UNLOCKING THE POWER OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PORTUGAL EVENTS: 10 MILLION EUROS TO SUPPORT EVENTS PORTO JOINS EU CVB NETWORK 10,00 € MAY 2023 » NOV 2023 BIANNUAL NUMBER 19 YEAR IX Cláudia Coutinho de Sousa Rui Ochôa COLLABORATION, COLLABORATION “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” This proverb can be applied in many dimensions of our lives, and also in the meetings industry. Seven convention bureaus, representing the cities of Florence, Gothenburg, Ljubljana, Lyon, Rotterdam, Salzburg and Valencia joined forces in 2020, to create the EU CVB Network. Porto is the first destination to join the network. We interviewed Porto Convention Bureau regarding this achievement. There is an event, that takes place in Azores, that stands for what the events should be: transforming, impactful, groundbreaking. Get to know Glex, the explorers summit. Covid-19 had an impact on our lives that went far beyond confinement. It led many people to rethink their careers and life choices. In this edition we talk about burnout in the events industry. OWNER Estação Livre, Comunicação Porto | Portugal Phone: +351 221 113 202 | info@eventpointinternational.com www.eventpointinternational.com DIRECTOR Rui Ochôa [rui@eventpointinternational.com] EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Cláudia Coutinho de Sousa [claudia@eventpointinternational.com] NEWSROOM Cláudia Coutinho de Sousa Maria João Leite [mj@eventpointinternational.com] Olga Teixeira INTERNATIONAL MICE CORRESPONDENTS Ramy Salameh, Rose de Almeida TRANSLATION Diana Reis Marques [diana@eventpointinternational.com] DIRECTOR OF SALES Filipe Silva [info@eventpointinternational.com] COOPERATING WITH THIS EDITION Geoffrey Manyara, Sven Bossu, Taubie Motlhabane and Vítor Hugo DESIGN Norma Design [info@normadesign.com] COVER PHOTO vecstock (AI generated) PHOTOS Minifoto PRINTING N.Print - Artes Gráficas R. do Progresso, 256, Lote 25 4760-841 Vilarinho das Cambas | Portugal LEGAL DEPOSIT NUMBER 358113/13 CIRCULATING 1.000 copies FREQUENCY Biannual It is strictly forbidden to partially or completely reproduce texts or illustrations by Event Point. Information in the ads are the sole responsability of the advertisers. Consequently, we can not be held responsible for any incorrect information shown. EDITORIAL 04 Companies: Forum d’Ideias PCO & DMC 06 Companies: Lisbon Venues 08 PORTO JOINS EU CVB NETWORK 12 CHATGPT: UNLOCKING THE POWER OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, BY VITOR HUGO 14 Burnout: Identifying Symptoms and when to act 20 Associations: MPI Iberian Chapter 24 Trade & events will make Africa fly, by Sven Bossu, Dr. Geoffrey Manyara and Taubie Motlhabane 26 Events: Glex 28 Associations: ICCA Iberian Chapter 30 Europalco adds robots to portefolio 32 PORTUGAL EVENTS: 10 MILLION EUROS TO SUPPORT EVENTS 34 Companies index DATASHEET CONTENTS TABLE FORUM D’IDEIAS PCO & DMC 23 YEARS CREATING SOLUTIONS FOR EVENTS Forum d’Ideias is a Portuguese creative agency specialised in corporate events, scientific symposia, international conferences and meetings. The agency is known for Professional Conference Management, Event Management, Destination Management and Venue Finding Solutions. WWW.EVENTPOINTINTERNATIONAL.COM 4 COMPANIES With 23 years of experience and constant evolution in the market, they create innovative solutions for face-to-face, virtual or hybrid event, incorporating the latest technology. Their several long-term clients are the best testimony to the work they have done. Tailor made to your needs! As a full service agency, Forum d’Ideias provides the followig services: venue finding, site selection and inspection; contract negotiations; project coordination and onsite assistance; event’s website and APP; accommodation; production, decoration & audio-visual; virtual and hybrid solutions; graphics and printing; offsite events and dinners; arrival and departure transfers; team buildings and leisure activities; entertainment; gifts; on-line registration and abstracts; secretariat and administration; onsite registration; and so much more. Sustainable Events Forum d’Ideias has reinforced its commitment to Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) by adding Sustainability as a core value. Sustainability in events must be seen by all involved as an opportunity to innovate and to find new solutions, as future depends on a more sustainable development model for companies and tourist destinations, with real benefits for everyone. And because they know that small details make a big difference (on a global scale), their commitment is to contribute to a more balanced future in economic, social and environmental terms. Why Portugal is the perfect MI destination Portugal is the perfect destination for your event as it offers a unique diverse and exciting range of cultures, climates and landscapes; from the sunny white-sand beaches of Algarve, the restful Alentejo, the gorgeous sceneries, art and culture from greater Lisbon, the Center and the North of Portugal to the tropical Madeira Islands and the one-of-a-kind Azores Islands. Portugal invites you to come and to experience its culture, traditions and friendly people. To be Portuguese is to be sociable, warm-hearted, imaginative, emotional and open to the world. FORUM D’ IDEIAS PCO & DMC AZEITÃO, SOUTH OF LISBON +351 212 189 393 | SALES@FORUMDIDEIAS.COM www.forumdideias.comLISBON VENUES - CCL & FIL NEW WEBSITE: FOCUS ON THE CLIENT This new, modern, interactive and informative website has the clear objective of launching the Lisbon Venues brand. It is a unique site where you can find all the information about the two venues, CCL - Lisbon Congress Centre and FIL - Lisbon Exhibition & Convention Centre. WWW.EVENTPOINTINTERNATIONAL.COM 6 COMPANIES LISBON VENUES CCL - LISBON CONGRESS CENTRE FIL - LISBON EXHIBITION & CONVENTION CENTRE LISBON +351 928 921 400 | LISBOACC@CCL.FIL.PT www.lisbonvenues.pt At the beginning of the year, Lisbon Venues launched a new website with a new image, more intuitive and updated, which is part of the brand’s new strategy. The new website allows customers a better and more realistic analysis of the spaces available, as well as all the technical information about each one of them. It also allows you to see the hotels around both venues and make requests for information or proposals more easily. In just over two months, since it was launched on the 2nd of March, the Lisbon Venues website has had a total of 5,000 new users and 11,000 views. This launch coincided with BTL – Travel Market, where Lisbon Venues had its own stand, together with its partners. The website aims to be a vital point to receive customer contacts, showing the space rental services and the new turnkey strategy. Lisbon Venues’ next bet is to launch, in line with the brand’s new branding, social networks. These will act as a complement to the website, “since they are quicker to access and compile information more succinctly”, explains the spokesperson for Lisbon Venues. Strategy The new brand strategy was created with the goal of positioning the Lisbon Congress Centre as Lisbon’s main venue for international events, and FIL as a space for large events, congresses, and corporate events, ending the idea that FIL only hosts fairs. “The brand’s new strategy is to present our services in a one-stop-shop approach in which we can provide the customer with all services, from space rental to stand building, from decoration to accreditation, etc”. “This is only possible with the help of our partners from the most diverse areas, who are a very important part of our team, and who present a wide catalogue of solutions adjusted to all types of events”. Sustainability Very consciously, Lisbon Venues “is committed to sustainability as an engine of growth”, believing that “values such as social responsibility and legacy are essential to continue to be successful in the events it hosts and organises”.PORTO JOINS EU CVB NETWORK Porto will be the 8 th member of this collaborative alliance and the first city to join the founding members. 8 WWW.EVENTPOINTINTERNATIONAL.COM REPORT With a focus on collaboration, seven convention bureaux representing the cities of Florence, Gothenburg, Ljubljana, Lyon, Rotterdam, Salzburg and Valencia joined forces in 2020, to create the EU CVB Network. Porto has now joined them. The goal of this convention bureau network is to share knowledge, experiences, and best practices, that both destinations and clients can benefit. It’s a model of cooptition, the members still compete with each other for many association meetings, but they believe that they can be stronger, more effective, and add more value for clients, if they work together. This also means joining forces in promotional activities and marketing. This model has very clear benefits for clients. To start, organisers of international association meetings can get in touch with eight cities at once through a group of CVB representatives. And these destinations, spread troughout Europe, have a lot in common with each other: the city centres are compact and the meeting facilities are centrally located; great connection with local communities and business and knowledge clusters; great focus on sustainability and an appetite for innovation. Five questions to Luís Pedro Martins, Porto Convention & Visitors Bureau director How did you become interested in joining the EU CVB Network? In Porto and North of Portugal we are strongly convinced that teamwork and collective effort are fundamental characteristics, not only for our institution to be successful, but also for all those we represent. Therefore, following the trajectory of having the Meeting Industry as an anchor product of the destination, when it came to our knowledge that seven convention bureaux joined forces to create a network based on these same principles, we knew we couldn’t be left out. Although perfectly aware that they all compete, almost always, for the same goals, the founding members of the EU CVB Network know that, by working together and sharing knowledge and experiences, everyone benefits and prospers. This is also the state of mind of the Porto Convention & Visitors Bureau and that is why we have been making efforts to integrate this network. We are very proud to have been the first city to join the EU CVB Network after it was created - and to have been the first Portuguese city to do so - and we are certain that this collaboration will help to highlight Porto and the North as one of the main destinations within non-capital cities and will also strengthen our position in attracting associative events. In practical terms, what does it mean joining the network? The key principles of the EU CVB Network are sharing and exchange of information, knowledge, experiences and best practices among its members, as well as a joint effort in promotional and marketing activities. As I have already mentioned, these are fundamental principles that our teams are guided by every day to make their work and our destination successful, so we just have to ensure that we continue to maintain that commitment and that stance in the EU CVB Network. On our side, we are fully open to collaborating and cooperating with other members, especially knowing that this will lead to greater awareness and visibility of our destinations, as well as a significant improvement in our performance as a Convention Bureau. Luís Pedro Martins Next >