GLOBAL DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE AWARD

INCON 2017 PRESS RELEASE:
Industry wide digital infrastructure award opens

Entries from leading meeting venues are expected for this year’s Digital Infrastructure Award, which opened at IMEX America today. The global award spearheaded by INCON and supported by: IACC, ICCA, the ICEBERG, Best Cities, IMEX and AMI magazine encourages the development of best in class Digital Infrastructure in meetings venues around the world. Daejeon Convention Centre from South Korea and Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre were joint winners of the 2017 Award. Previous winners included: Austria Center Vienna, MCEC and Darmstadtium.

At the launch, Carol McGury, INCON Co-Chair and Executive Vice President of Smith Bucklin remarked “INCON partners value the calibre of the submissions for this prestigious award. We look forward to seeing leading facilities submit their entries and showcasing the best in class meeting venues”.

Bob Heile award judge explains “the quality of the digital infrastructure that venues provide can make or break an event, not to mention just providing a positive experience for the delegates who just want to stay connected”. Bob is a founding and still active member of IEEE 802.11, the standard behind Wi-Fi. He has been involved in effectively writing the rule-book for wireless standards for the past 27 years. He organizes and participates in more than six different conferences on WIFI and digital communications annually where he tests at first hand the quality of digital communications in venues across the globe. Bob together with an international panel of judges will review the nominations and the winners will be announced at IMEX Frankfurt in May 2018.

INCON looks forward to receive entries for this year’s award. An application can be completed from the INCON website: www.incon-pco.com/award. There is no entry fee. All it takes for a venue to be considered is to fill in an application with full details about your venue and return it by 28th February 2018.

Press enquiries can be taken as follows:
Angela Guillemet, Executive Director, INCON
T: +353 86 311 40 67
E: angela@incon-pco.com
W: www.incon-pco.com

---

#INCON #IACC #ICCA, #ICEBERG #BestCities #IMEX #AMImagazine #MICE #MICEnews

Austria Center Vienna demonstrates best in class digital infrastructure

Austria Center Vienna demonstrates best in class digital infrastructure

INCON has published its latest best practice case study which features the 2016 digital infrastructure award winners, the Austria Center Vienna. The award, now in its third year, celebrates best in class Digital Infrastructure in meetings venues around the world. The Case Study identifies three distinguishing features of the Austria Center Vienna to demonstrate why it won the award and what makes it a digital leader in the global meetings industry.

The 2016 Winner Case Study covers the effective digital strategy and unrivalled WiFi implemented by the Austria Center Vienna as well as the trusted international IT Partner H82 that supports the award winning WLAN infrastructure.

Roslyn McLeod, INCON Co Chair said: “We are delighted that Vienna has won this year’s award they were by far our strongest entry. We hope that meeting venues will review our series of digital infrastructure case studies and review their digital infrastructure accordingly ”.

Susanne Baumann-Söllner, Managing Director of the Austria Center Vienna commented “I’m very pleased that our efforts of the past few years are now clearly bearing fruit. Especially in the last three years we have shown just how effective the Austria Centre Vienna is at staging successful international congresses. So winning the Digital Infrastructure Award is a success that also demonstrates the excellent standing the Austria Center Vienna when it comes to digital infrastructure at large-scale national and international conferences. These developments are striking the right note with customers and delegates. I am also very delighted with the faith that our IT-partner H82 is pulling in the same direction as us. Together we succeed to realize great innovations – such as the awarded high quality WLAN for 20,000 participants”.

The Case Study can be found on the INCON website: http://www.incon-pco.com

More information about the award is available at: www.incon-pco.com/award

INCON 2016 PRESS RELEASE

INCON 2016 PRESS RELEASE:
Social Media Opportunities for Events and Conferences Social media has changed the approach to conference management for all involved: the PCO, the delegates, the sponsors and the speakers…INCON’s latest expert article looks at the impact that social media has had on the meetings industry and the importance of understanding and utilising all available communication channels.Author, Emma Aru, President of EGA Worldwide explains “I am convinced that we are in a new pioneering phase of the meeting industry, which will be deeply changed by social media and by the technological, social, and cultural innovations that will take place within the next few years.”
This article is No.29 in a series of expert articles brought to you by INCON.

To download the full article or other articles in the series please go to:
http://www.incon-pco.com/expert-articles

Press enquiries can be taken as follows:
Angela Guillemet,
Executive Director,
INCONT: +353 86 311 40 67
E: angela (et) incon-pco.com
W: www.incon-pco.com

—-
#INCON #PressRelease

Why Darmstadtium won top honors for its outstanding digital infrastructure?

Why Darmstadtium won top honors for its outstanding digital infrastructure?
INCON, the Global Partnership of leading Conference Organisers chose the darmstadtium as the 2014 winner of the INCON Digital Infrastructure Award. The darmstadtium overcame strong competition from the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre, which were recognised as 1st and 2nd runners up for the 2014 award. As nominations open for the 2015 award, INCON has developed a best practice case study to explain how the darmstadtium was selected from such an outstanding group of award entries from many major international convention centres around the world.
The INCON Award rests on a simple principle that meetings are better when a first class digital infrastructure is made available along with applications and tools that enhance the delegate productivity and experience. Roslyn McLeod, INCON Co Chair explains “INCON hopes that this case study will serve to inspire and inform convention centres and hotel conference venues as they strive to put cutting edge digital infrastructure services in place.”

The call to entry for the 2015 INCON Digital Infrastructure Award will open on 3rd of November. This year, INCON has opened the award to two categories:
Convention Centres
Convention Hotels
On 3 Nov, application forms can be downloaded from the INCON website: www.incon-pco.com/award. There is no entry fee. All it takes for a venue to be considered is a completed application. Once all the applications are received, the judges will review them and the winners will be announced in May 2015.

The case study is available to download here: www.incon-pco.com/award.

About INCON
INCON is a partnership of the world’s leading conference organisers and event management companies. The partnership covers 170 destinations and employs a total of 3,000 staff. INCON has substantial purchasing power and organises annually 10,000 projects, serves 3 million delegates, and manages budgets in excess of €1 billion.
About Darmstadtium
Resources and images are available from http://www.darmstadtium.de

Contact Person:
Angela Guillemet, Executive Director of INCON
Tel: +353 86 311 40 67 // angela@incon-pco.com // www.incon-pco.com/award

INCON publishes Expert Article

INCON publishes Expert Article on ‘VAT and the PCO’
An Expert Article recently published by INCON explores the treatment of VAT by PCOs with particular reference to the comprehensive changes which have been implemented in the European Union since 2010.

Authored by Oumar Counta, Director of BC&A Tax advisers, this thought leadership piece outlines the most important elements of recent VAT changes – particularly the changes to ‘place of supply’ which have had massive consequences for PCOs who operate internationally.

Click here to access a complete copy of the Expert Article which has been published on www.incon-pco.com or contact;

Angela Guillemet
Executive Director, INCON Group
Tel: +353 1 663 7947
Email: angela@incon-pco.com

About INCON
INCON is a dynamic partnership of leading companies providing consistency and continuity in conference, event and destination management by combining global presence and local expertise. Operating from 160 destinations, the 10 INCON Partner companies employ 3,000 staff, annually organise 10,000 projects, serving 3 million delegates, procuring 5 million bed nights and managing budgets in excess of an estimated €1 billion.

INCON publishes Expert Article on Drivers of Change in the Meetings Industry

INCON publishes Expert Article on Drivers of Change in the Meetings Industry
INCON, the dynamic partnership of the world’s leading conference, event and destination management companies met in Lisbon from 18th-19th February for its annual University and Leadership retreat. INCON teamed up with the Lisbon Convention Bureau and Tivoli hotels to organise a Meetings’s Industry seminar. INCON’s local partner Aim Group International Lisbon office managed all aspects of the meeting and brought all the groups together. The meeting gathered a broad group of key stakeholders from the Lisbon’s meetings industry to discuss ways to build joint strategies for the future and debate how to attract more international meetings to the city. The seminar included presentations from senior level speakers from across Europe and as far afield as Australia. The seminar concluded with a stimulating workshop where a number of actions were agreed to ensure that Lisbon maintains it leadership position as a top meetings destination.

Francisco Moser, President, Lisbon Convention Bureau commented “we are grateful to INCON for coming to Lisbon and helping share their expertise and perspectives to ensure strategies are in place to secure Lisbon’s position in the top 10 global destinations in coming years.

Roslyn McLeod, Managing Director of arinex and Co-Chair of INCON states, “Lisbon is on track to escalate its position to a higher ranking as an international meeting destination. More than just passionate, enthusiasm our recent visit highlighted a combination of compelling factors that will attract more meetings to the city. Safe, easy proximity across the city and to the convention center, good hotels and attractive pricing in a charming European environment make Lisbon an appealing destination. The INCON Partners chose Lisbon to have their winter meeting to experience the changes taking place in the Lisbon landscape and came away with positive impressions to invite future business.”

Susanna Tocca, Managing Director, AIM Group International Lisbon commented ‘We were thrilled with the opportunity to welcome all the leaders of INCON to our City. We need all their voices to raise the profile of Lisbon and to communicate its splendid facilities and attractiveness for Congress organizers and delegates alike”
Press enquiries can be taken as follows:

Angela Guillemet
Executive Director, INCON Group
Tel: +353 1 663 7947
Email: angela@incon-pco.com

INCON publishes Expert Article on Successful Conference Bidding

INCON publishes Expert Article on Successful Conference Bidding

An expert article recently published by INCON, the international partnership of conference, event and destination companies, addresses the challenges being faced by destinations in remaining competitive in the midst of a changing conference bidding environment.

Authored by Bannie Kim, President & CEO, MECI Korea, the article highlights the Asian and Latin American destinations which are steadily increasing their percentage of conference wins and explores the steps to be taken by stakeholders including PCOs, Convention Bureaux, Local Governments and Organising Committees to develop and manage all elements of the competitive bid process.

‘’Conference bidding today pitches destinations against one another in competition that might be described as an economic battle,’’commented Kim‘’ a contest of competitive strategy to outsmart one another with the aim of winning the conference prize’’.

A complete copy of the Expert Article is available on www.incon-pco.com or by contacting;

Angela Guillemet
Executive Director, INCON Group
Tel: +353 1 663 7947
Email: angela@incon-pco.com

About INCON
INCON is a dynamic partnership of leading companies providing consistency and continuity in conference, event and destination management by combining global presence and local expertise. Operating from 160 destinations, the 10 INCON Partner companies employ 3,000 staff, annually organise 10,000 projects, serving 3 million delegates, procuring 5 million bed nights and managing budgets in excess of an estimated €1billion.

INCON publishes Expert Article on Web Technology as a revenue stream for associations

INCON publishes Expert Article on Web Technology as a revenue stream for associations
An expert article recently published by INCON, the international partnership of conference and event companies, explores the challenges being faced by associations in generating new revenue streams against a fluctuating economic environment.

Authored by Gary Schirmacher, CMP, Senior Vice-President, Strategic Account Services with US based INCON partner company Experient, a Maritz Travel Company, the article highlights the issues experienced by association leaders and the areas of change which associations can consider in an effort to enhance the meeting experience and maximise revenue.

‘’Associations which change and innovate have the best chance of growth’’ commented Schirmacher. ‘’Taking risks can be difficult but organisations that try to change are best placed to deliver a fresh experience’’.

A complete copy of the Expert Article is available on http://www.incon-pco.com or by contacting;

Angela Guillemet
Executive Director, INCON Group
Tel: +353 1 663 7947
Email: angela@incon-pco.com

About INCON
INCON is a dynamic partnership of leading companies providing consistency and continuity in conference, event and destination management by combining global presence and local expertise. Operating from 130 destinations, the 10 INCON Partner companies employ 3,000 staff, annually organise 10,000 projects, serving 3 million delegates, procuring 5 million bed nights and managing budgets in excess of an estimated €1billion.