Welcome to Huddle’s October event industry news wrap up, where we take a look at what is happening this month in the ever-changing landscape of the meetings and events industry.
Connect is preparing a second marquee conference for next year, currently slated to take place from the 22-24 of May in 2022. Puerto Rico has been selected as the host and more than 2,000 event professionals are expected to attend, making it a significant regional and global opportunity for relationship building and business development. In fact, Connect hopes that the conference will lead to more than 35,000 business appointments between event and hospitality professionals.
The announcement comes after the success of Connect’s 2021 in Tampa, and hopes to build momentum for another large event to be held in Detroit next August. The Tampa conference included a packed tradeshow floor, keynote speakers like Simone Biles and Jerry Rice and a great lineup of presentations, so we can’t wait to see what is in store next.
“It was great to attend Connect in Tampa. I enjoyed connecting with suppliers and hearing all their updates from the past year. I’m looking forward to Puerto Rico!”
As concern about the impacts of global climate instability grow in markets around the world, more and more business leaders are stepping forward to drive their industries towards a more sustainable future. The latest of these is the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative, a partnership between the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) and the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC). Supported by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), they hope to connect major events industry players the world around a common goal of net zero emissions by 2050. Making corporate events more sustainable is a key part of our purpose at Huddle, so we look forward to seeing the outcome of this new initiative!
Leaders from across the travel, business and events sectors have joined at the National Press Club to deliver a detailed presentation arguing the industry is now capable of resuming full-scale operations in a safe and responsible manner
Large events held around the globe in recent months, many of them detailed in our news posts, have proven that it is possible to operate a great event while still maintaining a safe environment for guests and the community.
The presentation also emphasized that empowering the travel and events industries will boost economic growth and help heal the damage done by the hardships so many have faced over the last two years.
The organizations are cooperating under the Let’s Meet There banner. Participating stakeholders include American Society of Association Executives, Clear, Destinations International, Events Industry Council, Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance, International Association of Exhibitions and Events, Meetings Mean Business Coalition, Meeting Professionals International, Professional Convention Management Association and U.S. Travel Association.
In yet another sign of the industry reopening NYC & Company, the destination marketing organization for New York City, has started an initiative to grow the number of face-to-face meetings and events happening in the city.
While New York remains a popular destination for meetings, conferences and incentives, both attendee numbers and events held have a way to go before they recover to the heights of the pre-pandemic era. The new campaign is designed to highlight New York as a key destination in the minds of event industry professionals and event organizers, with the new slogan “It’s Time to Make it NYC”.
“This new campaign is a signal to planners and organizers everywhere that it’s time to return to NYC for face-to-face meetings, conventions, trade shows and events,” says NYC & Company CEO Fred Dixon. And if what our Huddle Team at HQ in New York tells us is anything to go by, we can look forward to a vibrant and dynamic comeback for events in the Big Apple in the near future.
“At Huddle we do events all over the country and in fact the world, but there is nowhere quite like New York City, and it’s great to see it coming back. This place is unstoppable.”
That is all the event news from us this month. If you want to know more, contact an expert at Huddle. We would love to work with you!
