From June 18 to 20, 2012 the ICC International Congress Center Berlin hosts the Meeting Experts Conference (MEXCON 2012), the first joint Hauptstadtkongress (Capital City Congress) of the conference, meetings, incentive and events industry. The three-day gathering combines the annual meetings of the major industry associations with a symposium on the “Meetings Industry 2030”. Roughly 400 meetings industry professionals and executives are expected, together with political decision-makers.
The Meeting Experts Conference is organised by the GCB German Convention Bureau and the EVVC – European Association of Event Centres. Cooperating partners involved in MEXCON 2012 include the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), the MPI Meeting Professionals International Germany Chapter, Site – the Society of Incentive & Travel Executives, the VDR German Business Travel Association, Germany’s biggest national association of corporate meeting planners – the Vereinigung Deutscher Veranstaltungsorganisatoren, the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association Deutschland (HSMA) and the Vereinigung Deutscher Stadienbetreiber, an association of major German stadium operators. MEXCON 2012 is also supported by visitBerlin Berlin Convention Office.
MEXCON 2012 kicks off with the parallel annual sessions and board meetings of the participating associations on June 18 at the ICC Berlin. During the breaks and at the evening event in the Olympic Stadium the individual organisations will have ample opportunity to get together. The second day of the conference is reserved for the industry associations’ annual general assemblies. Additionally, a programme of seminars on the industry’s future provides educational opportunities. Here, too, an evening function at TempelhofAirportwill afford sufficient scope for industry-wide networking. The pivotal part of MEXCON 2012 comes on June 20 with the symposium at which industry professionals and academics discuss the future of the meetings industry. An exhibition will accompany the three-day conference. Those interested will find the provisional schedule for MEXCON 2012 and ways to register for the event at www.mexcon.de.
“With this first joint meetings sector conference we aim to intensify cooperation between the various industry associations in and for the host countryGermanyand to raise political awareness of them. MEXCON also provides us with a highly visible platform on which to convey the enormous significance of our sector for industry and science,” GCB Managing Director Matthias Schultze commented.
“The fact that the associations’ general assemblies and specialist sessions are taking place alongside one another on these days at the ICC Berlin has a whole host of advantages. Synergies will be created at MEXCON 2012, topics of relevance to the industry as a whole discussed and a network built up within the industry. Only by working together can we make the political community and the public at large aware of just how important our industry is. Short routes are the best way of guaranteeing close interaction,” EVVC President Joachim König explains.
For the seventh time in successionGermanyhas captured the top spot inEuropeas a congress and meetings destination and comes second in the international rankings published in May 2011 by the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA). With 6,420 facilities for conferences and other functions, ranging from convention centres to offbeat and unusual event venues,Germanycan boast a huge variety. In 2010 alone roughly 2.69 million events were held in theFederalRepublicwith a total of 323 million participants.
