More than 130 Malaysian business events industry players have signed up for International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO) virtual training platform webEDGE, with more – especially from the PCO sector – expected to sign up in the coming days.
The IAPCO Congress Management Programme, IAPCO webEDGE, is aimed at upskilling Malaysia’s professionals to help them the highest standards of project management skills for conference and event delivery, and to provide Malaysia with a competitive advantage when bidding for international events.
The Congress Project Management Package comprises 14 online modules of educational content which can be accessed from any Internet-enabled device and learnt at one’s own pace. Delivered by 24 meeting industry experts, the 14 modules in the Congress Project Management Package covers areas such as risk and crisis management, budgets and cash flows, cultural intelligence, sponsorship, legacy and project planning.
Through the partnership Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) and Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) secured with IAPCO, Malaysians who sign up for the course will obtain a 50 per cent discount on the total course fee.
IAPCO webEDGE was launched by Tan Mei Phing, director of business events, MyCEB; Alan Pryor, general manager, KLCC and chairman of Business Events Council Malaysia; and IAPCO’s CEO Martin Boyle last week. During a panel session, they also discussed the importance of continued professional development and why Malaysia needs to address this skills shortage.
Tan shared: “In the pre-Covid years, MyCEB was supporting more than 300 events annually, but the challenge was a lack of internationally recognised PCOs in Malaysia to manage these events held in Malaysia on an international level.”
Tan opined there will be “a surge of events in Malaysia in the coming years” and urged event professionals to seize the opportunity to arm themselves with skills that will help them be ready for future demand. Having more certified homegrown PCOs, she added, will be imperative to the growth of Malaysia’s conference and congress sector.
Following the panel discussion, Barbara Calderwood, divisional lead associations with MCI Group and IAPCO council member presented an introduction to IAPCO webEDGE. This was followed by a workshop session to help participants identify their professional strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats which will be used as a base in developing the custom training module for Malaysia.
