Collaboration over competition: AIPC, ICCA and UFI form global alliance to generate benefits for meeting industry

The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), The International Association of Convention Centres (AIPC), and The International Congress and Convention Association will collaborate more closely in the future to generate better benefits for their respective members, as well as the international meetings industry. 

“With our Global Alliance, the three of us choose value for our members [and] choose collaboration over competition,” said Craig Newman, president of UFI. 

The global alliance effort among the three associations was announced last week.

“We are all organizations with a global membership and perspective, and already complement each other’s activities in various ways,” said Aloysius Arlando, president of AIPC. “However, as the business models of exhibitions, congresses, conferences and other types of business meetings evolve, the overlap of global associations servicing the industry is growing even further.”

A series of educational exchanges bringing together each organization’s content in their respective conferences will kick off the partnership. They will also begin to align their approaches to areas such as research and advocacy, and leadership teams will engage in regular dialogue to get on the same page on topics such as industry standards, terminology and best practices.

“Certainly the exchange of content and insights will provide better access for members to additional resources, but there is another factor here, which is the opportunity to increase consistency in the areas where we overlap” said Rod Cameron, executive director of AIPC. “This will not only enhance overall industry, performance but boost our collective credibility amongst other industry sectors.”

Dedicated to excellence in convention center management, AIPC represents 190 convention centers in 64 countries and has active involvement from more than 900 management-level professionals. 
ICCA represents suppliers around the world for international meetings and events, comprising 1,100 member companies in close to 100 countries.

UFI is a global association of trade show organizers and exhibition center operators. Its main goal is to represent and support business interests of 50,000 exhibition industry employees globally in 90 countries.

The text source: TSNN, the image source: official website UFI