Conference & Meetings World Issue 101 — July / August | Page 35

Associations
Into Africa
CMW TALKS TO DAMIAN HUTT AS HIS AFRICA ASSOCIATIONS CONGRESS
RETURNS TO PRETORIA IN AUGUST FOR A SECOND EDITION
his year, the 2nd Africa
Associations Congress (ACC),
18-20 August in Pretoria, South
Africa, includes an exclusive
Leaders’ Forum for Executive Heads &
Non-Executive Heads and opportunities to
network with Africa’s influential association
executives. Delegates are promised 20
educational talks and group discussions and 10
case studies in the Success Story sessions.
ACC will also deliver eight Expert Briefings
from experienced consultants and four training
workshops and two keynotes.
Damian Hutt Executive Director of show
organiser, the Association of Association
Executives, tells CMW: “Meeting many Africa
association executives and speaking at events in
East and South Africa, as well as my own
conference experience in Africa dating back to
1985, I knew there was growing demand for
education and information on complex issues of
association leadership, governance and a wide
range of competencies, all of which are
necessary for successful national conferences
and hosting international conferences. Our
research has been surveying our community in
Africa, and then interviewing over 60 of those
association executives as to their key challenges
and how they would best be supported in
addressing them.”
How had he settled on Pretoria as host?
“The venue, the CSIR International
Conference Centre, Pretoria, South Africa, is
based among many centres of excellence. It is
away from the busy city centre, but close enough
to the airport and the Gautrain from
Johannesburg. Pretoria is where many
associations are based so as to be near the
relevant seat of government in South Africa,”
says Hutt.
“We have chosen South Africa for a number
of years as it has the largest range of
associations in Africa, and we offer delegates
from outside South Africa supported delegate
places to help them attend.”
Hutt is confident of making an increase on
the 150+ delegates attracted to last year’s
inaugural event.
“We are building on last year’s conference
with a wider range of formats, and developing
concepts we addressed last year. We got it right
last year, we are addressing different issues, all
in areas of events, marketing, engagement and
governance, among others.
“All our partners that sponsor and support
the event, including Conference Consultancy,
our local PCO, are the very best.”
So, what kind of content can we expect this
time round?
“We have three parallel sessions (Leadership,
Events, Other) and over the two days these are
divided into a series of segments with the topics:
Firm Foundations, Accountability, Ethics and
Integrity, Reaching Out, Working Well,
Innovation and Imagination, Coping with
Challenges, and The Future in Focus.
“We also have Association Success Stories,
Expert Briefings, Workshops and of course the
Association Awards.
“We expect over 250 this year.”
Website: www.associationscongress.com/africa
Damian Hutt is Executive Director of the Association of Association Executives.
ISSUE 101
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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35