The end of the year is approaching which provides a great opportunity to traditionally look back on a wonderful MICE year and of course look forward. Together with many dear and creative colleagues, great events were again produced at home and abroad. All are passionate representatives who put the industry on the map in such a tremendous way. Last year, new concepts were added and the word of the year is INNOVATION. Because one thing this industry certainly doesn’t do is sit still.
Unprecedented height
To start with the gold, MPI Netherlands won the gold award in the Congresses and Conferences category at the BEA with EMEC 2019 Changing the Game. MPI Netherlands proved to what unprecedented extent it was able to break convention by organizing this congress. Normally the host country is just the host, but the ambitions extended further. For the first time, a congress was also conducted entirely in-house. A very bold move that turned out very well! With a very successful innovative congress in terms of content, a first-rate business card was delivered. Rightly so, this concept and output was rewarded with gold at the Best Event Awards in Milan!
Good luck
Perhaps not under the heading of innovative, but certainly a fiscal success in 2019. The WKR scheme has been in effect for a few years now, and the industry has been actively lobbying in The Hague for an expansion of the free allowance. And with success! In the context of ‘every little bit helps’, the free allowance has been increased to 1.7% and this rule will take effect on January 1, 2020. Well done!
Talk about innovative and circular thinking. The ‘Game Changers’ campaign for ABN AMRO was voted Sponsorship Activation / Event of the year in London. (Brandbase). Hardly any tennis balls are recycled on this earth. But Brandbase, commissioned by ABN AMRO, came up with a circular solution for that. Four new Game Changers were presented during the tournament: the Circular sneaker, a tennis racket muffler, a Bluetooth speaker and a green roof tile – all made with recycled old tennis balls.
RAI
Another party that has worked so terribly hard on innovation, RAI Amsterdam. Their new techniques make it possible to greatly enhance the experience of events and to link with the digital communities surrounding them, for example, facial recognition was introduced this year. This is becoming a new trend in registration of visitors to large conferences.
Motion
The MICE industry is in full swing and with it things are changing. Things that are innovative, take participants into the conscious, but perhaps even more exciting; into the subconscious. MICE events are increasingly being designed from a circular- and ahead of time hip do it, green thought. Suddenly, the Big Battery Box from the Black Cross also shoots through my mind. The column is too short to describe all the wonderful developments, which fortunately indicates that the industry is more than in flux and things are therefore changing. On to 2020, the year of EXPO 2020 Dubai, where (how could it be otherwise) sustainability and innovation fill out the theme. Are we going to hear a lot about it!
Best wishes in advance to all readers and fellow professionals, here’s to a wonderfully innovative 2020!
