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The International Association of Conference Centers has always prided itself on the inclusiveness of the organization and now that inclusiveness is happening on a hemispherical scale. To better reflect the growing meeting venue industries south-of-the-border, the Board of Directors of IACC’s North American Chapter has voted to change its official name from IACC North America to IACC Americas.

 “The repositioning of IACC North America is in keeping with the primary mission of IACC: to expand awareness of the conference center concept,” said Neil Pompan, IACC Global President (Pompan is also Vice President of Thayer Lodging Group). “It is critical, as we expand globally, to build an organization that is inclusive of all countries and cultures.

The new name, which was also agreed to by organization’s Global Board of Directors, is intended to more accurately reflect IACC’s goals to consolidate make the individual IACC entities more effective and is a harbinger of further changes within the leading international organization representing small-to-mid-size meeting venues.  “This is the first step in a worldwide restructuring of IACC that will include a consolidation of all members and chapters in continental Europe and then in Asia Pacific,” added Pompan. “Consolidation will help us grow membership throughout the world, improve communications among members, build greater member value and, significantly increase awareness among meeting decision makers.”

In addition, the name change reflects a new reality—the expanding number of meeting venues in Latin America and the Caribbean, the increasing appeal of these countries as meetings destination, and the growing economies of many of the nations in this region, which in turn are supporting emerging meetings industries. “There is substantial demand for productive meeting environments in all these regions,” said Tom Bolman, CAE, Executive Vice President of IACC Global and IACC Americas. “While the reservoir of bona fide conference centers is still quite low, we believe that we can help shape the industry by encouraging developers to align future projects and retrofitted facilities with IACC’s Universal Criteria.”

When the announcement was made at recent meeting of the Board of Directors, Tom Cappucci, now the “first” President of the IACC Americas (he is also General Manager of University Place Hotel & Conference Center) said, “this is a significant step in our initiative to expand and grow the chapter and to continue to promote the message about the value of conference centers. The timing is right to lay the foundation for a strong and vibrant future for IACC in the Americas.”