The Meetings Industry Association (mia) and the Alliance of Independent Event Agencies (AIEA) will be further extending their collaboration to aid the recovery of the sector.
During the pandemic, the two industry associations have worked in partnership compiling crucial sector insight to forecast when the business meetings and events industry can expect to return to pre-COVID levels, and now this further collaboration will see the mia and AIEA deliver a series of informative back to business events.
Kicking off on 7 April, the first event will see panelists from the boards of each organisation discussing both the challenges and opportunities presented to the sector from the latest findings, which were presented to government. Members of both business networks will be given the chance to get involved with the debate while also discussing industry-wide solutions around issues such as booker confidence.
Recognising the influence and role of hybrid in future business meetings and events, the second event on 21 April will provide event agencies the chance to discover some of the crucial advancements and creative solutions this technology can now provide arming them with the knowledge they need to support their clients. At this event a number of mia member venues will also have the opportunity to individually present and showcase their evolved event offerings.
Concluding the series on 5 May, the mia board will continue its best practice guidance work collaborating with AIEA members. Together they will discuss the existing models and whether they are still both fit for purpose and fair for all parties in key areas such as cancellation terms and rate strategies.
Jane Longhurst, chief executive of the mia, said: “We are delighted to be further collaborating with the AIEA to jointly provide much-needed support to all members at this crucial time. There is a huge amount of synergy between both of our business networks, so it is essential that we continue to work in partnership. We hope that these initial sessions will further promote an even greater understanding of each party’s needs, which will ultimately enable us as industry to grow back even stronger.”
Kerry Walsh, chairman of the AIEA, said: “The partnership with the mia makes perfect sense, collaboration is key in today’s new world so joining forces to support our members is crucial. Whether that’s in planning and executing events, learning from each other’s organisations, or just simply in bouncing ideas around, our members have a wealth of knowledge that can help each other overcome obstacles and these joint sessions will be vital for leading that charge.”
To find out more about these events visit https://www.mia-uk.org/Calendar.
Author: Adam Parry
Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.
