A new cross-industry partnership is being launched this month, bringing together three influential associations: The Global MICE Collaborative (“The Collaborative”) is a joint initiative of the International Association of Exhibitions & Events® (IAEE), Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE). At its core, this collaboration aims to offer educational programmes designed for new MICE industry talent.

The Collaborative is set to re-emerge with a keynote address titled “Business & Event Trends for MICE Professionals” at The Meetings Show, to be held at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore from April 17-18, 2024. Initially launched in 2018, the Global MICE Collaborative delivered educational content in Shenzhen, China and Abu Dhabi, UAE before the global pandemic imposed a mandatory pause in its activities. “Over the past three years the business events industry has seen significant change in workforce composition. Some reports show that upwards of 60 percent of industry professionals are new and the average age has declined by nearly 10 years. This brings forth a significant opportunity for new, fresh thinking, yet also demonstrates the need for skill development,” remarks Paul Van Deventer, President and CEO of MPI.

A course that will also be available at future industry events on this occasion will take place for the first time on May 13, 2024, a day prior to the commencement of IMEX at the Frankfurt Messe, Germany. “MICE Fundamentals: Conference, Exhibition & Incentive Events” is a one-day course that, according to Paul Van Deventer, is designed to provide a good pan-industry immersion for new individuals entering this industry. He emphasizes, “It also provides the perfect primer for the more specialized certification programs that each of our individual associations offer: IAEE’s Certified in Exhibition Management (CEM) Learning Program; MPI’s Certificate in Meeting Management (CMM); and SITE’s Certified Incentive Specialist (CIS) and Certified Incentive Travel Professional (CITP).”

With an overarching goal to advance the global MICE industry, the Collaborative aims to provide a convenient single solution for education and training to accelerate workforce development and destination capabilities within the business events industry worldwide. Commenting on the re-launch, IAEE President and CEO Marsha Flanagan, M.Ed., CEM, says, “The Global MICE Collaborative brings three of the industry’s best-known associations — IAEE, MPI and SITE — together to provide the global community of business event professionals with a ‘best of’ collaboration, initially focused on education. MPI brings networking, thought leadership and education for meetings; SITE for incentives; and IAEE for conventions and exhibitions.”

SITE CEO Annette Gregg, CMM, MBA, concludes, “As more regions, countries and cities around the globe recognize the hard dollar and soft power contribution of meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions, the demand for professionally trained business events executives is increasing. That’s why the leading associations in the industry have joined forces to develop the best MICE workforce in established and emerging markets worldwide. IAEE, MPI and SITE look forward to expanding the scope of our ‘Collaborative’ and to serving an industry that currently makes a $1.6 trillion USD contribution to global GDP.”