Close on the heels of the conclusion of ICCA’s first Association Impacts Masterclass, hosted by Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak), the global association for meetings sector stakeholders has unveiled more masterclasses that will take off this year, focusing on AI empowerment and regenerative event management as well as event impacts once more.
The extended Association Impacts Masterclass, a two-day programme co-created with Meet4Impact and GainingEdge, is designed to amplify associations’ societal impact and boost destinations’ global and local influence. The first edition resulted in 19 certified associations, according to Amelia Roziman, CEO of BESarawak.
Convention bureaus are invited to step forward as hosts of future editions of the Association Impacts Masterclass.
Gary Grimmer, executive chairman of GainingEdge, said the course would allow associations, “whose work has always had an enormous impact on society”, to be even more purposeful and “achieve even greater impacts” strategically. At the same time, CVBs could use the Association Impacts Masterclass as a way to build a relationship with forward-thinking overseas associations they wish to bring to their destination.
Meanwhile, the ICCA Masterclass AI-Empowered Event Professionals is developed in collaboration with Gevme and Dahlia+Agency to show participants the way to enhancing efficiency, improving attendee engagement, and ensuring event success with the integration of AI into events. It will be conducted through five online modules and one in-person capstone competition, across 10 contact hours. Up to 30 participants will be accepted for each run.
Execution details for the first course are still being worked on, said Veemal Gunadin, founder and CEO of Gevme. He told TTGmice that pricing and course dates have yet to be determined, although the plan is for participants to “graduate in time for the ICCA Congress 2024 in October”.
The third ICCA Masterclass is on Regenerative Event Management, developed in collaboration with the Global Destination Sustainability Movement. This is designed to equip event professionals with the skills to host and organise events that minimise environmental impact and actively contribute to environmental and societal regeneration. The course stretches over two to five days and covers five modules that feature interactive onsite learning and post-course work.
Further to these new masterclasses, ICCA also announced at IMEX Frankfurt enhancements to its ICCASkills certification programmes. Online classes have been transitioned to self-paced formats, vastly improving global accessibility and attendee convenience. Additionally, in-person classes will be expanded, with the establishment of training hubs in Beijing and Luxembourg that will conduct multiple sessions throughout the year.
These training hubs join New Zealand, which will host an executive-level class this September.
ICCA’s education portfolio also comprises the new ICCAUni, launched recently to foster collaboration between academia and the events industry, with the ultimate aim to cultivate and attract new talent into the meetings and events industry.
