Attendees can now earn valuable CE Credits at the IACC-Americas Conference this March!

The exciting speaker line-up for the 33^rd IACC-Americas Annual Conference brings together a multi-talented group of experts from around the globe.

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable knowledge and discuss the latest Conference Center trends!
 

Cindy Novotny Managing Partner, Master Connection AssociatesOpening Keynote: Disrupt Your Status Quo!	Avinash Chandarana Group Learning and Development Director, MCI GroupPlenary: Crossroads of Culture -How to Do Business and Work Together in a Global Marketplace
Mark Woodworth President, PKF Hospitality ResearchWorkshop: PKF Trends	Tom Cole General Manager, The Ohio State UniversityWorkshop: University Fishbowl
Midori Connolly Chief AVGirl, AVGirl ProductionsWorkshop: Hybrid Meetings - Strategy, Planning and Execution	Joan Eisenstodt Hospitality and Meetings Industry Trainer, Facilitator and Consultant, Eisenstodt Associates, LLC.Workshop: Shades of Grey: Critical Conversations about Industry Ethics™
Brian Freedman Food, Wine, Spirits & Travel Writer/ Restaurant & Wine Consultant / Wine EducatorWorkshops: Winemaking Sensibilities in West Coast Beer, Global Culinary Trends with Beverage Pairing Strategies, California Wines & How to Upsell	Joe Vina CMP, CDS. Vice President and Managing Director, Conference DirectWorkshop: Doing Better Business with Third Parties
Rachel Dumke Talent Development Coordinator, First Bank Financial CentreWorkshop: Take Back Your Life	Michele Joseph Professional Facilitator, Consultant and Speaker, Master Connection AssociatesWorkshop: Setting the Bar Higher than Ever Before!
John Potterton Workshop: Innovative Conference Centre Design	Chuck Salem President, Unique VenuesWorkshop: Leading the Service Philosophy
Eric Bracht, CTS Sr. Consultant, CTSWorkshop: Hot Topics in Technology	Travis Hodge Director of Business Development, SpeedRFP, Elite Meetings International, Inc.Workshop: Speed RFP
John Rissi Senior Vice President Operations, PSAVWorkshop: High Speed Internet Access (HSIA)	Jeff Kear Owner, Planningpod.comWorkshop: Conference Planning -Organizational Tools for Meeting Planners
Mary Anne P. Bobrow CAE, CMP, CMM, CHE, Bobrow AssociatesWorkshop: High Speed Internet Access (HSIA)

View the full conference program 

Too many cook's spoil the broth....?

........Not a chance! 

I have had the pleasure of attending two IACC Regional Copper Skillet competitions in as many weeks and I feel inspired to share my experiences with you.







The IACC Copper Skillet competition is in it's 11th year and in my mind it is getting better and better each and every year.

This annual competition is a shining example of the passion and determination of IACC members pushing the boundaries to be the absolute best in the World at what they do, with food being at the heart of it.



To put it into context, the 6 regional competitions which take place throughout the Americas, Europe and Australia Asia Pacific, determine who will go on to represent their conference center AND their Country in the Global Final.

But if you think that the chef's see this as just a qualifying round, you would be sadly mistaken, the Heat is definitely on and pride is at stake here!

 Up to 12 chefs compete to take the prestigious Gold Copper Skillet Award in their country's final, looking to earn the right to go on and compete head to head in the Global final, held this year in California. It's serious business for the chefs and also their band of followers from their conference centers, who come along to cheer (and sometimes sing!) them on to victory!



I have had the privilege to attend the US, Swedish and UK finals, as well as the Global Final and no two events are quite the same, I can tell you.  Except perhaps for the importance each put on the event, which is blindingly obvious from everyone I have met.  Some invite clients along to watch, some see it as a chance for members to network and many invite press to join IACC members in a display of culinary intensity and pressure, which even Gordon Ramsey would struggle to re-create!



When you attend a IACC Copper Skillet competition, you will see just as I have, that food is an incredibly important component to delivering an exceptional IACC Meetings Experience and according to many industry judges I met this year, IACC members can be proud to be creating World beating dishes!





Bring on the final in California this March!

It’s all about the Education! IACC at IMEX Americas

With IMEX 2013 as its backdrop in Las Vegas last month, IACC CEO Mark Cooper announced the association’s ambitious goals for the upcoming year.  IACC dramatically increased it participation at IMEX 2013 where Mark Cooper was a presenter with DCI, Development Counsellors International IACC used educational sessions at the trade show to deliver the results of their joint survey “Exploring the Generational Preferences of Meeting Planners”.    IACC was also recognized as a parter to IMEX’s popular Association Planner Forum which takes place on the Monday before the main trade show and is attended by hundred’s of Meeting Planners representing some of Americas largest trade associations and societies.

 

At a media luncheon hosted by IACC, Mark Cooper announced additional IACC goals for 2014 that include the development of the IACC Institute, a certification program for conference centre operators in 2014.  “Cooper noted, “IACC has long sought to increase its presence and influence in the certification of professionals in our industry.”  The benefits of a certification program for IACC members focusing on the excellence and best practices adopted by Conference Centres and the IACC Institute aims to “deliver learning and training opportunities which will form the backbone of professional and personal development of our members.”

IACC saw a record number of pre-booked Meeting Planner appointments at IMEX this year and greatly appreciated the support of 6 IACC members who supported the IACC stand over the three day period.

In the coming year, IACC will also step up its presence and participation in industry trade shows in 2014 to include AIBTM Chicago, CIBTM Beijing, IMEX Frankfurt, AIBTM Orlando, IMEX Las Vegas, and EIBTM Barcelona. Educating Meeting Planners will be the key focus at IACC's Camp-Fire sessions at MPI's conference in February. This is consistent with the association’s goals to increase and strengthen awareness and to grow membership in the association.  IACC has successfully increased global membership in 2013, achieving its highest number of new members in the Americas in the last five years. 

IACCs September Roadshow in Australia Asia Pacific Takes in 5 Countries

IACC’s CEO, Mark Cooper, embarked on a comprehensive tour of Asia and Australia Pacific this September, taking in 5 Countries and 6 major cities in the space of just over 2 weeks.

The tour began in Beijing, China, where Mark used the annual CIBTM Trade Show as the backdrop to understand more about the potential for IACC to participate in China in future and the best approach to participating in this major economy which has recently opened its doors to global meetings trade. The importance of this market was evident from the involvement of other global industry players such as MPI and IEEE, with both associations CEO’s leading educational sessions aimed at Chinese Meeting Professionals. Furthermore, the US Department of Commerce has officially certified CIBTM, the only tradeshow they have certified outside of the US and the number of US exhibitors in attendance highlighted further the importance put upon being part of China’s developing meetings industry.

In a visit to Tokyo, the opportunity for growth of the IACC Meetings Concept was also highlighted, with training and meetings being an important part of Japanese corporate culture. Hosted by Benchmark Japan and Joined by IACC’s Global President Peter Stewart, IACC’s two current member properties and other potential member conference centres were visited and leaders met and introduced to IACC.

The next leg of the trip included a visit to the Philippines capital Manila, to inspect IACC’s first member property, First Pacific Leadership Academy and to meet with their leadership team. Peter and Mark were impressed with the global benchmarking that FPLA undertake, including recent trips to GE’s Crotonville and to the IACC-Americas Conference earlier in the year to seek out new innovative ideas to set the academy further apart from its national completion. IACC’s visit to FPLA was later featured in the national press, which it is hoped will raise the profile of IACC in the region.  

Mark Cooper then travelled on to Singapore where he conducted an in-depth induction of the new staff and officially opened IACC’s office, which will support the activity in the Australia Asia Pacific Chapter.

The next stop was Sydney Australia, where Mark Cooper and Peter Stewart conducted a roadshow of potential members in the Hunter Valley region, a popular conference destination and where there is a collection of venues focused on meetings. The visit included a meeting with the leadership at Chateaux Elan, who have since become the latest new member of IACC in the Chapter.

The final stop was Melbourne, where Chapter board members had staged a current and new potential members meeting at Bellinzona Grange Conference Centre as well as a new member luncheon in Central Melbourne where Mark Cooper and board members spoke of the benefits of IACC membership and future aspirations for the region. Discussions with new prospect members are ongoing and it is expected that new members will join in the coming months following this visit.

Mark Cooper commented on the trip “The trip to Asia and Australia was extremely beneficial and allowed me to understand these very different markets much better and to start to build a presence and relations further. Doing business in Asia requires an understanding of the region and it is important that we have opened an IACC office in the region to support our future projects and activities”.

TRENDS IN THE CONFERENCE CENTER INDUSTRY 2013

IACC has released the 2013 Edition of "Trends in the Conference Center Industry" and they are now on sale on the IACC Website at Benchmarking Surveys.

This year's trends report gives clear signs that IACC Conference Centers are experiencing recover and outperforming the broader hotel sector in relation to occupancies and profitability.

Demand for Conference Centers grew and so did average rates, with Executive style Conference Centers performing better than average with an ADR increase of 5% over the previous year. This led to a higher than average rise in rates compared with the hotel industry average in 2012, indicating conference centers are in vogue and the choice of Meeting Planners.

The report, compiled by PKF Hospitality Research on behalf of IACC, showed that Executive Conference Centers enjoyed the greatest gain in occupancy during 2012, growing on average 7.3%. Dave Arnold, CEO of East PKF Consulting commented "Our results this year indicate that a long awaited recovery is taking place for those centers positioned to do so. Corporate meetings have proven to be the last segment of the market to claw back to some semblance of former glory".

There is a saying that 'Turnover is Vanity and Profit is Sanity'. In 2012, IACC Resort Centers achieved the highest profits on a dollars per-available-room basis. On average, Operating Profits increased 14.5% during 2012 and in 2012, Residential Centers enjoyed greater gains in Net Operating Income (NOI) compared to comparable transient hotels.

In 2012, Executive Centers achieved the greatest increase in profit margin, increasing by 27.4%.

Mark Cooper, IACC's CEO commented "With improving margins and greater stability on the marketplace, we expect to see our members investing further in their conference environment for their clients. It will be our aim to provide our members with knowledge, trends and research to help them make the very best choices as they further development their services and facilities".

The PKF Trends report is a valuable resource for any conference center operator and the report also provides valuable insights into financial statistics for salary levels, operating expenses, package breakdowns and revenues. A must for good revenue and cost management. With increasing numbers of non-residential conference centers taking part in the IACC Trends in the Conference Center Industry survey, it contains valuable data for this growing conference center type.

Pick up your copy of the 2013 Edition by visiting the IACC Store.