Preview: Convene 2020 sets the meetings and events agenda
15/01/2020
# tags: Exhibitions
With Convene 2020 just around the corner, the Exhibition kicks off a new decade for the Meeting and events industry with the aim of addressing important issues and trends, providing a business marketplace for continual B2B networking opportunities, whilst promoting best practise within the many MICE sectors. The eighth edition of Convene is set to draw 165 hosted buyers, taking part in 2,600 scheduled meetings with 80 Exhibitors. Ramy Salameh, International MICE Correspondent for Event Point previews what to expect ahead of the show…..
The Convene Professional Academy
The Convene Professional Academy is returning for the Baltic Sea Region’s leading meetings and events industry trade show. It will put its finger on the pulse of tech trends which is shaping the future of the MICE industry. Education is a core part of Convene and encourages best practise across the industry
As a platform for knowledge transfer, the academy will have a key focus in Technology which continues to be the ‘buzz’ topic as it continues to be leveraged to bring more return-on-investment for planner and delegate.
11 presentations and panel discussion will drill down into the core issues of the day around innovation, technology and creativity. To reflect entering the new decade, dubbed by many as the “roaring 20’s”, the Academy will shine a light on Meetings Industry Trends, the importance of AI, the power of influencer b2b marketing for destinations. The hospitality industry and the E-gaming industry and major global events that it drives, will also be a focus; e-gaming already attracts a staggering 2.5bn gamers globally generating billions of Euros in revenue.
Inga Romanovskienė, Director of Vilnius business development agency Go Vilnius stated “Vilnius is experiencing a rapid development of knowledge-based sectors like FinTech, biotech, ICT, medtech, and others. Moreover, Vilnius was recently named by FDI Intelligence as no 1 city globally for attracting tech startups.”
Meeting the Baltic Regions Medical sector
The Baltic Sea Region has a developed and prominent medical sector, especially across the spectrum of MedTech, Life Sciences and Biotechnology, to R&D, Medical Devices, eHealth to name but a few. The Baltic Sea Region is no stranger to these sectors. For example, the Lithuanian Life Sciences sector has been growing by 20% annually, and major international companies are taking notice.
In 2020 alone, ten major medical events will take place including ‘Life Sciences Baltic 2020’ which will be hosted in Vilnius. This event is a meeting place for biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device leaders from around the world to network and exchange ideas that can be transformed into new projects.
Recent Wins:
Vilnius has been selected to host the European Physical Society’s (ESP) one of the major conference 14th European Conference on Atoms, Molecules and Photons (ECAMP’14) in 2022.
The Lithuanian capital will welcome over 400 of the world‘s top experts and researchers in atomic, molecular and optical physics for a six-day conference to be held at Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva, between 24th -29th July 2022.
The Future:
Lithuania’s capital city continues to evolve as an enigmatic ‘Meetings City’. To bolster this drive forward, a new state-of-the-art National Concert Hall will be opened in the place of the former Trade Union Palace on Taurus Hill in Vilnius in 2023. The hall will be up to par with the top concert halls around the world and will feature two concert spaces: a grand hall with up to 1,700 seats and a smaller hall with 500 seats.
The grand hall will be a place for orchestra, choir, organ and theatre performances, as well as classical music and jazz concerts. The 500-seat small concert hall will serve as an orchestra rehearsal space and will also host a variety of concerts, performances, and other events.
In addition, the building will provide space for education: changing expositions, meetings, creative workshops, other informational cognitive activities related to the idea of the nation’s home and the revival of Lithuania’s history.
