Section 11: Leadership

Innovation is essential to accelerate your performance in attracting and delivering successful business events. Identifying opportunities to create something new, ahead of your competitors will enable your destination to stand out in a crowded marketplace. 

Whilst this section is aimed at those destinations established in the business events sector, there is no reason why any destination cannot start to implement some of these activities. It is also useful to consider this when developing your longer-term plans and strategies as these are the elements which will elevate your destination beyond the ordinary. 

Ideas generation may come for free but implementation and promotion of them will come at a cost — both in terms of resources and financial. If your ideas are truly unique and innovative you may be able to secure funding to implement them. The funding is likely to come from sources that you as a destination have not used before so it’s worth investigating what other sources of support could be available. 

Innovation can be worth investing in — it takes your brand, your destination to the next level. Being seen as a thought-leader in business events can win you new business so try to think about what is possible and see it as an investment in your destination’s future success.

Event creation

Much of what has been spoken about in this guide concerns the attraction of events to your destination. However, have you thought about creating your own events or developing a unique collection of events such as Smart Manufacturing Week in Birmingham, or London Climate Action Week? Could you create an event around your innovations to promote or advise others? Would your partner businesses support you and your convention centre and ambassadors. It could be in-person or online. This is a good way to promote the work you are doing and share it with a wider audience. Ultimately, this will help you raise your profile and stand out amongst the others as a leader in this field. 

Alignment to existing business event

Your destination may already have an event taking place that you could align a new or existing conference with. For example, if you have a Technology Week you could use existing events to attract other conferences along. Alternatively, you may decide to bring together several existing events to create an umbrella of Technology Week. This style of branding could help attract other conferences to your destination to build on the back of the existing audience who may already be there for a specific exhibition. By coordinating events that attract similar visitors or exhibitors that complement each other you could grow this into something incredible.

Add-on conferences

Does your destination hold sports or cultural events? Could you develop a conference concept to run alongside this? Liverpool hosted a special conference on Safety / Safeguarding in Gymnastics during the World Gymnastics Championships in 2022 held in Liverpool. Creating a business event connected to a sports or cultural event could be something that creates a positive legacy for the organisation and that could be replicated in other destinations where the event may be held in the future. 

Speaker opportunities

Trade shows and events will often put a call out for speakers as part of their educational programming. 

• Sign up for communications from major trade show, event organisations and associations (like ICCA) so you don t miss out when the call for submissions / papers opens (often six months or more in advance of the event).
• Check the content they are looking for. Does any of the innovative work you are doing fit their themes? Do you have some great case studies? Could you pull together a panel of experts related to your topic area?
• You’ll need to plan so get your marketing teams involved to create an impressive PowerPoint (they’ll tell you what format they want) and develop your script.

PR and comms

If you have created a new, innovative concept which has been tried and tested you need to get as much PR coverage as possible to maximise success. It’s essential, when developing new ideas to elevate your destination, that the Marketing and Communications teams are on board and have a robust plan to communicate your achievements locally, regionally, nationally and globally. This is the best way to gain recognition for your work — to communicate it well and share it with your target audiences. Many innovations are presented as open source such as Copenhagen Legacy Lab. Their tools and resources are available for all so that they can help encourage other destinations to develop impact programmes for business events. Your new idea could transform the world of business events on a global scale!

Industry awards

Develop an awards strategy. Winning awards not only offers fantastic PR opportunities, but it also demonstrates that your destination is ahead of the competition. Many of the major publications like M&IT or C&IT and associations like MIA or ICCA run annual awards ceremonies. Some are free to enter but will require time and skill in writing up submissions or canvassing for votes for others you may have to pay to submit your entry. If you want to attend the awards evening where the winners are announced you will need to budget for the ticket cost (can be as much as 500 each), travel & hotel and subsistence. If you win, you also need to ensure you have a comms plan in place to ensure you make the most of your win and ensure your audience knows about it.

Create alliances 

Creating, or getting involved with an existing alliance, can reap rewards for those involved. One of the best known in the business events world is the Best Cities Global Alliance — a group of some of the best destinations for business events in the world. They have a limited membership so you can only join if someone leaves and even then, they do have specific criteria to maintain their elite status. Whether it’s sharing business knowledge or learning from the best of the best, these alliances can provide great education, experience and ultimately ensure that your destination is rated up there with the leaders.