The Meetings Industry Association has announced the Ignite conference, set to take place on Thursday November 4th at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, London.
Tourism minister Nigel Huddleston will be the opening guest speaker at theย Meetings Industry Associationโsย forthcoming conference, designed to equip the sector with foresight to navigate the ongoing evolution of the events sector.
Aptly entitled โIgniteโ, the conference will fuel the next chapter of the business meetings and events sectorโs recovery, with an inspiring programme designed to demonstrate how venues, booking agents, corporates, suppliers, and destinationsย need to respond and evolve in order to recover.
Followingย Nigel Huddlestonโsย address, a series of pioneering futurists will take to the stage. Global innovation strategistย Will Highamย will unveil how venues can attract more bookings in a post-COVID environment, identifying the motives and values of the future event delegate and how to serve them. Reflecting a well-documented shift in consumer behaviour, business anthropologistย Lucia Laurent-Nevaย will uncover how such patterns have impacted organisationโs positioning, and how brands can continue to connect with consumers.
With a new eco-system for business events,ย Matthias Schultzeย of the German Convention Bureau will proceed with an assessment of forecasted recovery scenarioโs, gearing organisations with agile response plans to mitigate future risk. Beyond just business and bookings,ย Dr Eliza Filbyย will assess the future of work in a post-pandemic age,ย while Green Tourismโsย Scott Macleanย draws attention back to sustainability andย Simon Stenningย explores the future of foodservice.
Jane Longhurst, chief executive of the Meetings Industry Association, said: โThe last 17 months have no doubt been the most challenging of times for event professionals spanning the entire supply chain. When delivering our last physical event in February 2020, the first in our Extraordinary Matters series, we didnโt quite know just how powerful all the advice, guidance and pre-cautionary measures would be, and we have very much set out to replicate this level of pertinence to now drive the sectorโs recovery forward.
โWe have been listening to our members and their needs throughout the pandemic and have consulted with expert strategists, government bodies and more to compile a programme that offers practical advice that will stimulate business recovery no matter whether youโre a venue, booking agent, corporate, supplier or destination.
โGiven the current state of affairs, this will undoubtedly be one of the miaโs most pertinent events to date, and we are looking forward to providing exciting insights that will certainly inspire. Weโll also be building in plenty of time throughout the day to allow delegates the opportunity to raise any burning questions.โ
The mia conference is open to the entire events industry and has been designed to support venues, destinations, suppliers and corporates across a wide range of functions, from management and operations to sales, marketing, HR and more.
To find out more, visitย www.mia-uk.org/Conference.
