Destination - CIM

[interview Industry]what it really means and how they can implement it in their businessstrategies. But our aim is to give a much more practical help.Which means?We are working on a tool that will help them identify local championsfor their ambassador programs. With that tool we are ableto combine our database with external databases like GoogleScholar and Microsoft Academic Search. It will provide a rankedlist with potential ambassadors, their backgrounds, their credentials,their level of respect. So, if you are targeting a conference,for example, in the sector of biotechnology you will gain preciousinformation on local clusters, expertise and universities. The aimis to launch it at IMEX in Frankfurt next year.Let’s take a look back. Some members weren’t that happy with thecongress last year. How did you react to this?Each country where we hold our congress has different challenges,and we were already well prepared to address some uniquesituations in China. Our local hosts started planning in detailtwo years earlier, and after the 2012 Congress we jointly agreedto pay particular attention to the F&B and technological issues.We brought in specialist consultants to integrate the work of fourdifferent technology providers, a mix of local and international.For the F&B we worked with a wonderful ICCA veteran, Nancy Wu,who personally trained the top Chinese chefs in how to create 5star Western cuisine to complement their existing expertise inChinese dishes.This year the ICCA congress takes place in China for the first time.Was it about time?The destination seems to be more than welcome. We have recordnumbers of delegates for a non-European congress. Around a thirdof those registered are at their first ICCA congress and that reflectsthe geography of this year’s event. It is one thing to read aboutChina and totally different to see the reality. If you are engaged ina globally connected business you need to understand how Chinais shaping and driving our industry.What will be the greatest challenge for ICCA in the future?We are conscious about the fact that it is a tough world out there.The greatest challenge for us is to communicate what the ICCA cancontribute to overcoming the problems our members are facing.The priority is to get our members using our tools. And regardingthe emerging markets and occurring changes, we need to shakeup traditional thinking. Our congress provides the perfect opportunityto do that.Christian FunkPhoto: VattenfallCIM 6/201355