 “Navigating the Perfect Storm” is the theme of the International Association of Conference Center’s second European Conference, to be held August 20-23, 2009 at Comwell Kolding in Denmark. The theme, which refers to how conference centers and similar small-to-mid-size meetings can survive the current economic trouble—which like IAAC, is global in scope.
“The success of last year’s inaugural European conference was to gather European member properties together to explore ways of expanding our leadership role in the global meetings industry and discuss a vibrant future for the association,” said Neil Pompan, IACC Global President and Vice President of Thayer Lodging. “With the global economy still struggling, IACC needs to reflect on how to continue to be innovative, relevant, and energized.”
Key to the program is the “Navigating” part, reflecting a general feeling among international meeting venues that economic problems may linger for some time. “We all sense that the storm will continue,” said Steen Broby, President of IACC-Denmark and Managing Director of Comwell Klarskovgaard. “Change is happening at an exponential rate and most of us struggle just to keep up – let alone stay ahead.”
Some of the announced session topics include “When Chaos is the Order of the Day” and “Setting the Forward Focus: understanding reality and getting our priorities right.” Uncertainty has been a dominate aspect for all economic sectors in the current economy, and IACC European Conference will not deny the issue of the unknown. “The August 2009 gathering will not be a conference in the traditional sense,” said Brody. “There will be no transfer of ‘wisdom’ from experts to participants. Instead, we will explore the unknown together – in a structure guided by experienced facilitators. At the end of the three-day session, participants will have a much better idea about what they need to do as leaders to manage the changes that are taking place. These changes are going to challenge the current way of doing business.”
The Annual European Conference will be preceded by a three-day study tour of member properties throughout Denmark. According to Pompan, “we anticipate an enthusiastic crowd from around the world at our second European conference. The topic is solid, relevant and important to every IACC member as we start to plan for the recovery phase of this struggling global economy. The conference is consistent with our ongoing commitment to provide more educational and networking opportunities for members throughout Europe. “ |
