Business Events - the continuing evolution

There are a number of critical foundations that drive commerce and business. One of these foundations is communication. Organisations and companies involved in commerce and business (of any kind) need to communicate - with staff, with customers, with stakeholders, with business partners, with service suppliers, with government and regulatory agencies.....the list goes on. This need to communicate and connect provides the very essence of Business Events, or what in Asia is commonly referred to as the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) sector.

The majority of industry practitioners and academics will readily agree that a successful and growing MICE sector will very positively impact a destination. Studies on the impact of MICE on destinations often discuss impacts in terms of direct spending, indirect spending and induced spending. I intend to take a closer look at this issue of impacts in my next posting. For now, the area that is of concern (to me) is that of the growth and level of professionalism in the MICE sector. 

There are a multitude of professional organizations and associations which focus on service components of the MICE sector.  I applaud these organizations and associations and their specific objectives aimed at increasing the level of professionalism amongst industry practitioners. It is really heartening to see more and more industry practitioners participating in certification courses, as well as the growing number of tertiary institutions offering undergraduate and post-graduate programmes centered around events management. Most of us who are involved in the sector recognise the critical contributions we make to the destinations in which we operate in.  Unfortunately, the recognition of professional certification and academic qualifications (in events management) is still lagging.  Yes, the development of professionalism in this sector has come a long way.  We now need to convince the rest of the world that MICE sector practitioners are professionals.

I hope to add to the existing body of knowledge on MICE/Business Events with this blog and certainly welcome comments and contributions from one and all.