UPFRONT NEWS ANALYSIS
A look at the biggest issues making headlines on amimagazine.global…
ASSOCIATIONS RESPOND TO UKRAINE brutal assault on its neighbour, withmost suspending Russian chapters or agreeing to cease any further business with Russia until the situation in Ukraine is resolved peacefully.
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS HAVE been grappling with how best to respond to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Although typically ‘non-political’ or ‘non-partisan’ as per their statutes, many have decided to suspend Russian members or chapters, in a show of solidarity with the people of Ukraine. High pro le associations took a lead. e footballing bodies FIFA and UEFA e ectively suspended Russia’s membership by kicking the international team out of all competitions.
Russian members of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) will not be able to attend the association’s events until further notice, president James Rees con rmed in March. Destinations International, theWashington-based association for convention bureau and destinationmarketing organisations, terminated themembership of the Saint Petersburg Convention
Bureau and said it would ‘not engage in further business inRussia until a peaceful resolution takes place’. Meanwhile, Ukrainian
Elsewhere GSMA, the international association behind Mobile World Congress, barred the Russian pavilion from the event in Barcelona, which took place in March, and issued a statement condemning Russia’s ‘invasion of Ukraine’. After a tentative start, associations linked to the meetings industry lined up to condemn Russia’s
WATCH “I can barely hide my tears” AMI ed tor J mes L nc ster nterv ews Sof ns , d rector of Lv v Convent on Bure u
scientists have called for an international
boycott of scienti c c o n f e r e n c e s inside Russia and called on Russian institutes and scienti c leaders to condemn the invasion of their country.
countries have agreed to contribute case studies and expert articles to the newly created International Journal of Business Events and Legacies. epublicationisbackedbymeeting industry associations the Professional Convention Management Association and the International Congress and Convention Association. Attempts to measure the ‘legacy’ of international meetings go back to 2011 when Business Events Sydney funded a ground-breaking study by the University of Technology Sydney. e resurgence of interest has been put down to several factors, chief amongst them climate change, with organisations keen to justify the emissions associated with large events.
MEASURING LEGACY HOW DO HOST CITIES, AND WIDER SOCIETY, BENEFIT WHEN INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS MEET? AND HOW DO YOU MEASURE THE BENEFITS?
AS THE WORLD emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, we are beginning to see renewed - and serious - attempts to answer these questions. Destination Vancouver, the tourism and convention bureau, has teamed up with Capilano University to research the legacy of international conferences held in the city, for example. e ambitious project aims to quantify ‘the tangible and intangible impacts, bene ts and legacies associated with Vancouver’s role as host city for international conferences’.
A team of researchers will study ve conferences held in Vancouver later this year and deliver their ndings to local stakeholders and members of the BestCities Global Alliance, a network of destination marketing organisations. Earlier this year BESarawak announced it was teaming up with Curtin University to create a journal dedicated to documenting the lasting bene ts of international business events. So far 44 organisations from 15
6 2022 #1 AMIMAGAZINE.GLOBAL
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