Current Affairs

When transitioning from in-person to virtual events, two questions quickly arise: How much should events cost participants and sponsors? And how should digital events be marketed?

Countries like Taiwan made the most out of their IT industry development, against all challenges due to Covid-19, becoming a shining example for the rest of the world both for battling the virus and for organising big business events.

In his second contribution to Boardroom, our tech & community expert Marc Mekki explores the concept of iterative design thinking and how associations should use it to be future-proof.

Franco Viviani, former President of the International Council for Physical Activity and Fitness Research, and anthropologist at the University of Padua, Italy, reflects on the rise of virtual meetings.

In the early onset of the pandemic, many event organizers started to postpone events from spring to summer. But as borders restrictions and lockdown orders remained in place for months, they realized even summer may be too soon for a F2F conference. Meanwhile, associations saw an acceleration toward another option: the digitalization of events.

In a new article written together with David Gabathuler, Boardroom's legal contributor Giulia Mauri argues that associations can play a vital role in explaining the operation of the EU Commission's Temporary Framework.

Although we obviously can't predict what the world will look like in a few months, Martin Sirk argues there are a few things associations can do to navigate - and make the most of - this age of uncertainty.

Boardroom recently joined the #IAPCOImpact Dialogue, where Dr. Carlo Poggio, president of the Italian Academy of Prosthetic Dentistry (AIOP), and Abraham Fisher, president of the AAT-AD/PD (International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases), shared case studies from recent medical congresses that made the decision to go virtual.

With advocacy never more urgent in this ongoing COVID-19 crisis - and many traditional tools and tactics no longer viable - Tommy Goodwin, an international association public affairs and advocacy professional finds that many associations are transforming their advocacy efforts in real time to successfully answer theses challenge times.

Virtual events still sound a little futuristic, but they’ve been happening since 1993. In some ways little has changed in 2020, though things have accelerated the past few months. Marc Mekki, co-founder of Bond, shares his insights about what to think about if you want to go virtual.

When looking to find the right fit for a business event that benefits fully from local industry and at the same time has an international effect, the ‘energy city’ of Stavanger in the south west of Norway and its committed convention bureau fuel the engines of those willing to explore its services.

Graeme Mackay, Aberdeen Convention and Events Bureau, member of the Energy Cities Alliance, gives his fellow industry colleagues some advice on how to best navigate this crisis.

Scotland expressed a clear message to the business events community in the wake of the country’s Coronavirus lockdown: we’ll wait for you.

Boardroom caught up with Judy Elvey, Director of Marketing, Europe at Cvent to discuss her best practice tips for virtual events to help empower associations to stay connected to members during and post pandemic. Here is what she had to say.

At a time when resources are perhaps the most limited, are associations turning to internal development or seeking alignment? That was a start of a conversation with our Advisory Board members.

The global business spotlight has been focused on the quote “never waste a good crisis” over the past few months. While the Covid-19 crisis for many businesses was sudden and unforeseen, a crisis of a different kind has been looming over associations for the past decade.