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Huge blaze at New Zealand venue built
using same material as Grenfell Tower
ICCA launches
Association
Community
The International Congress and Convention
Association (ICCA) has announced it will be
launching the ‘ICCA Association
Community’ in January 2020.
The new platform will offer education,
connections, tools and resources to assist
international associations in organising more
effective meetings.
It will also officially welcome association
executives into ICCA’s global community as
affiliates, aiming to shape the future and
value of international association
meetings.
James Rees, ICCA President, announced
the new strategy, saying: “ICCA’s next step
is filling the missing link and embracing
associations in our community as true
partners. We are inviting senior association
executives, meetings managers and
volunteer leaders to join the ICCA
Association Community.”
A large fire ripped through the
under-construction SkyCity Convention Centre
in Auckland, New Zealand, in October.
SkyCity is a casino operator in New Zealand.
Earlier this year, it payed $25m to remove
aluminium composite panels from the venue,
which were found to be the same that partially
caused the fire at London’s Grenfell Tower.
However, Fletcher Building, the construction
firm contracted to build the venue, told
firefighters at the scene that there was no more
of the ACP cladding in the building when the
fire started.
The fire began around 1pm on 23 October,
and continued throughout that night.
It started when a blowtorch was being used
on a rubber waterproofing membrane,
according to electrician Lindsay Rowlands.
SkyCity and Fletcher Building have been in
dispute over the building, which was unveiled
in 2014 and supposed to be complete by July
2019. This date was later pushed back to
December 2019, with the firm announcing it
was withholding $26.9m from Fletcher due to
the delays.
SkyCity was paying for the construction of
the centre after agreeing a deal with the New
Zealand government allowing it to extend its
casino licence to 2048, and add 230 poker
machines and 40 gaming tables. The deal
caused controversy over the gambling
concessions in exchange for the build.
Source: @ashajaystark
on Twitter
Northstar Travel Group
acquires CAT Media
US-based Northstar Travel Group has
acquired UK-based information and events
business CAT Media. Terms of the deal were
not disclosed.
CAT Media is publisher of bi-monthly
magazine Meetings & Incentive Travel (M&IT)
and Association Meetings International
(AMI).
The news came a day after Northstar
Travel Group announced it had acquired
Buying Business Travel from Panacea Media
based in London.
Thomas Kemp, Chairman & CEO of
Northstar Travel Group, said: “The
combination of the CAT Media portfolio
with Northstar’s The Meetings Show in
London creates a multiplatform marketing,
information and event portfolio in the MICE
sector.”
8 /
CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
/
ISSUE 103
Survey sheds light on food waste in the industry
Just under a third of event professionals
admit to throwing away at least 15% of the
food they commission at events, according
to a new survey.
Lime Venue Portfolio conducted research
in partnership with BCD Meetings and
Events, comprising chapter one of the
Beyond Food Report.
The report puts a spotlight on the issue
of food waste and encourages organisers to
take steps to address it.
Other findings from the research were
that 18% of event professionals admit to
throwing away closer to 20% of all event
food, and 2% claiming the amount exceeded
20%.