From Dan's Desk

As business events professionals we may not be curing cancer, but we are contributing to world peace

IMEX America has always been a hugely important event in the annual calendar of the DMC Network. We have our booth presence there for the 3 show days and then, on the Tuesday night, we have our annual Talent Search party. It’s all about days that run into nights, constant chat, on your feet all the time, an endless, relentless physical effort that leaves you drained for days and days...

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Show me the … research. The immense value of research produced by SITE Foundation and IRF

It was heartening to see how SITE Foundation’s annual fundraiser, SITE Classic, took place live & in-person last week at The Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. They had over 200 participants and managed to raise USD$230k in the amazing online Travel Auction in support of SITE Foundation’s research, education and advocacy programs...

 

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vacatio / vacationis: the true meaning of holidays

 

Like most of you in July and August every year, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about vacations or, as other English speakers say, holidays. While my knowledge of classics extends only marginally beyond the name of the fraternity I belonged to in school (Delta Chi, in case you want to know!), out of curiosity, I decided to investigate the Latin origins of the word. I was thrilled to discover that it comes from the verb vaco which means “to be empty or free”...

 

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Putting things in Perspective

 

By now the sad and tragic news has reached the farthest corners of our industry. I’m referring, of course, to the deeply upsetting news of the passing last week, as a result of a motor accident in the South of France, of our DMC Network affiliate, Miek Egberts, of InspireME, Monaco...

 

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#WFH? WTF!

 

I keep regular eye on our industry’s media and wanted to draw your attention to two recent articles on the future of incentive travel in “Meetings Today” and “Incentive magazine”. Danielle Le Breck’s excellent piece in “Meetings Today” calls out 5 incentive trends to watch – rise and rise of domestic destinations, new focus on resorts, #WFH, CSR and increase in hybrid. The good news is that all these trends bring more opportunities than threats for our DMC community, but the one that stands out for me is #WFH.

 

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There’s a crack in everything

 

It’s that twilight time now. On the one hand, we can see the welcome cracks of light on the horizon, heralding the re-start of our industry and getting us back in-person, face-to-face. On the other hand, our days are still punctuated by endless Teams calls and Zoom webinars, reminding us of darker days when we wondered would it ever end?

 

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How one + one makes three

 

The warm winds of recovery that are dominating the weather fronts of the Business Events industry here in the US continue with Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) attracting almost 500 in-person attendees to their invitational at the J.W. Marriott Marco Island last week. By all accounts it was a wonderful event with great education, research and networking, and all attendees agreeing overwhelmingly on one thing: it’s great to be back in-person…

 

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There’s a warm wind blowing – and it’s not just because I live in Arizona!

 

Following 15 months of tossing about on stormy seas, landfall is finally in sight and there’s a warm wind leading us back to harbour. Once berthed, we’ll take stock, crew up and, with the rising tide, we’ll hoist up that John B sail and set off again. That’s now my firm view on recovery in the Business Events industry and it gives me immense pleasure to share it…

 

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