What an exciting year it has been for IACC! We are only a week away from the European Conference in Eindhoven at Kapellerput Hotel and Conference Centre. Over the past 12 months since the European conference in Milan, our association has strengthened and grown through concerted efforts to enhance the member value proposition. The IACC brand is anew – fresh and alive with more intentional focus on representing each of you as the best meeting venues in the world. In the past twelve months the association welcomed 34 new members globally, representing a 10% growth in membership. For all of you newbies out there….Be proud! Be loud! We are IACC! Welcome to the IACC family!

And the industry is taking notice through exceptional press coverage and support of IACC’s Meeting Room of the Future project. With partners like Microsoft joining our quest, IACC is collaborating with the best in the meetings industry to think about the future of our association and industry. IACC is the ONLY organisation out there talking about meeting spaces and rooms of the future. Anyone wondering about the future of meetings will come to us and our members to see what the best are doing. I encourage all of you to read and contribute your thoughts and ideas as we share our knowledge with the world.

As we look into the next year for IACC, there is no slowing us down. The global board is gathering again and continuing this exciting journey. Our focus will be on continuing to enhance IACC’s image and brand. We are in process of exploring a global partnership with Meeting Planners International – we are meeting together with their strategic leadership at IMEX in October. Member engagement and support remains a cornerstone of our strategic conversations as we want to ensure members gain more and more value from IACC – keeping in mind that you as a member get out of IACC what you put into it!

Wishing everyone a successful completion of 2016!

Alex Cabañas
IACC President