During a press conference at IMEX 2017 in Frankfurt, Florence announces that the next IAPCO EDGE seminar in Europe will be taking place in Florence on the 15 -17 January 2018. The winning bid was presented to IAPCO by OIC Group with the full support of Florence Convention and Visitors Bureau along with Firenze Fiera Congress and Exihibition Centre.
The IAPCO EDGE seminar takes place in various places around the world, and at European regional level, after the success of Copenhagen EDGE and Athens EDGE, it’s now moving to Florence. The seminar embraces all sectors of the Meetings Industry and provides delegates with a truly unique opportunity to learn, hence ‘EDGE’ from the word education, and gain valuable know-how from this interesting but ever changing sector.
During the seminar, key learning takes place through presentations and activities which are held by IAPCO EDGE council members, and the Florence EDGE will be led by Nicola McGrane from Conference Partners International.
A rich and interesting EDGE seminar programme guarantees learning and the chance to develop new skills and know how within the meeting industry sector, lots of networking and fun too with the added benefit of it being a IAPCO EDGE seminar, which is always a synonym of Quality and exceptionally high standards.
Target audiences for the EDGE seminar are; PCOs, Meeting Planners, National/International Organisations, Associations, Convention Bureaux, Tourism Bodies, Congress Centres, Conference Hotels, Exhibition Managers, Pharma and Medical Device Companies, DMCs, AMCs and Travel Agencies.
Speaker’s Panel during the press conference at IMEX:
– Anna Paola Concia, Tourism Councillor of Florence Municipality
– Carlotta Ferrari, Director of Firenze Convention and Visitors Bureau
– Ginevra De Bellis, OIC Group
– Mathias Posch, IAPCO Vice President
– Olivia Galun, IAPCO Secretariat
This is a new important goal achieved by the city of Florence; which in 2016 introduced the strategic plan for International conferences to be held in the city thanks to the synergic work of local professionals in the tourism industry and the Municipality of Florence.
In 2015, Florence Municipality chose Florence Convention & Visitors Bureau as the official partner in promoting the destination to host congresses, events and international weddings. This qualification makes Florence an even stronger and more competitive destination thanks to the grounded relationship between MICE local professionals, represented by FCVB, and the local institutions. So, each event will take advantage of this special partnership that will provide to the clients the best and exclusive locations and the best services for any kind of request.
The subvention plan, for a maximum value of 60.000,00 Euros, is meant to support Florence bids for new International conferences that must be applied for during the bidding stage. Some of FCVB members decided to work together to offer the best subvention plan: the IAPCO EDGE seminar will be hosted by OIC GROUP, FCVB is the host destination and Firenze Fiera is the Congress and Exihibition Centre, the main Congress centre of Florence, the AV company Tecnoconference TC Group and the catering company Gerist Ricevimenti.
The services offered include many different aspects of event organization, for instance the social programme: the city of Florence can provide free rental of many exclusive venues for cocktails and dinners, such as the Salone dei Cinquecento of Palazzo Vecchio (the beautiful town hall of Florence), the new Opera House or even larger prestigious locations of Firenze Fiera Congress and Exhibition Centre inside the Fortezza da Basso, such as the Cavaniglia Pavilion or the charming garden of Palazzo dei Congressi in the very heart of Florence city centre.
Free services at Firenze Fiera Congress and Exhibition Centre will include a complimentary room for registration, staff and President’s office as well as free Wi-Fi for all delegates. Tecnoconference will provide some of its best tools and technologies such as personalized digital screens with information on the sessions’ timing and location and free APP of the Conference with many features regarding the scientific programme and the speakers’ profiles. Extra benefits will include food and beverage for the gala dinner or light welcome cocktail thanks to the cooperation of the caterer Gerist Ricevimenti.
Firenze Convention and Visitors Bureau has created a special booking system that allows congress organizers to get an easy revenue on individual reservations choosing the best selected hotels with rates 5% lower than on the other OLTA, friendly booking terms with no risk of penalty and with friendly cancellation policies for guests (www.florencecongressbooking.com).
The new subvention plan also includes a general support to the organizing secretariat, a welcome desk at the airport on arrival days, a complimentary city information desk with the possibility of selling tours and activities and full assistance during site visits.
Firenze Convention and Visitors Bureau recently presented the Destination Florence project realized in partnership with the Municipality of Florence that will allow to redefine a future model for the governance and sustenance of Florence tourism, an undertaking that has the potential to become a benchmark for the entire country.
