Skift Take

Destinations are determining the need to focus more on the impact and value of meetings on their cities over the long term.

The Future of Meetings & Events

The theme of the inaugural BestCities Global Forum in Dubai this month was: “From Success to Significance for Events and Destinations.”

The event focused on shifting how the value of meetings is measured, going beyond the success of a single convention to emphasizing the long-term business development opportunities, or “legacy impact,” for both the organization and host destination.

Steen Jakobsen, director of Dubai Business Events, told me the strategy is an important evolution for convention bureaus in terms of how they engage conference organizers. It’s a shift from promoting the destination to attract meetings to support the local visitor economy, to instead, collaborating with associations to strengthen the local knowledge economy.

He said, “Dubai is now at the stage where it wants to transition into a full knowledge economy,” illustrated by the theme of Expo Dubai 2020: “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future.” In effect, one event is informing the development of an entire country. Read our full Q&A here.

— Greg Oates, Senior Editor

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Social Quote of the Day

“VIDEO: If you’re having to solve a problem that requires more than two people together, meetings are the only way to go. — CEO of @Expedia

@meetingsmeanbiz

Tourism & Hospitality

Dubai Business Events Director On The Future of Meetings in The Knowledge Economy: The BestCities Global Alliance and Dubai Business Events are focusing more on how convention bureaus can collaborate with association conference organizers to create a longer legacy impact of business events for both the organizations and host destinations. Read more at Skift

Does Your Meeting Need A Chief Experience Officer? VisitDallas now has the first Chief Experience Officer at any convention bureau in the country. This makes a lot of sense. With events becoming more experiential, both destinations and hotels need to launch new internal positions for meeting UX designers. Read more at Associations Now

The Intelligent Transport Systems Conference in Melbourne Exceeded Its Delegate Target by 76 Percent: The ITS conference in Melbourne, Australia was a coup for the city because the event was the second largest association conference it ever hosted. More importantly, ITS gave worldwide exposure to Melbourne’s high-tech automotive industry. Here’s what it took to land the big show. Read more at Business Events Australia

Next Generation Meeting UX

Top Predictions for Corporate Brand Experiences in 2017: A panel of FreemanXP staffers weigh in on next year’s meeting trends, ranging from mass personalization to more app-like event websites. Favorite quote: “Brand experiences provide unparalleled opportunities to create an environment that leverages the best practices from science, technology, and the collective wisdom of diverse people.” Read more at FreemanXP

Top 2016 Takeaways For The Meetings Industry: Safety concerns are getting a lot of attention in 2016. Other trending themes revolve around VR, voice communication, matchmaking, and the demise of the traditional housing block. Read more at PCMA

BizBash’s 25 Most Popular Stories of 2016: Something here for everyone’s tastes. We like the posts about brand activations and the year’s most innovative, experiential meeting designs. Read more at BizBash

The World’s Largest Consumer Electronics Extravaganza Will Have The Largest-Ever VR/AR Showcase: There are 50 percent more virtual reality product showcases at CES 2017 in Las Vegas than in 2016, and almost 100 percent more augmented reality exhibitors. Karen Chupka, SVP of CES, said: “This is a pivotal point in consumer technology history, as AR/VR and other emerging tech categories are driving the entire industry forward.” Read more at Fast Company

How PUMA Used Event Photos to Drive Engagement: The retail brand harnessed the power of onsite photos to turn race participants into brand ambassadors and sources of valuable consumer data. Read more at Convene

30 Examples of Beautiful User Experience in Events: Some compelling ideas for experiential meeting design, broken down by event websites, branding, promotions, decor, and catering. See the video of IKEA’s BIG Sleepover event. Read more at Event Manager Blog

What CMOs Must Nail In 2017 To Succeed In The Experience Business: Almost 100 marketing leaders share their opinions about how all brands are now in the customer experience business. “Use of data married with customer insight is key.” Read more at CMO

The Power of a Shared Experience: Q&A with Peter McGrath: The ex-Disney Imagineering executive, who recently moved over to Freeman, says: “Allowing individuals to disagree in a respectful manner can actually be additive. It creates the necessary tension that should exist in a truly creative organization.” Read more at FreemanXP

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The Skift Meetings Innovation Report is curated by Skift Senior Editor Greg Oates [[email protected]]. The newsletter is emailed every Wednesday.

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Photo credit: The Intelligent Transport Systems conference in Melbourne, Australia exceeded its delegate target by 76 percent. Business Events Australia

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