IPC and Convention Centers of Canada ( CCoC ) formed an alliance when the Covid crisis started and continue to deepen their relationship , to their mutual benefit . particularly in terms of content and networking for their members .

CCoC took us to Edmonton for their 2022 Annual Conference , bringing together the senior leadership of the full community of Canadian convention centres – from Vancouver to Toronto and everything in between . Executive director , Barry Smith , pulled together an amazing programme , covering everything from technology to security and was kind enough to invite me , too .

Back in 2020 , Barry Smith and myself – we knew each other from a previous life – were both confronted with members being shut down as a result of the pandemic and decided to create an alliance whereby a dual membership was created . For AIPC this offered an unique opportunity to engage – albeit digitally – with the full Canadian community and CCoC obtained access to AIPC ’ s global research and resources .

In 2021 – almost by miracle – I was able to attend the face-to-face annual conference CCoC organised . Similar to AIPC , they made a point of having a

physical gathering , despite the fact that attendance figures would be drastically lower than normal ( AIPC actually had 50 attendees in 2021 , compared to 160 in 2019 ). At that moment , we agreed that we would make a point of attending each other ’ s Annual Conference , both to make our alliance ‘ visible ’ and to allow for exchanging ideas on the actual programme .

The impact was almost instant . Because only a limited number of Canadian venues were able to make it to the AIPC Annual Conference ( travel restrictions , budget , etc .), we brought some of the speakers to Edmonton , where their global views complemented perfectly with the speakers focusing on Canadian business reality . Vice-versa , I saw some amazing Canadian speakers who will be joining one of the AIPC summits in the next months . In 2023 , we will most likely bring this exchange of knowhow to a different level and we are currently exploring possibilities of a joint educational programme , co-creation of a talent programme , etc .

Similar to value demonstrated by the collaboration between global associations like UFI , ICCA and AIPC , this shows there is similar value in local and global associations working together and delivering maximal value to their respective members . It allows to

Above : Sven Bossu ,

left , and Barry Smith

develop models of collaboration which can be copied / pasted / improved to other countries and regions .

In that aspect , AIPC is delighted that we just obtained support from the South African National Convention Bureau to organise our first ever face-to-face AIPC Africa Summit in February next year , just before Meetings Africa . There will be no maple syrup or snow , but I ’ m sure we ’ ll have the pleasure of working with persons and organisations sharing the same purpose as our Canadian friends and the full AIPC community : namely delivering unique experiences by operational excellence .