Pan-industry partnership the Global MICE Collaborative is relaunching this month,
with three association powerhouses teaming up to deliver
educational offerings designed for new industry talent.
The Global MICE Collaborative is a
joint initiative of the International Association of Exhibitions & Events
(IAEE), Meeting Professionals International (MPI), and the Society for Incentive
Travel Excellence (SITE).
With an overarching aim to advance the international events sector, the Collaborative aims to provide a single solution for education and training to accelerate
workforce development and destination capabilities within the business events
industry.
Initially launched in 2018, the Global MICE Collaborative
delivered educational content in Shenzhen (China) and Abu Dhabi (United Arab
Emirates) before the Covid pandemic imposed a pause in its
activities.
The Collaborative is now re-launching with a keynote on
Business & Event Trends for MICE Professionals at The Meetings Show Asia Pacific, Marina
Bay Sands, Singapore (April 17-18, 2024) followed by MICE Fundamentals:
Conference, Exhibition & Incentive Events, a one-day course available
in-person in Germany on Monday 13 May - the day before IMEX Frankfurt. This course will also be available at future industry events, to be announced in due course.
IAEE president and CEO Marsha
Flanagan said: “The Global MICE Collaborative brings three of the
industry’s best-known associations together to provide
the global community of business event professionals with a ‘best of’
collaboration, initially focused on education. MPI brings networking, thought
leadership and education for meetings; SITE for incentives; and IAEE for
conventions and exhibitions. We bring indispensable connections to our combined
communities of over 110,000 MICE professionals located all over the world.”
Paul Van Deventer, president and CEO of MPI, added: “Over
the past three years the business events industry has seen significant change
in workforce composition. Some reports show that upwards of 60 per cent of
industry professionals are new and the average age has declined by nearly 10
years. This brings forth a significant opportunity for new, fresh thinking, yet
also demonstrates the need for skill development.
“Our MICE Fundamentals course
provides the perfect pan-industry immersion for those new individuals entering
this amazing industry. It also provides the perfect primer for the more
specialised certification programs that each of our individual associations
offer: IAEE’s Certified in Exhibition Management (CEM) Learning Program; MPI’s
Certificate in Meeting Management (CMM); and SITE’s Certified Incentive
Specialist (CIS) and Certified Incentive Travel Professional (CITP).”
SITE CEO Annette Gregg said: “As more
regions, countries and cities around the globe recognise the hard dollar and
soft power contribution of meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions,
the demand for professionally trained business events executives is increasing.
That’s why the leading associations in the industry have joined forces to
develop the best MICE workforce in established and emerging markets worldwide.
IAEE, MPI and SITE look forward to expanding the scope of our ‘Collaborative’
and to serving an industry that currently makes a $1.6 trillion USD
contribution to global GDP.”
Further details on the Global MICE Collaborative and
registration for the MICE Fundamentals course are available at
http://micecollaborative.com/.
