< Previousthey welcome paicipants from all over the world, proximity to the airpo and being minimally walkable. Poland, Slovenia and Austria were three destinations that caught the event manager’s a©ention. From Conventa, Andrea Santos notes the good balance between the entire programme, between moments of work, networking and relaxation. “I think the organisation is very careful with this, which is something you sometimes don’t see in other events of the same kind, which have very intense programmes,” where everything takes place in the same place. In the case of Conventa, the programme includes several venues in the city to give people the chance to get to know the different alternatives in the destination. Ljubljana was a surprise for Andrea Santos. “For events I found it incredible, essentially because people could get around so easily. I was here for four days, visited all the venues I needed to and passed all the main hotels on foot. I didn’t get in a taxi, I didn’t get on a bus, a shu©le bus, nothing.”This means that the paicipants in an event can “enjoy the congress, the academic and scientific pa, and when they leave the meetings and sessions, they can enjoy the city,” he emphasises. “I think it’s impoant to hold congresses in places where people can experience what’s happening in the city, I can leave the congress centre, get to the hotel, put on my trainers, take a walk around the city, and still be in time for the gala dinner.” Ljubljana has “recovered from the pandemic” and is increasingly a©racting the American market. © Marko Delbello Ocepek WWW.EVENTPOINTINTERNATIONAL.COM 30 REPORT The pandemic is behind us and the Slovenian capital is increasingly a©ractive to the meetings industry, the director of the Ljubljana Convention Bureau told Event Point during the 16th edition of Conventa. “We have recovered the events that were planned at the time the pandemic hit. I’d say 80 per cent of the events have been held so far, some are still planned, but the main ones have already taken place,”Jan Oršic emphasised. According to the director of the Ljubljana Convention Bureau, “this year, the Italian market is finally back”. In addition, they have received “many more groups and individuals from the United States”. Jan Oršic believes that Ljubljana is able to host “a wide variety of events” and emphasises that it has hosted “some fantastic incentives”. “We’re talking about 600, 700 people, we’re talking about really big conferences,” he emphasised. “People want to come here. We have lots of venues, even for smaller events. For us, a small event for 50 people is just as interesting as one for 100 or 1000. People are welcome,” he added. For the director of the Ljubljana Convention Bureau, the “big advantage” of Ljubljana is “the fact that most venues and hotels are within walking distance”. Asked about the role of A ificial Intelligence in the events sector, Jan Orsic said that if it is used “intelligently” and if it is possible to “regulate what it can do”, A ificial Intelligence could be “a tool that takes some of the burden out of daily work”. “A ificial Intelligence can give us the oppo unity to develop our creativity and develop our productivity where it maers most,” he said. Cláudia Coutinho de Sousa* *The journalist travelled at the invitation of ConventaFIVE LESSONS WE CAN LEARN FROM THE ICCA IBERIAN CHAPTER MEETING IN SITGES In the a¯ermath of the most recent annual meeting of the ICCA Iberian Chapter in Sitges, Barcelona, at the beginning of March, there are five lessons that remain. WWW.EVENTPOINTINTERNATIONAL.COM 32 REPORT The latest meeting of the ICCA Iberian Chapter, currently chaired by Jorge Vinha da Silva of Meo Arena, allows us to draw five impo ant lessons. One. These meetings help to build a group spirit, a working family. If we go back a few years, it’s easy to remember meetings with a ceain tension: Spaniards talking to other Spaniards in Spanish, and Pouguese talking to other Pouguese in Pouguese. The realisation of the difference in size between the two markets, Pouguese and Spanish. And even the fact that Spanish representation outnumbered Pouguese representation. All this seemed to add up, contributing to the ‘climate of tension’. Several years on - and many thanks to the generous leadership of Christoph Tessmar, president of the Barcelona Convention Bureau, now continued by Jorge Vinha da Silva, from Meo Arena - that feeling seems to have been definitively overcome. Competitors are still competitors, regardless of which side of the border they’re on, but collaboration exists and can always deepen. There’s a relaxed, fraternal atmosphere, and even the rookies quickly fit into this affable, family atmosphere. Two. Belonging to an association like ICCA puts a series of tools in the hands of its members that are not always well exploited. These meetings are a privileged place to remind members of the tools available to them. Strangely, or not, the majority of a©endees don’t know about or don’t usually take advantage of the options available to them, be it in the association’s database - one of the largest in the industry - at training events, networking events or those for exchanging contacts between members and potential clients. Three. Knowledge is oen within doors. The Chapter realised this several years ago and tries to ensure that at every meeting members are also the protagonists in presentations, conversations and sharing experiences. Aer all, competition is natural, even healthy, among peers in the same trade, but it can coexist pe¶ectly with the sharing of ideas and even business oppounities. Of course, there’s always room for a keynote speaker, as was the case this year with Veemal Gungadin. The co-founder and CEO of Gevme and head of Spark is a recognised figure in the world of event technology, above all for the innovative integration of generative Aificial Intelligence (AI) [capable of creating new content such as text, images, music, audio and videos] in the organisation and management of events. Honorary treasurer of SACEOS - Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers, he plays a key role in strengthening the business events community in the region. Mr Gungadin has also served on the Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees of the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA). Veemal Gungadin gave several examples of how to use tools such as Google’s Gemini. The applications are numerous, but these examples ranged from turning a video interview with an event speaker into a set of social media posts to creating a promotional campaign for a conference. Curiously, Gungadin’s perhaps most interesting message was: ‘Doubt it’. Embrace these new tools, fuelled by AI, yes, but always doubt and question the results. Four. The experience of bringing together more than one Chapter at each annual meeting. This time it was France and Benelux. A year ago it was the Mediterranean. The idea is to be able to hold larger meetings, with greater diversity, absorbing the idiosyncrasies of each of these Chapters, so that all ICCA members benefit from this sharing. Five. The trend of taking this type of event to secondary destinations was only confirmed once again with this year’s edition in Sitges, in the Barcelona region. This was the oppounity to showcase a destination with its own arguments, and quite competent ones at that, but which inevitably lives in Barcelona’s shadow. One of the main venues chosen was the estate of the Torres family, one of the most impoant wine producers in the world. And if we want another example of this choice, last year, when the responsibility for the organisation fell to Pougal, the choice was Évora. And if we keep going backwards, many other examples will emerge. This challenge of distributing events throughout the year and across different regions will be common to almost all countries. AV COMPANIES PROFESSIONAL CONGRESS ORGANISERS EVENT TECHNOLOGY EVENT AGENCIES VENUES LISBON VENUES LISBOA +351 218 921 400 LISBONVENUES@CCL.FIL.PT WWW.LISBONVENUES.PT WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/COMPANY/ LISBONVENUES WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/LISBONVENUES/ UNIQUE PLACE. UNIQUE EVENTS. UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCES. EUROPALCO SINTRA +351 939 229 912 COMERCIAL@EUROPALCO.PT STUDIO.EUROPALCO.PT | WWW.EUROPALCO.PT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/EUROPALCO WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/COMPANY/EUROPALCO WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/USER/EUROPALCO1 FOR OVER 20 YEARS WE’VE BEEN INSPIRING OUR CUSTOMERS WITH THE BEST SOLUTIONS FOR EVENTS AND SHOWS IN PORTUGAL AND ABROAD. SHAKE IT – MAKING EVENTS HAPPEN PORTO +351 918 044 562 INFO@SHAKEIT.PT WWW.SHAKEIT.PT WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/COMPANY/BYSHAKEIT SHAKE IT IS AN EXPERIENCED SOFTWARE PROVIDER THAT SPECIALISES IN EVENT TECHNOLOGY. WE BUILD ROBUST, COMPLETE AND COMPREHENSIVE MOBILE APPS AND VIRTUAL EVENT PLATFORMS FOR EVENTS OF ALL SIZES AND FORMS. FACTOR CHAVE ALGÉS +351 214 307 740 CONGRESSOS@FACTORCHAVE.PT WWW.FACTORCHAVE.PT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/FACTOR.CHAVE FACTORCHAVE WORKS EXCLUSIVELY IN THE FIELD OF HEALTH MEETINGS. TODAY WE BOOST 15 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN PLANNING EVENTS OF VARIOUS TYPES AND DIMENSIONS WITH MEDICAL ASSOCIATIONS, RESEARCH GROUPS, PHARMACEUTICAL AND EQUIPMENT COMPANIES. MARKETING IS A CENTRAL ELEMENT OF OUR WORK, WHICH ALWAYS REFLECTS PASSION, STRATEGY, KNOW-HOW, COMPETENCE, ORIGINAL IDEAS AND TALENT. FORUM D’ IDEIAS PCO & DMC AZEITÃO, SOUTH OF LISBON +351 21 218 93 93| SALES@FORUMDIDEIAS.COM WWW.FORUMDIDEIAS.COM WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/COMPANY/FORUM- D’IDEIAS/ WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/FORUMDIDEIAS FORUM D’IDEIAS IS A PORTUGUESE CREATIVE AGENCY SPECIALISED IN CORPORATE EVENTS, SCIENTIFIC SYMPOSIA, INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS, WITH 23 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. BTRUST PORTO | LISBOA +351 220 108 033 | +351 212 471 687 VIP@BTRUST.PT WWW.BTRUST.PT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/BTRUST.PT WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/BTRUST__/ WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/COMPANY/B TRUST BTRUST IS A SPECIALISED AGENCY IN CORPORATE EVENTS, WITH STAFF IN MORE THAN 30 COUNTRIES. IT CONSISTENTLY CREATES UNIQUE EVENTS, INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS, WITH UNPARALLELED CREATIVITY AND QUALITY. CENTRO CULTURAL DE BELÉM LISBOA +351 213 612 697 EVENTOS@CCB.PT WWW.CCB.PT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/CENTROCULTURALDEBELEM WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/CCBELEM WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/USER/CENTROCULTURALBELEM OVERLOOKING THE TAGUS RIVER, DOMINATED BY THE JERÓNIMOS MONASTERY AND WITH THE BELÉM TOWER JUST A STONE’S THROW AWAY, THE CENTRO CULTURAL DE BELÉM CONGRESS AND MEETING CENTRE IS THE IDEAL VENUE FOR HOLDING ALL TYPES OF INSTITUTIONAL, CORPORATE, SCIENTIFIC, COMMERCIAL, CULTURAL AND SOCIAL EVENTS. 34 WWW.EVENTPOINTINTERNATIONAL.COM INDEX Next >