happy participants and, if the PCO delivers also strategic Association Management services, to increase membership engagement. What does that mean?PCOs have to use their years of experience and lead their clients to the understanding that today the quality of a congress is not assessed purely with its content. There is a considerably increasing importance of the overall delegates experience.In the near future, when also participants of sci-entific conferences will have to pay for their trip and registration, they will choose where to go on the basis of their best overall experience in the past or of the best image transmitted by the different communication channels.In my opinion, memorable congresses have net-working possibilities before, during and after the event, combined with online and onsite social media activities. Younger and first time participants need facilitators to come into contact with more senior delegates. Also the meeting architecture and the format of the dif-ferent sessions influence the participants expe-rience. Do they have possibilities to actively par-ticipate in sessions, or is the programme based just on lectures, on one-way communication? Our clients have to understand that their con-ference is a product with a brand. And a brand needs a branding development strategy, which a good PCO is able to provide.

Q: What would be the perfect PCO?The perfect PCO delivers all services free of charge. I am joking!More seriously, I think the perfect PCO has a very consultative approach and enthusiastic, motivated, multilingual and multicultural staff who care about the client. This leads to a 365/24 service-oriented working attitude, 100% com-mitment and dedication to details. The perfect PCO achieves the clients targets in an effective and efficient way and always delivers what he promises. And finally, creative individual solu-tions should exceed the expectations of the client.

About the AuthorAlain Pittet has been working for 22 years in the Events Industry. Before joining Congrex Switzerland as Managing Director in August 2009 he worked for 16 years at the MCH Group as Director of Trade Fairs and Exhibitions and in this role was responsible for 15 trade fairs in Basel and Zurich. Alain is married to an Italian and has two adult sons. He speaks German, English, French, Italian, under-stands Sardinian and a bit of Spanish, likes red wine, Italian and Thai food, smokes cigars and is very active on social media.

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03MICHEL NEIJMANN IAPCO President

Good PCOs become an IAPCO member

Q: PCO in the futureFor as long as I can remember, there have been discussions on what the future would look like for PCOs, and even if there would be a future at all for these meeting professionals. During IAPCO assemblies the members regularly engage in sessions on market- and self-analysis, in order to understand the complex dynamics within our industry-at-large, and ultimately the requirements of our clients. And it is here where we find the future.Our world is changing; societies are changing; people are changing. I suppose this is inherent to life itself. However, I believe most people would agree that the speed and variety of changes in our current existence have increased so much, that it raises concerns about the future in general. The extraordinary development of public Internet use, and technology in general, has defined many of the changes in our environ-ment. Such dynamics in life beg for reflection, as well as for interaction with other professionals.When a person truly understands the necessity for reflection, the natural follow-up is found in seeking education. Within our industry nowa-days there are plenty educational offerings at

Congrex in 1997 where he was involved in the organisation of many internation-al congresses. Changing perspective, he decided to focus on a Post-Graduate in Journalism in 2003. Returning to the in-dustry later that year, new appointments took him from Istanbul to Rome, and in 2010 he returned to Istanbul where is now Director Business Development for Figur International and the joint venture LFC.Michel is President of IAPCO and a member of the IAPCO Training Academy since 2006.

different levels. And fortunately some of these offerings include the contributions of individ-uals who are active in different business envi-ronments. And when we add to this the effort to embrace ideas and suggestions from people of different generations, we can learn that just listening carefully to other peoples experiences provides enough energy and courage to face to unexpected challenges of tomorrow.The exchange of information, practices and thoughts with professionals from different business environments drives the development of new services. PCOs deliver services that are often intangible and therefore difficult to clas-sify, administer or put a value on. It is obvious that the commoditization of certain logistical el-ements within a PCO service package has forced the PCOs towards the development of new sales arguments. And before that, or so I would like to presume, to the actual professional education and development concerning new services re-quired by clients. Now the task of the PCOs is to find better ways to market their position in the overall value description of the clients projects.Just like our clients clients, PCOs look for plat-forms offering a learning environment and an opportunity to exchange thoughts and concerns with others. For almost fifty years now IAPCO has provided such a platform to PCOs who show a commitment to raising quality standards in the international meetings industry. When all these professionals gather and engage in serious dis-cussions and joyful interactions, little miracles happen and great optimism comes to the surface.With so many different backgrounds, interests and experiences, the IAPCO members seek to provoke their minds, in order to improve their understanding and opportunities to face to-morrows dynamics and challenges. And for as long as PCOs are determined to improve their services, and committed to assisting clients and committed to assisting clients in achieving their goals, the future for them looks bright and prosperous.

Q: What would be the perfect PCO?There is no such thing as the perfect lawyer, builder or PCO. Good PCOs take responsibil-ity for the outcome of their clients meetings, whilst keeping their businesses healthy, and staff members well looked after. Good PCOs invest in appropriate education for all of the staff members, and do business in an honest and sustainable way. Good PCOs embrace every opportunity to improve their services, and as such engage in meaningful conversations with clients, participants, colleagues and competi-tors. Good PCOs become an IAPCO member.

About the AuthorMichel started his professional career in the Meetings and Exhibition Industry with a part-time involvement in the European Society of Cardiology in 1989. Following his graduation from University, Michel joined

of the past congress, implementing relevant and affordable new congress elements (design and technology), stimulating delegate engage-ment and assuring return on investments. This is done by focusing on improvements on edu-cation access, network extension and business acquisitions. By doing so, budgeting opens also new income perspectives beyond the tradition-al income sources, like crowdfunding and CSR contributions.

About the AuthorAs a doctor in pharmaceutical sciences, Peter has a lifelong interest in advancements in life science discoveries.After a decade of representing three interna-tional medical device companies, in 2002 Peter decided to take the challenge of co-founding C-IN, a modular service pro-vider to European health science and tech-nology associations.To keep up the good business mind, he enjoys free time with the family and explor-ing alpine regions and trails on his mountainbike.

04BREDA PEOVNIK Congress and Events Management Director of CD Congress Centre Ljubljana

Never tired and without energy, always smiling, well prepared, well organised

Q: PCO in the futureI hope that by now the role of PCOs is clear enough to both clients and suppliers. And I also hope that PCOs (even in Slovenia) have received the deserved praise for a job well done suc-cessfully implemented events and meetings. I must say that amount of work has not dimin-ished since technology has been seeping into every pore of our business - the energy that was once channelled into manual operations is now focused on a creative approach to our clients and communication with the audience. It is very hard to forecast the future of PCOs. Will they exist? Of course they will Im sure of that. And Im also sure that the globalisation process, in terms of transforming the organi-sation of meetings into business, will come to a certain point of arrested development. The big players servicing, or, better said, managing the international associations and making money on and for them, have made our business less per-sonal, less dedicated to detail and less human in character. I always think that a certain au-thority a scientist who has contributed to the worlds development, for example deserves the best and has a right to choose the destina-tion and the team working on his behalf when organising a meeting. So I would say that small PCOs will be back on the scene, because they can provide exactly that a person and a face behind the machine, investing all of the knowledge and effort into the implementation. Another increasingly important role of the PCO

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will be finding the money for events and their associations. The number of memberships all over the world is slowly decreasing, not only due to financial crisis, but because there are new as-sociations emerging every day. Our tastes and interests are closely focused more than ever and we select more carefully whom we are going to dedicate our time to.

Q: What would be the perfect PCO?Never tired and without energy, always smiling, well prepared, well organised and capable of finding the best way for the client. The perfect PCO should offer the complete organisation of a congress or an event from the original idea to the final realisation with attention to every detail or providing only separate services. The perfect PCO has to think instead of the client, giving thought to everything required for an ef-ficient implementation and the well-being of the delegates. The PCO has to find the best provid-ers and optimal solutions and be able to comply with all the wishes, ideas and needs of a client and realise them in their entirety. A PCO has to have invaluable experience gained throughout its long-standing and varied activity, experience complemented by extensive expertise in com-bination with training and knowledge that is continually expanded and enhanced. A PCO has to form global professional connections, has to be completely reliable, have the most advanced technology, state-of-the-art computer informa-tion system; a PCO has to search for new ideas and establish a committed professional relation-ship with a client or partner. Whats most im-portant about each of the projects a PCO tackles is the goal or the satisfaction of the client and participants.The references that a PCO acquires throughout its long-established tradition, the references gained through its quality services, are of mon-umental importance not only for the national but also international market. A PCOs advantages are a highly competent and experienced team and know-how. All other factors and circum-stances have to comply with the expectations and preferences of the organisers.A top professional organiser, extremely active and willing to establish an open communica-tion, will devise an excellent (outstanding!) programme. Prompt information, effective com-munication and readiness to cooperate are key characteristics of a perfect PCO.Other vital elements of a perfect PCO are ensur-ing that European PCOs follow market trends and developments to cope with global compe-tition and that Europe remains the worlds ul-timate meetings destination, thereby strength-ening the profile of your national association in Europe and worldwide.

About the AuthorBreda Peovnik has been Congress and Events Management Director of CD Congress Centre Ljubljana since 2006.

She is currently a member of the Slovenian Convention Bureaus Board as well as ICCA, IAPCO and other professional international associations. She teaches congress manage-ment at a college and faculty in Ljubljana.

05RANKO FILIPOVI Director at PerfectMeetings.hr

The perfect PCO would be one that provides a peace of mind to a meeting planner

Q: PCO in the futureA PCO (Professional Congress Organiser) is an or-ganisation whose core business is providing con-sultancy and management services to meeting planners. They provide expert knowledge, ex-perience and operational resources to plan and deliver successful events of different sizes, lo-cations and subject matter. Sometimes a PCO may engage a DMC (Destination Management Company) for services in a destination like excursions, dinners etc. or an EMC (Event Management Company) for themed events. Very often, a PCO organises all those activities itself, providing it has the in-depth knowledge of the destination. In short, a PCO brings together many different elements and suppliers involved in creating a successful meeting and actively oversees the whole process.

FutureThe future of the PCO which has already begun is the capability to change and adapt to novelties in order to survive. Moreover, every item has been changing from clients and suppliers to the technology and environment. Therefore, lifelong learning and embracing change is a must.

Future: ClientsNeedless to say, clients always want more while spending less by cutting the costs. The leads will be even shorter and the speed and quality of its proposal will be crucial for a PCO to secure the business. Not only will clients negotiate savings wherever possible, but they will also try to improve their ROI. Value for money will not be merely a phrase, but a significant fact support-ed by hard figures. In addition, content, being crucial to the client, determines the way in

which it is presented; and here new ideas spring up all the time.

Future: SuppliersThe suppliers will have shorter deadlines, es-pecially in favourable seasons like June and September, when they are traditionally very well booked. The majority of suppliers combine different pieces of business and very often a PCO has to dance on a very thin wire whether they can guarantee the services and number of par-ticipants and take the risk of either performing superbly or poorly.

Future: TechnologyIs there anything new to say about technology besides the fact it evolves and changes on a daily basis? Social networks are omnipresent and meeting organisers use platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter to communicate information. They are also using smartphone apps, Twitter, Instagram to interact with participants before, during and after the event.

Future: EnvironmentThe talking about ecology becomes a greater issue every day and each part of a complicated meetings industry chain needs to comply with these trends if they wish to stay in business, which has even created its own term of green meetings! PCOs wanting to play the game might join various platforms (like Travelife) to enhance their ethical performances.The business environment is not getting any better or easier for a PCO either. Legislature, at least in Croatia, does not recognise a PCO and its true values and needs, but treats the meet-ings industry as one small portion of special tourism forms, compelling a PCO to act as a travel agency. Furthermore, EU legislature did not help at all, but made it even worse with their directive of special VAT margin scheme for travel agents, making the life of a PCO more stressful, if that is at all possible.

Future: LearningLifelong learning and exchanging industry knowledge and experience will be the key. Meeting planners will continue to focus on linking their meetings and events to destina-tions and venues that live and breathe their industries, expertise areas and business strate-gies. Professionals like PCOs must embrace in-dustry networking, refreshing old and adopting new skills and knowledge, partake in the indus-try certification programmes and be prepared to always learn, learn, and learn.

Q: What would be the perfect PCO?The perfect PCO would be one that provides a peace of mind to a meeting planner delivering meeting consultancy and utmost management services while improving a clients ROI. In ad-dition, the perfect PCO enjoys excellent rela-tionships with all its suppliers, vendors and

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06DAN RIVLIN CEO of Kenes Group

The image of PCOs in the market needs to improve dramaticallyQ: PCO in the futurePCOs of the future certainly have their work cut out for them. I suspect that one of the great-est challenges will be that of working globally and delivering a global experience with a truly local touch. Many PCOs feel the need to expand and expanding relates to setting the high stand-ard international clients anticipate. I imagine

this challenge is faced by every company that expands its activities worldwide; how to meet and exceed clients expectations everywhere we work - in a world of diverse cultures and con-stantly changing business environments. To succeed, PCOs will have to bridge these gaps by moving their core activities that demand high levels of expertise, such as the scientific programmes, and centralizing them to ensure quality. Further, the image of PCOs in the market needs to improve dramatically, particularly when it comes to commissions and in turn, how PCOs make a profit. It will always be an issue when on one side you have people who are basical-ly volunteers and perhaps cannot fully master business management and yet are in control of a budget of millions, and on the other side there are PCOs who have only been hired to do one meeting. If you are a core PCO and you sign a deal to work with an organisation for several years you have more of a vested interest in working with your client as a long-term partner and being much more open in terms of how you do business and how you expect to get paid. This is not to say that one-time PCOs are not working in a similar manner to long term PCOs. However, by definition, long term relationships encompass additional considerations and transparency is a key issue to maintain client trust. And finally, the future PCO will be challenged by competition. The market is saturated and there is a lot more competition. Increasingly, associations are looking at what else PCOs can offer in terms of innovation, knowledge and education. Once upon a time it was all about logistics, but more recently, the emphasis is on content and knowledge. PCOs will also quickly realize that resources are becoming scarce. Returning clients will need to consider count-less issues - from rotation policy (they cant just go anywhere they want anymore), to meeting format (which may need to change and become more interactive to attract participants in the future), to new ways to raise funds. PCOs may very well have to look far and wide for new clients, let alone the ability to retain existing clients. Success is in finding the balance and with that, serving the client is first and foremost from beginning to end, meeting and exceeding their needs every time all the time.

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About the AuthorRanko Filipovi has over 25 years in the meetings industry as a PCO and DMC. After spending 20 years in a large company, together with his colleagues in 2010 he created PerfectMeetings.hr a small company focused on meetings, incentives and events. Their other brand is Meeting Industry Consultants, providing a wide range of consulting services in the meetings and events sector. In addition, he serves on a pro bono basis as Vice-President of the Croatian Meeting Professionals Association, a non-profit organisation con-necting meeting professionals in Croatia with worldwide knowledge and expertise.

Q: What would be the perfect PCO?The perfect, or ideal PCO, is all about integ-rity defining, maintaining and retaining it. Integrity is the core of any true partnership and so too, between PCOs and clients. The appointed PCO establishes and nurtures relationships with association and committee members, delegates, sponsors and exhibitors, and suppliers - behind the scenes and on site. In a word, the perfect PCO is the ultimate facilitator between all of the players involved in orchestrating and delivering a (no less than) perfect event. This sense of omniscient leadership leading up to and during the event is indeed the PCOs core responsibility, but no less important is the PCOs event and industry knowledge, event growth, consistency, and its ability to deliver a true global experience with local expertise. This means anywhere, at any location in the world. The PCO must also deliver continuity between events, skillfully managing and growing the society or association, leading up to the next event. Having served as a long term PCO for over five decades, I can say that we are defined and judged by our performance, delivery and the relationship we develop and maintain with our clients, from the initial handshake until the very last of the delegates has left the venue. Then the real work begins nurturing and maintaining a long term or Core PCO relationship.

About the AuthorDan Rivlin, CEO Kenes GroupDan Rivlin is the CEO of Kenes Group, one of the worlds leading Professional Conference Organisers (PCOs). Dan joined Kenes in 1993 and rose through the ranks of the organisation holding senior man-agerial positions, including Operations Director, prior to becoming CEO in 1999. His vision and guidance coupled with accumulated experience and expertise gives Kenes Group its time-honoured sta-bility and market presence. Dan holds a B.Sc. in Hospitality Management from Florida International University and an MBA, with a major in Management, from the University of Bradford, UK.

The new educational offering EDGE from IAPCO The dynamic educational seminar will now be offered worldwide with three seminars per year in different regions. EDGE Experts in Dynamic Global Education will provide edu-cation at three different levels: Level 1 new to the industry with 2-3 years experience;

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There are three EDGE programmes already in place: Auckland, New Zealand, 24-26 August 2015; Copenhagen, Denmark, 18-21 January 2016; Whistler, Canada, 25-27 May 2016.Cutting EDGE seminars will now be delivered worldwide, affordable and accessible. Are you standing on the EDGE of the future?

20 - 21 JANUARY 2016, LjubljanaSlovenia

NEW EUROPE EXHIBITION FOR MEETINGS, EVENTS & INCENTIVE TRAVEL

TH8Explore the emerging destinations of Europe over a cup of coffee

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FOTHE BOUTIQUE MEETINGS MARKET IS BACK AND THIS TIME ITS PERSONALOnce youve seen what CONVENTA can do for you in two days youll never want aything else.

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Been There

1 Meeting Brand Value Propositions for Slovenia Meetings

2 More than 50 members of Slovenian Convention Bureau

3 Elevator Pitch workshop4 Presentations of Elevator Pitch5 Happy participants6 Presentation of Patrick Delaney, SoolNua7 Mr. Kovai, Mrs. Novarli, Mr. Delaney,

Mr. Gilligan8 Networking with industry colleagues9 Beautiful surroundings in Grand Hotel

Bernardin in Portoro10 Members of Slovenian Convention Bureau

KEY SLOVENIAN PLAYERS IN THE MICE INDUSTRY AND SOOLNUA HOLD PROLIFIC MEETING IN PORTOROSEOn August 25, 2015 the Slovenian Convention Bureau held the scientific meeting with the main focus on brand value propositions of the MICE sector in Slovenia.

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MARILKA TOVARAC, MICE Sales department Manager, Valamar

"In MICE sector we see a big comeback in incentive market, and the budgets are increasing and we love that!"

Voice from the top

Q: Have you always wanted to work in the meet-ing industry?When I take a closer look at my position today, I guess one thing led to another From how I see it, one has to be a complete sales person to be successful in meetings industry: you have to be a negotiator, coordinator, planner, communication expert, designer, AV expert and finally a mind reader ... Of course, I exaggerate a bit, but what I want to emphasize is this: when you are involved with this sector, on any side, you have to be up to date and constantly follow up on whats new, not only on your key markets, but globally as well! This means that continuing education is essential for this industry.

Q: Why is your destination/country the best in the world?The main reason is our cultural heritage and unspoiled environment, but also a long tradition in hospitality industry. Here in Valamar, we are

VOICE FROM THE TOP

proud of our presence in two main destinations in Croatia: Istria and Dubrovnik. Each of these two regions represents something of THE BEST from our country: either it is Istrian phenomenal landscape and gastronomy, either Dubrovniks worldwide fame! At the same time, Valamar is known for fantastic level of service matching the international quality standards which is our phi-losophy. Valamar employs approximately 4.000 people during the season and is recognized as one of the best employers in Croatia. The thing that Valamar is especially proud about is a unique and innovative corporate system of internal and external educations which ensures continuous development of people and in that way contrib-utes to the overall business success.

Q: What would be the first thing you would show every visitor to your country?Our Adriatic sea and islands from one of the peaks of Velebit mountain.

Q: What have been your star moment so far and your favourite project with which you would praise yourself?That would be definitely opening of our Valamar Lacroma Dubrovnik Hotel 4* in 2009. I feel like I grown together with this hotel. I was so excited to see the works finishing and the final look of this fabulous property of ours! Im so proud how we positioned this hotel on the market, and of its reputation today! The list of references is stunning: this April we hosted 13th Wonca World Rural Health Conference 2015 which brought together 1200 family practice doctors from rural areas all over the world, while in May our hotels have hosted World Tunnel Congress and General Assembly 2015 with 1500 participants and this was the first time that this event was organized in one of the SEE countries. Some of the other most prominent events were NATO Parliamentary Assemblys 59th Annual Session, 27th Interna-tional Project Management Association World Congress (IPMA) and many others. Valamar Lacroma Dubrovnik Hotel is internationally acclaimed for its excellence in providing the finest hospitality experiences. The hotel has received many awards, including prestigious World Travel Awards in the past few years, as Leading hotel in Croatia and Leading business hotel in Croatia.

Q: What motivates you the most at work?My team and our working atmosphere is my biggest motivation. Also, when we get some big contract after exhausting negations.

Q: How do you deal with stress?The lifestyle of a hotel sales person is very dynamic, especially if you have a family at home as

well. However, I have learned through years of expe-rience in our sector that there is a solution to every problem! If you are a person with positive attitude, if you love what you do, the level of stress on a daily basis should be at minimum. Of course, there are sometimes challenges one cannot foresee, and when things get a bit intense. Thats when you have to use all of your super powers to find that win-win solution for everybody. These situations take much of your energy certainly, than I reenergize by spending time with my kids outside or taking a long walks on my own or listening some music.

Q: When were you last angry / disappointed and why?I think Im vaccinated against these feelings I try to understand peoples reactions and do my best to put myself in someones shoes and to solve any possible issue before things explode.

Q: Whats new in your business in year 2015/2016?Most important and biggest investment in 2015 was Valamar Isabella Island Resort in Pore, Istria opened in May 2015. The island represents a top-notch resort for guests looking for an authentic island experience with a touch of luxury.In MICE sector we see a big comeback in incentive market, and the budgets are increasing and we love that!

Q: What did you learn last week?Last week I learned that I can make it with a little help from my friends!

Q: Where are you going to spend this years holi-day and why?I choose to stay in Dubrovnik area for my holidays; after years of traveling, I still find my town and the surroundings the best possible place to be at any time of the year. Summertime holidays I spend at Peljeac peninsula where my parents in law have a house at the seaside, and at wintertime, Dubrovnik offers you that unique peace and quiet after a long and hectic season, and you have a chance to expe-rience its beauty on and on.

Q: If there were no time and financial constraints, where would you go?I love northern destinations where landscape is simple and nature untouched; that is why I would love to spend some time in Lapland, Island or Greenland. It amazes me how people there are adapted to their environment and how they manage to live without ruining the natural sur-roundings.

Q: What would be the title of your autobiography?Amusement park roller-coaster ride

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Young Talents

1. What is your favourite meetings brand?

2. Whats the bravest thing youve ever done?

3. Whats your alternative career fantasy?

4. What are you obsessed with at the moment?

5. Your goals before 50?

Mrs ANA AHAEVICity Hotel Ljubljana, Sales Manager

Career path: Ever since I can remember I knew I would like to work with brands and media, so I began my path at Pristop d.o.o., a Slovenian advertising agency, where I was working as an account assistant from 2011 - 2012. After this I started working for the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana - the faculty where I was just finishing my degree in marketing. After a great year of assisting professors, managing the budget for undergraduate and graduate student programmes, advertising and social media ad-ministration, I took maternity leave. I took a year off and in 2015 started working in tourism. City Hotel Ljubljana is my first occupation in this field and I love it. It really meets my desire for multitasking, for creativity and communication.

www.linkedin.com/in/anaahacevcic Video CV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA8JF36w8Yk&feature=youtu.be ana.ahacevcic@cityhotel.si

1: As a young mother I prefer those that are family oriented. I must admit I am not sure

what exactly you mean by meetings brand, but I would love to find out.

2: For me, bravery is an act of love and courage. So I would say getting married

was one of these acts.

3: I love art and music and I sing in a group, so I think (if it was not for my passion in

marketing) I would be a jazz singer.

4: I am obsessed with flour and sugar-free baking - and my daughter.

Miss JANETTE POGLAJENSava hotels&resorts, Sales manager MICE

Career path: As I already have a dream job I just have to continue in this way and become better every day.

janette.poglajen@sava.si

1: By owning so many hotels in so many dif-ferent destinations i