Show review
Convene: conference
catalyst
SIMON GEORGE’S VISIT TO THE BALTIC MEETINGS
SHOW CONVENE 2020 FINDS GO VILNIUS, THE CITY’S
DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, VERY MUCH ON ITS METTLE
atalysts speed up chemical
reactions, and thereby
facilitate change. Take
cobalt, for example. It is
prevalent as a catalyst in the automotive
and oil refining sectors, and is
extensively used in lithium-ion
rechargeable batteries. Hence it can be
found in laptops, smartphones, tablets
and electric vehicles. For this reason, it
has been labelled a technology-enabling
element.
Go Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital‘s
official development agency, plays a
similar role. Its capacity to catalyse,
energise and thereby maximise potential
business opportunities is key not only for
the city’s meetings and events industry,
but for the whole Baltic region. Convene,
its flagship event, provides the ideal
vehicle in this respect to Go Baltic. As
Go Vilnius’s Director Inga
Romanovskiené explains: “Convene is
able to strategically position Vilnius as a
regional accelerator with thriving
start-up hubs, a collaborative spirit
between businesses, scientific institutions
and associations active in global
networks.”
Now in its eighth edition, the annual
Convene tradeshow welcomed over 80
regional suppliers from Lithuania,
Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Scandinavia,
including regional congress bureaux
(including Atta Centre, the largest in the
Baltics), as well as exhibitors from
Georgia, Hungary, Slovakia and
Ukraine. 140 hosted buyers from more
than 30 countries also descended on
LITEXPO in Vilnius from 12-13
February, to find out more and, of course,
to network.
Convene 2020 featured a Professional
Academy comprising 11 educational
sessions looking at the latest trends in
the events industry (including
demographics, the hospitality industry,
artificial intelligence, meeting design,
e-sports, and the role of B2B influencers).
It examined where the challenges lie, and
gave a sneak peek into the future as far as
technology is concerned.
The Lithuanian Government’s
strategic decision to facilitate start-up
growth in the fintech, biotech and laser
sectors in Vilnius through a helpful
funding, licence and regulatory
environment certainly seems to be
paying off, validating Go Vilnius’s claim
to be a “regional accelerator”.
For example, in 2019 Vilnius came
first in the Tech Start-up FDI Attraction
Index run by fDi Intelligence (part of the
UK Financial Times newspaper stable),
in terms of achieving the highest number
(in relative terms) of Greenfield FDI
projects per capita from start-ups in the
software and IT services sector between
2016 and 2018. Vilnius attracted 1,006
Greenfield FDI projects per 100,000
inhabitants, followed by London (875),
Amsterdam (802), Helsinki (797) and
Singapore (731).
So, too, in terms of Ease of Doing
Business, a key indicator of how
business-friendly the regulatory
environment is. Lithuania is progressing,
moving up from 14th to 11th place last
year, Romanovskiené pointed out.
Above: The
show floor at
Convene
Raising awareness
Amid the evident progress being made in
the region, problem areas exist and there
is a pressing need to raise international
awareness. Many people find it hard to
place Lithuania on a map,
Romanovskiené admits. “Paris or
London don’t have to explain where they
are – they can just promote their
advantages.” To address the awareness
issue and differentiate themselves, Go
Vilnius has mounted advertising
campaigns designed to stimulate (and
provoke).
The Go Vilnius Director emphasises
the importance of working together with
other Baltic neighbours. “On the one
hand, Riga and Tallinn are competitors.
Regionally we are partners, however. If
we want to attract events from Europe or
elsewhere, we must present ourselves as
the Baltic region. For many, Lithuania or
Estonia on their own are not interesting.
We are too small. When it comes to the
Baltic region, it becomes more
interesting,” she says.
“We have everything to be attractive.
We are undiscovered. We have culture, a
good location, good connections, good
services and infrastructure.”
Below:
Networking
Convene style
ISSUE 105
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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