Cats should catch mice!

Now I definitely know, the best congresses are made by excellent speakers. The better the speaker, the better the congress. The past 4 years I’ve fallen silent 4 times during a congress. The first time was in the year 2004 when The Most Revd. Desmond Mpilo Tutu gave a speech during the opening of the ICCA congress. During those two hours it was as quiet as the night with the moon and her stars. His message was clear: equality brings life. A second time was in November 2007 during the Holland Association Symposium in Amsterdam. Professor van Grieken spoke of the miracle of the first republic in the world: Holland during the regency period. You could hear a mosquito fly in the hall. His message was: democracy creates prosperity. A third time, also in 2007, was during the opening of the IFLA congress in Durban. Justice Albie Sachs, the white attorney who lost his arm during an attack, spoke about his battle against appartheid. It was as calm as the wind inside the hall. His message was: freedom stimulates growth. And last month in Singapore during AIPC’s 50th General Assembly it was as quiet as a mouse when Professor Kishore Mahbubani entertained the attending crowd for an hour on The New Asian Hemisphere. And do you know what stuck during his keynote speech? The story of the black and white cat. Whether a cat is white or black, grey or brown, it doesn’t matter, as long as it catches mice. This also appeals to humans. Create a world where everyone can use their brain capacity. That would be a rich country! Even an Untouchable in the Indian caste system could grow to become a director of the National Bank. I know places where minds are locked away. The people in these places know lots of misery and all this because constraint of freedom leads to poverty.

Sex & the Fair

The closer we get to the holidays, the more I tend to hand out presents. It already started at the ICCA Congress in Pattaya where I awarded three meeting people for their nice golden clothes during the Royal Golden Night. And now I suddenly stumble upon a few pictures I took at last year’s EIBTM fair in Barcelona. Some way or another four images with, in my humble opinion, a high content of sex appeal, appealed to me. I’ll list them all and explain what fascinates me in them.
1. The naked man of Norway. I’ve heard that this strong image is a personal invention of a woman who has spirit and humour. That would be Bente Bratland Holm, convention director at the Norway Convention Bureau. Bente, why on earth didn’t you participate in the ICCA Best Marketing Award? With such a healthy man you certainly would have won first prize. And I have to ask something else. A lot of ladies (and a few gentlemen) have asked me if you have the same picture from a different angle as well? After all, the blog has a sexy title! Present No 1 goes to you. I will personally drop off a gift at your stand!


2. Adam & Eve. So delicate, tender, fragile and seductive. The World’s Sexiest Hotel. I’d certainly want to spend the night in that hotel. Who else? That’s our second present.


3. The aquarium boy of [destination unknown]. A nice, fresh, youthful and exotic image. Almost a painting titled ‘Like a fish in water’. That’s our third winner. Would the winner step up during next week’s fair?

[Update:] It turned out that the Jamaica Tourist Board was the proud owner of this aquarium boy.




4. And there always has to be a public award. This one goes to all the visitors of the fair over 60 who still feel young and sexy. My blog readers can decide for themselves if I meet those requirements. Everyone can come to our stand (H156) and tell me.

The ‘Dress to Impress’ Prizes

And the winners are? Let me start by telling this: I enjoyed the theme colour a lot at the ICCA Gala Dinner in Pattaya: a ‘touch of gold’. Spontaneously I asked a few people to keep their weather-eye open and look out for how people were dressed during the Royal Golden Night. By experience I know that people are anxious to try something different with their clothes. Since HeadQuarters Magazine stands for designer layout, use of new colours and especially sharp content, I felt the sudden urge during the Gala Dinner to award an annual HQ prize for the best dressed women, men or couples of the evening. Because people love to communicate about clothing and dressing up. Daring to wear something conspicuous is often the reason for spontaneously making contact. You know what I mean: ‘Oh miss, you look great tonight!’ - ‘Oh really? How kind of you. What a charming gentleman you are!’…
And again I have to use the word ‘spontaneous’. Together with a small group of insiders I’ve awarded the first HQ ‘Dress to Impress’ prizes to three people. I promise everyone that next year I will call an international fashion jury into being for the theme colour in Victoria, Canada. And for this I will dutifully ask permission to Martin Sirk. So these are the spontaneous winners of this year’s event:


First Prize: ‘The Have Flair Prize’ goes to Christian Mutschlechner. A golden swallow’s tail, well combined with a Vienna Ballroom flair and Thai hand gestures. Just look at the delicate motion of his left hand. Which Thai girl gave him private lessons to flex his fingers like that?



Second Prize: ‘The have Humour Prize‘ goes to a fresh Meetings Couple. Golden masculine horns combined with a tempting lady’s look behind a Venetian mask. Just look at the naughty twinkling eyes of Henrik and Ulrike von Arnold!

Third Prize: ‘The have creativity prize’ goes to Cécile Koch because she used the Pho leaf - which is meant for the king - in a bold fashion. Simple chic. And all Thai people that were there praised her for this nice gesture. Cécile has promised me that she will donate this necklace back to Thailand.
Has anyone else seen a lady, gentleman or couple that was dressed in a special way? I can always add another public award. Watch out for next year’s event in Victoria, Canada, to see who will be victorious then.

Are countries with a strong brand also successful meeting destinations?

In the meetings industry we often talk about successful meeting destinations. The reason why one country is more successful than another one, is not always clear. Not a lot of scientific research on this matter is available in our trade. Yet I know someone who can lead us the way.
His name is government advisor Simon Anholt (see photo). He is the one who formulates an answer to the question: How do 25.000 consumers worldwide perceive 40 countries - which are mostly countries where there’s also a strong (or less strong) meetings industry. The quarterly published Anholt Nation Brands Index (NBI) - there also exists an Anholt City Brands Index, you could read all about that in HeadQuarters Magazine (Meeting Trends Nr. 19) - is an analytical ranking in which countries are rated on the basis of six dimensions, which is a much broader view than merely from a meetings industry perspective, namely: exports, governance, investment and immigration, culture and heritage, people, and tourism. The latest data, for example, show that the Netherlands is in the top ten of countries with a strong brand. Coincidence or not, the Netherlands is ranked 10th in the ICCA ranking as well, although it lost four places there. You can find detailed NBI results from page 12 onwards in the latest edition of HeadQuarters Magazine (nr. 21)!
Sorry, Barbara Jamison (see photo) of Visit London, I forgot to mention that the UK is the number one country and London the number two city in the respective Anholt Indexes. Give credit where credit is due! And what did I notice? The UK comes third in the latest ICCA stats and London is in 11th place. Now I really wonder if there could be a correlation between the Anholt and the ICCA results. In other words, is a country with a strong brand also a strong congress nation?
I'm a bit jealous of the people attending the AIPC Annual Conference in Graz, because Simon will be there. Congratulations to Marianne de Raay of AIPC because she was able to attract Simon Anholt as unique keynote speaker and discussion leader! I couldn't agree more when she says: ‘this promises to be a most informative and productive session!’ Maybe Simon will give the answer to my question, so my blog readers don't have to rack their brains over my complicated, yet - to my humble opinion - most interesting question.
As always, open for comments…

The First ICCA Numbers Have Arrived

Often I hear people say: 'I don't believe in statistics!' And still every year everyone eagerly awaits the first ICCA rankings. And here they are! Those of 2006! It's like the first bird laid his first (congress) egg in May. ICCA (International Congress & Convention Association) has made a name for itself for many years now, with their global rankings of the countries and cities that landed the largest number of international (non-corporate) conventions in a certain year, all drawn up according to well-defined criteria. In 2006 Germany remains the first European destination, only preceded by the USA. The team of Ute Stegmann at the German Convention Bureau has done a good job! Unfortunately Spain drops to fifth place. And oh oh, Holland loses four places compared to 2005! How is that possible? In the city ranking, Paris is the big winner and has now gained second position, behind the leader, Vienna. Congratulations to Paul Roll and Delphine Benbassa-Fortuin! Proudly Delphine wrote to me: ‘We have been working on statistics for 3 years and it is true that it is paying back now. We are very happy about it!’ And we are also very glad that for the very first time a South-American country has invaded the top ten: Brazil! And Prague, Copenhagen and Lisbon make the top ten, so that's a feather in their cap as well! I myself find the position of Kuala Lumpur quite spectacular. This city that doesn't have its own convention bureau leaps to 15 th place in 2006 with 63 meetings from 30th place in 2005 with 38 meetings! Jenny Salsbury, you can put on an Ascot hat with a peacock feather! Only people who work hard and keep track of their numbers, believe in statistics.

In June 2007 we will publish the complete ranking with some comments on the survey in our Incentive Special yearbook (in English). Don't miss it, on www.mimmagazine.be.