Kim's trip to Geneva and the IAPCO EDGE Seminar

Think Business Events Director, Kim Stevenson, recently headed off to Geneva, Switzerland to attend an IAPCO EDGE Seminar. These seminars are an educational opportunity to development professional skills, converse with international colleagues and hear from industry experts about the current and future of the global Meetings and Events (MICE) industry. The theme of the seminar was Reflect, Reconnect and Reimagine.

We asked Kim about her time in Geneva attending the event…

What made you decide to leave the sunshine of Melbourne to spend a week in <5°C temperatures?

2023 is the year of trying new things. Looking at the theme – Reflect, Reconnect and Reimagine and the program outline the topics really resonated with me. Having never attended an IAPCO seminar I thought why not, and there is no way later in the year when things are busy, I will get a chance to do something like this.

What was the most enlightening thing you heard or ‘aha’ moment you experienced?

There were two ‘aha’ moments. One on a personal level, was hearing that the PCOs from other countries also went through such a hard time in 2022 “post COVID”, this made me feel it was OK to feel conflicted about the year.

Everyone was saying, 2022 is going to be a great year now that we are back to normal post COVID. Well, it wasn’t, it had some major challenges, this might sound bad, but it was nice to know it wasn’t just us having these thoughts.

The other ‘aha’ moment was – The Why. Bringing it back to why, why are we organising this event, why are we doing what we are doing, why is this important to the client and the delegates, sponsors and other stakeholders, why is this important to our business…

What was your impression of the seminar overall?

It was very professionally run, everyone was welcoming and open to discuss issues and share ideas. There was no competitiveness between the attendees and it was clear everyone attending was excited to engage in conversation and hear from each other’s experiences in their respective countries.

Was there a particular speaker that stood out to you in terms of insights?

Everyone was great, Nicky (Nicola McGrane, CEO – Conference Partners International & Events Partners, Ireland) and Mathias (Mathias Posch, President – International Conference Services, Singapore) did a great job guiding us through the three days and giving great insight with all their presentations.

What were the most crucial lessons you learned that you will take into the 2023 Conference Season and beyond?

We need to get back to the core fundamentals of conference management. Begin with the end in mind.

And most importantly, what was the best thing you ate in Geneva?

The cheese fondue on the second night at Edelweiss was amazing. It is a bit like have Koala’s at the conference welcome reception. Australians don’t like it, but international delegates love it. The Swiss think the cheese fondue is corny, but we all loved it.