3 HRS AGO - The Hybrid Event Arena is Sweden’s largest studio solution for hybrid meetings and has been launched at the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre and Gothia Towers in Gothenburg. With three stages and various flexible spaces, the arena is designed to provide a great shared experience for both physical and digital participants. “This type of solution is here to stay,” says Malin Erlandsson, director congress and events at the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre and Gothia Towers. Back in early spring 2020 the venue complex in Gothenburg began devising a digital and hybrid meeting portfolio with scalable solutions based on customer needs. The new studio solution has been specially developed to accommodate larger meetings with a focus on optimising the experience at hybrid events. “We know that our customers need to be able to hold larger productions in a secure format once this is permissible again. With our Hybrid Event Arena we can swiftly assist them in reaching out with Collapse

6 HRS AGO - Cvent has launched a new e-book, Virtual Event Strategy for Dummies, in partnership with publishing brand Wiley. The book provides organisations with strategies and advice for developing virtual events and hybrid experiences. Cvent unveiled its virtual meeting solution, the Cvent Virtual Attendee Hub, in August 2020. It also recently expanded its Cvent Certification programme to include virtual events training and certifications. More than 10,000 industry professionals are now trained and/or certified in virtual events. Patrick Smith, chief marketing officer at Cvent, commented: “During the pandemic, virtual events quickly became an indispensable part of many organisations’ event programmes, and because of the massive registration and attendee intelligence they can deliver, they are here to stay. “However, many organisations struggle to understand and quantify the business impact of their virtual events, and have a difficult time seamlessly integrating them into a more well-rounded Collapse

8 HRS AGO - This week our host Mark Felstead talks to Tim Nievelstein about his work as an event director and bringing his movie and TV editing and production skills and values to the world of digital and hybrid events. Tim worked for many years as an editor on the production team for Stefan Raab – Germany’s premiere late night TV talk show host and one of the most popular figures in the country. Stefan Raab broadcast for 16 years without missing a show. With events having to change and master new omnichannel delivery methods and borrow from the world of TV production and entertainment high values to create digital ‘fireworks and noise’, as Tim puts it, it is to directors that are brought up as digital production natives that clients are turning if they want to produce quality events online. So, listen to the ‘Tim takeaways’ teased out by Mark Felstead as Tim also talks about his appreciation of Berlin as a ‘vivid city’ for events and of the new-found professional pleasure of receiving Collapse

3 DAYS AGO - Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) is now able to host events at up to 75% of its original capacity per event space, to a maximum of 5,000 attendees. The change is following the implementation of stringent health and safety measures to keep customers safe. MCEC has an approved COVIDSafe event plan from the Victorian government. These approved measures include methods to ensure contact tracing, changes to food and beverage service and physical distancing, as well as preventing attendance at events by delegates from designated red zones. Each prospective event organiser seeking to hold their event at MCEC can work with venue staff to ensure their type of event complies with the approved MCEC plan, and that they provide any required additional information to the Department of Health and Human Services. MCEC’s VenueSafe Plan includes advisors to work alongside event organisers, employees and contractors to ensure all health measures are followed. It also sees building Collapse

4 DAYS AGO - The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has made it easier for companies to report on how they are meeting the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). A new version of GRI’s report ‘Linking the SDGs and the GRI standards’ has been released as a free resource. It gives a breakdown of the targets under each of the 17 SDGs and maps them to the GRI Standards. There are also a suite of tools on how to integrate the SDGs in reporting, and examples of SDG reorting from around the world. GRI Head of Policy Thijs Reuten commented: “The GRI Standards enable companies to integrate SDGs reporting within their sustainability report and this revised guidance helps them make these connections in a clear and consistent way. “The SDGs address our world’s most pressing sustainability challenges, therefore it is crucial that the contribution of the private sector is both recognized and understood. That is why GRI continues to work with partners and reporting organizations to drive forward the Collapse

5 DAYS AGO - The Scottish government is to provide further funding for its events industry as part of a new £104.3m package which will be split into nine separate funds, with the events industry being one of the targeted recipients. Scottish businesses operating within the event, travel and hospitality industries can apply, even if they have already drawn on previous funding measures. The funds include a Pivotal Event Businesses Fund, for which details remain to be clarified and is closed to expressions of interest, and a wider Event Industry Support Fund, which could be accessible from late January. Other funds include a Sector Destination Operational & Market Readiness Fund, one for inbound tour operators, an outdoor fund, one for coach operators, a visitor attractions fund, hostels fund, and a Sector Destination Operational & Market Readiness Fund. Joss Croft, the CEO of travel trade association UKinbound hailed the new funding as a lifeline. “We applaud the Scottish Government for Collapse

6 DAYS AGO - How important will events be in the communication mix of organisations in the future; what type of new skills will be needed and what criteria can be used to measure the success of events? These are some of the questions 18 months of intensive research by the Future Meeting Space (FMS) innovation network will be attempting to answer when it publishes the study findings on 22 February. The FMS project is supported by the (GCB) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO. Attending an event in person in the future will depend, among other things, on a very clear added value compared to purely virtual participation. “Inspiration will continue to be at the forefront of business events, regardless of whether they take place face-to-face, in a hybrid set-up or virtually. However, this inspiration can take different forms, from pure knowledge transfer to interpersonal exchange,” says Matthias Schultze, the GCB’s managing director. “It will, therefore, be crucial to offer Collapse

6 DAYS AGO - Global engagement and marketing agency has unveiled a new brand design which it says is to “reflect marketplace demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. MCI says it is helping brands, associations and non-for-profits realise success by developing multi-channel strategies and delivering ongoing engagement for their customers, employees, sponsors and partners. MCI notes that its refreshed brand identity is symbolised by two infinity loops to form the petals of a flower. “This,” the agency says, “represents the infinite potential when we work in partnership with our clients, and the vibrant centre expresses MCI’s passion and focus on delivering innovation and growth for them.” “People are no longer passive listeners,” MCI adds, “they seek to influence the conversation, connect in a human way, and be immersed in live and digital worlds. They are no longer just audiences, but contributors, drivers and influencers.” MCI CEO Sebastien Tondeur (pictured), adds that “in a world shaped by Collapse

6 DAYS AGO - The landlocked central African state is sticking to its tourism strategy for future international event success, with new hotels leading the virtual way, writes Paul Colston.   Rwanda has surprised many with its global tourism PR campaign in recent years, not least in the sponsorship of global brands, including a £30m (US$39m) three-year shirt sponsorship deal signed in 2018 with Arsenal Football Club in the UK.  “Rwanda wouldn’t have occurred to me as a place for tourism, so perhaps you do need to shock people,” Kelvyn Gardner, the head of international development at the Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association, said at the time.  The mountainous central African country is trying to put its troubled past behind it and speed development, Covid pandemic notwithstanding. The capital, Kigali has, in recent times, witnessed the construction of many top-class hotels and the Rwanda Development Board is confident the country can double its revenue from tourism (which currently Collapse