All aboard! First and foremost: “Thank You!” to the founding partners of The Iceberg. It seems a long time since The Iceberg set sail in 2017 such has been the new trajectory and corresponding dialogue bequeathed to it by the support of these leading industry organisations. The Iceberg has illustrated the power of collaboration and in so doing, it has revealed the scale of the industry`s contribution beyond tourism, beyond the tip of the perceived industry iceberg, to the broader growth and social agendas of businesses and governments all over the world. Their contribution has demonstrated that as an industry we can change our own understanding of the legacy of business and professional events – and provide the content and storytelling required to illustrate to others that these outcomes far outweigh the immediate and measurable supply chain impacts in travel and hospitality consumption and related employment – themselves so brilliantly articulated in the wake of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis by the US Travel Association-led Meetings Mean Business Coalition and the recent $1.5 trillion direct impact report from EIC. Meanwhile, The Iceberg is continuing to harness the storytelling and research which illustrate the outcomes and legacies aligned closer to the purpose and intended legacies of events – many of which advance local community interests and their broader development goals. As Prof. Greg Clark CBE shared with industry at the IMEX Policy Forum and recently at the 2018 ICCA Congress in Dubai, our storytelling to government and community investors must adapt, evolve, and assume relevance to these broader economic, urban and social transformation strategies.  

Secure your Ambassadorship on The Iceberg: January 2019 – December 2020. The international members of The Joint Meetings Industry Council continue to anchor the soft power and value capture of business and professional events via the Value of Meetings Case Study Program and other research activities. These industry associations continue to be supported as Iceberg Partners by the leading international industry event owners, publishers, consultants, and industry practitioners – also as partners. However, The Iceberg is an inclusive movement, open to anyone who can contribute to better understanding of the legacies of business and professional events. And DMO`s, venues, PCO`s, and other key intermediaries and stakeholders work closest with event owners to secure the outcomes desired – in trade, scientific, and intellectual engagement – supporting legacies which are further aligned to the development goals of their local communities. The industry needs to document these outcomes and this is why the Iceberg Ambassador Programme is at the core of this next phase of industry storytelling, crucially at the local level where most investment decisions [in infrastructure and marketing] are made. More importantly, becoming an Iceberg Ambassador demonstrates a collective commitment on the part of industry to driving success in relation to broader economic and social development strategies – especially in sectors identified for growth. By illustrating the capacity-building in knowledge, investment, and talent that our industry delivers as upstream legacies, the industry can draw greater relevance to supporting the healthcare, innovation, and transition to the knowledge economy we know to be so vital to sustainable economies and societies in the years to come. Instead of being perceived simply as an agent of tourism [and the well documented direct tax and related employment – the tip of the iceberg], the industry can be recognised as a `meta industry` supporting government priorities in sustainable economic and social ecosystems. All Iceberg Ambassadors agree to share these and other success stories, via their own communications and social media, with their respective policymakers and community investors using the monthly Iceberg e-newsletter, Business Events World, as a collective source and resource. [See, for example, how Vienna took the lead in identifying the value of knowledge transfer from the European Congress of Radiology.]

Video: How Vienna and the European Society of Radiology collaborated to illustrate the 10-fold value of knowledge transfer from Congress Individual or organisational Ambassadors will be listed within The Iceberg Ambassador Club at www.the-iceberg.org and will have access to The Iceberg branding, content, and the Build Your Own Iceberg self-build tools [from 2019] in order to advance advocacy at local level. If organisations, or individuals, wish to support The Iceberg movement as an Ambassador they will be required to submit an annual contribution, secured for a minimum 2 years, of just £350* per annum [organisation] or £250 [individual], and furnish the Iceberg Secretariat with their respective images, contact details, web and social media urls for loading to The Ambassador Club section of The Iceberg. Please click here to join The Iceberg presented by The Joint Meetings Industry Council as an Ambassador. The Iceberg Secretariat will then dispatch the relevant Request For Ambassadorship (RFA) Agreement to you. This Agreement will detail the obligations of The Iceberg and of the Ambassador. In order to upload your organisation/individual information to The Iceberg platform in advance of January 1^st 2019 please secure your Request For Ambassadorship no later than February 21^st 2019. *Invoiced annually in advance. Payment required by March 1^st 2019 and 2020 respectively.