12 Oct 2016 144 hits

Anticipation is building for EMEC 2017 in Granada, Spain!

Team MPI were back in Granada the first week of October for the final site visit of the 2017 European Meetings & Events Conference (EMEC), to be held 5-7 March.

Once again, Eva Garde – marketing director at the Granada Convention Bureau, MPI Spain Chapter board member and chair of the EMEC17 Host Committee – was a wonderful host over the 2 ½ days. In addition to AV supplier selection meetings and mapping out the meeting space to design the physical set-up of the learning experience at the Granada Congress Centre, MPI Education and Event team members Andrew Walker, Miranda van Brück, Virginia Hall and Mara Jackson, along with VP Education and Events Matt Marcial, sampled the delicious cuisine of in-house caterer Abades, who presented a wonderful selection of local, seasonal and healthy brain food options to consider.

After lunch the team divided, with Miranda and Virginia meeting with several local DMCs to discuss an exciting new element of EMEC – immersive experiences that will bring the participants out of the congress centre and into the city, reinforcing the Local Inspiration element of Meetovation that has always been a part of this conference but was given special attention this past year at EMEC 2016 in Copenhagen.

The rest of the team, along with Federico Toja, Director of European Chapter Business and Darren Temple, Chief Business Development Officer, visited a few offsite venues including:

Hotel Andalucia Center, host venue for the European Chapter Business Summit (ECBS), to be co-located with EMEC for the third year in a row.
Carmen de los Mártires, a beautiful palace and gardens situated near the Alhambra and a fitting location for the Leadership Dinner (by invitation only).
Cortijo de Enmedio, a beautiful Andalusian farmhouse located on the outskirts of the city that opened this year and will be the perfect spot for the Welcome Reception.

That evening, the team reunited at Restaurante Alameda, part of the same company that runs Cortijo de Enmedio, to sample an amazing tasting menu of proposed appetizers and main dishes for the Welcome Reception, along with some local Spanish wine. The consensus was unanimous: the food and drink is delicious and is sure to impress participants.

In between meetings, there were some great discussions about the overall design of the conference. Back in June, Team MPI and the entire EMEC17 host committee joined together in Granada for a two-day strategy meeting using the Event Model Canvas, facilitated by one of its creators and long-time MPI member, Roel Frissen. Together they looked at three key stakeholder groups: MPI members who are not or no longer attending EMEC (approximately 85% of the European membership), suppliers and sponsors, who’s support makes this conference possible, and the host destination/host committee. The discussion then focused on what behaviours EMEC should change for each of these stakeholder groups in order to increase their ROI.

Some of the updates being made as a result of this exercise include a new and improved educational promise featuring distinct session types and innovative formats, a simplified and value-focused sponsorship prospectus that builds on the success of the Hosted Buyer Programme first introduced at EMEC 2015 in Krakow, and a totally redesigned conference website to be launched in mid November. Plans are also underway for a special promotion during ibtm world in Barcelona. To stay up-to-date, please register your interest in EMEC17 and you will be the first to know when both the registration and website goes live!

Make sure to follow @MPI on Twitter and tag your social media posts with #EMEC17.

Written by Andrew Walker, Manager Events - Meeting Professionals International