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  • Posted by Michael Pinchera at
    12:00AM 07/29/2012 • 0 Comments

    Brazil to the World, the World to Brazil

    In 2011, the Latin American Meeting & Event Conference connected the MPI Brazil Chapter more directly than ever before with the meeting industry beyond its borders. Even with a Dec. 12 date—a time some feared would be too close to the holidays to garner great attendance—the daylong education event attracted more than 400 meeting professionals. This year, LAMEC is taking place on a “safer” date: Friday, Aug. 17.

    “Brazil has a lot to offer in terms of expertise in events. But Brazil still needs to learn about international best practices,” said Ricardo Ferreira, an organizer for the event and executive vice president and partner of Grupo Alatur, one of largest meeting and event companies in Brazil.

    To that end, this year’s theme is “the best of Brazilian events to the world, and the best of the world of events to Brazil.”

    “We came up with this content that I think is really something different,” Ferreira said. “A leading Brazilian advertising executive who is really strong in events will discuss why he created a meeting and event company. At lunch time, we have a variety of regional event organizers, discussing why the business of regional events has become so big in Brazil.”

    To conclude the event, new MPI Chairman Kevin Hinton, executive vice president of Associated Luxury Hotels International, shares with LAMEC delegates some of the best meeting industry practices from around the world.

    “We have something to offer to the world, but we need so much—it’s really all about interaction,” Ferreira said.

    The 2012 edition of LAMEC goes live Friday, Aug. 17, at Sheraton Sao Paulo WTC Hotel in Brazil’s largest city, which is, not coincidentally, also home to the greatest concentration of meeting professionals in country.

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    Tags: Brazil WEC2012



  • Posted by Michael Pinchera at
    12:00AM 12/13/2011 • 0 Comments

    LAMEC: Growing Brazil's Meeting Industry

    By Paulo Cunha/Outra Visão – Brazil 

    Leia isto no português

    On December 12, about 400 professionals from the Latin American meeting and event industry established a new debate on the professionalization of the industry in the region, including discussions of strategy, technology, trends and brands.

    Held in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city and its financial capital, the first edition of MPI’s Latin American Meeting and Event Conference (LAMEC) provided rich discussions, reflections and exchanges of experiences and ideas to participants. Industry professionals from the region packed the auditorium of the elegant hotel Unique.

    Among the sessions held in the main auditorium was the general session on “events that impact a changing society.” At this session, social activist René Silva revealed in detail how he handles an event that, initially planned for 500 people, saw 15,000 attendees in the Alemão Community in Rio de Janeiro, a place that until a few months ago was dominated by drug dealers and was recently occupied by the police.

    The session about hybrid events, with the participation of head of event operations EMEA, SAP AG, Mathias Sondermann and Boone Associates’ Mary Boone, was also another highlight. In a crowded room, Sondermann, who came from Germany for this event, and Boone, connected with the room via Skype from her office in the U.S., presented data, facts and videos about SAP’s SAPPHIRE NOW event, one of the most successful hybrid events in the digital world.


    LAMEC 2011 also marked the official launch of the MPI Learning Center in Brazil, and was attended by Didier Scaillet, MPI’s chief development officer, as well as Elizabeth Wada, president of the MPI Brazil Chapter. Excitingly, in 2012, industry professionals will be able to test for the Global CMP in Sao Paulo.

    After a full day of conference, LAMEC’s first edition ended with an important debate on the legacy of the World Cup and Olympic Games. The session was moderated by Jeanine Pires, ex-president of Embratur and president of the Tourism Council of Fecomércio Sao Paulo, a professional who was directly involved in the work done by the Brazilian government to secure the events (2014 World Cup Brazil and 2016 Summer Olympics).

    In this closing session, Walt Judas, from Vancouver Tourism shared his experience from the 2010 Winter Olympics and explained the strategies that the city planned to grow as an important destination for events after the games.

    South Africa Tourism’s, Nomasonto Ndlovu, also attended the debate and detailed the challenges of organizing the first World Cup ever held in Africa.

    Throughout the discussion, it was revealed that the challenges faced by South Africa were very similar to those experienced in Brazil, especially in regards to transportation and venue infrastructure.

    The 2012 edition of LAMEC is already confirmed and scheduled for August 20, in Sao Paulo



  • Posted by Theresa Davis at
    12:00AM 11/15/2011 • 1 Comments

    Exceptional programming for Brazil

     

    During a traditionally busy time of the year for individuals, businesses and events, anticipation is building at MPI not just for the upcoming holiday season, but also for the Latin American Meeting & Event Conference (LAMEC) in Sao Paulo this December 12.

    The MPI Brazil Chapter and partners are pulling together an exceptional event targeted at building long-term business relationships with buyers and suppliers who value the meeting, event and business opportunities that Brazil has to offer.  The recently released schedule of events and education demonstrates the ongoing MPI & LAMEC commitment to provide compelling professional development and business opportunities to support the global meetings and events industry.

    The dynamic educational component of this event offers opportunities for discussion around some of the most important topics facing our industry globally and in Brazil.  An in-depth session on how Saphire Now (SAP) managed the most successful hybrid event to date, covering two continents and seven cities with thousands of delegates.  Session from the MPI Global Training program that address the rapidly evolving needs of meeting and business event professionals and how to understand the new globally accepted and recently released Meeting and Business Events Competency Standards (MBECS).

    The programming throughout the event continues to build on critical skills around technology, economic indicators and impact and brand building platforms.  The Primary general sessions are even uniquely designed to address issues not only relevant to Brazil but events around the globe.  Mid-day delegates should be prepared for a robust debate between various event designers on how to attract larger audiences and build communities.  Then to wrap the day delegates will benefit from the lessons learn and best practices developed over three continents from experts who have managed the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup.  Panelists for the closing session will be attending in-person and virtually.

    Delegates will benefit from this diverse offering of professional development, and the camaraderie found amongst hundreds of their peers seeking to enhance the industry in Brazil and grow their businesses.  Truly an event to look forward to, register for and be sure to attend.

     



  • Posted by Michael Pinchera at
    12:00AM 10/14/2011 • 0 Comments

    Brazil's Tech Flex for World Cup


    The Brazilian Tourism Board, Embratur, has created 360-degree online videos for five of the FIFA 2014 World Cup host cities: Cuiabá, Curitiba, Manaus, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. The goal is to encourage international visitors to learn more about the destinations. Interactive, 360-degree videos for the remaining seven host cities will begin production in early 2012.

    “Our tourist attractions are naturally beautiful; we have diversified options and can cater for different audiences," Embratur Chairman Flávio Dino said in a press release announcing the tech-driven promotion. "Now we need to reinforce our image on other points, such as modernity and technological progress.”


    The extensive growth seen in Brazil is understandably visible in the meeting and event industry as well. Next up, the Latin American Meeting and Event Conference (LAMEC) December 12 in Sao Paoló.



  • Posted by David Basler at
    12:00AM 12/22/2010 • 0 Comments

    Execs See Emerging Markets Growth

    This time of year brings anticipation, expectation and for many of us, it's a time for planning. With FutureWatch 2011 launching in our upcoming January issue, this time of year has most of us keeping our pulse on the industry and watching the trends even more.

    I am a subscriber to McKinsey Quarterly and much like MPI's FutureWatch and Business Barometer products do for the meeting and business events industry, McKinsey's Global Economic Conditions Snapshot sheds an interesting light on how execs around the world are looking at the state of things.

    The highlight of the survey results for me was that now more than half of respondents say they are positive about the state of their nations' economies and that they are seeing improvement and 63 percent say their economies are now in recovery. Unfortunately that leaves the others feeling glum—including 35 percent who say they do not expect an upturn in 2011.

    At the corporate level, execs are expecting profits to rise along with consumer demand, both of which increased slightly in the last quarter, and most respondents reported that their companies were not going to postpone or cut investments for growth—also a good sign.

    A staggering number of respondents (more than 75 percent) said the expect the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) to gain serious influence on the global markets in the next five years and most feel that this increase in influence will come at the expense of the world's developed nations.

    The reason? Most feel that more than a quarter of their companies' profits in the next five years will come out of these BRIC nations. 

    When asked simply how the influence of the economies of these BRIC nations would be different in five years, it was a resounding response that these economies would be stronger—China (92 percent), India (85 percent), Brazil (75 percent) and Russia (46 percent).

    The question for me is, of course, what does this mean for the meeting and business event industry?

    More delegates from these countries branching out and attending more events around the globe? Probably. Will we see more of a presence from these countries at trade shows around the globe? I hope so. More business being done in these BRIC nations than we've ever seen before? Definitely.

    It's a shifting world, and the globe is much smaller than it used to be. 



  • Posted by Veleisa Patton at
    12:00AM 10/28/2010 • 0 Comments

    Business Across Borders

    Flag Plaza (6)

    GLOBAL INDUSTRY  (SMEC-LA AND MPI)
    Large events, like the Olympics and World Cup, can permanently alter a country’s economic and social landscape. The world saw the accelerated growth in Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games spectacle and celebration. The beautiful game (football or soccer, depending on where you live) brought attention to the rich culture of South Africa and created a boom for the local hospitality industry during the World Cup.

    Brazil, and the entirety of South America, stands to be in the limelight as the meeting and event industry executes two major worldwide events, complete with an extensive network of logistics and social and economic impacts, as the host country for the World Cup games in June and July of 2014 and the Summer Olympic Games in 2016.

    Big events create big demands and a need for professionals trained in strategically meeting those demands. As the industry prepares for the Games and World Cup, there is a greater need for education and networking surrounding best practices. MPI is a joint parnter with its Brazil chapter, National Business Travel Association and Brasiliera de Gestores de Eventos e Viagens Corporativas in presenting the Strategic Meetings & Events Conference Latin America (SMEC-LA) in São Paolo on Nov. 16.

    The Conference brings education and marketplace opportunity to industry professionals interested in expanding business in one of the world’s growing economies.

    The education will focus on strategic meetings management and ROI, both of which will contribute greatly to the conversation surrounding large-scale events, and the tradeshow is throughout the day.