UIA Roundtable in Brussels

Around 150 representatives from associations and the meeting industry came together yesterday to talk about the impact of conferences and events on both, the local and the global community.

One of the main advantages was the interactive conference format, which enabled discussions and exchange between the participants. 

Our friend Tim Casswell from www.creativeconnection.co.uk has done some excellent graphical recording, which you can see in ourFacebook album.

In summarizing the event, the following topics might become a trend for both, associations and meeting providers:

• Planning conferences will be stronger aligned on global and local objectives in terms of impact and legacy (nice-to-have becomes to at least consider) - this can be a USP for meeting organisers.
• Associations are very keen on identifying additional revenue streams - in particular training! However, associations don't know about the European VET system (ECVET, EQF) and often create certification schemes beside the existing system.
• Sustaining conferences and events (through recording and transforming into marketing or training material) plays a more important role. 
• eLearning can be a great opportunity here - in particular the service which is offered by the Learning Agency Network:  http://conference-streaming.com/index.php/en/elearning-production

Another possibility is social learning via social media - it can be more engaging and merged with a Community of Practice, however, it is more difficult to implement without any preparation. You can see a good introduction on YouTube: