When we were planning Conventa in the middle of the worst economic crisis in 2009, the response from our colleagues and the media was unanimous. You are brave to embark on such a project and dive into the unknown. Conventa was born in a crisis and grew from a crisis. We are used to crisis management and we could say that we are used to changes in the Conventa team. This too has enabled Conventa’s development to date.
A healthy attitude towards the world, compassion and solidarity are built into the story of Conventa. In this way, we have already overcome the economic crisis together. We believe we will succeed this time as well. The situation calls for empathy and solidarity. The Conventa team fulfils the project in a way that doesn’t question our motivation. And the new situation fills us with additional energy. Although it seems impossible, we dug into work with extra drive.
Conventa consists of five intertwined content sets. We started developing them in the past years, some of them also came to life online.
The Conventa 2021 platform consists of
CONVENTA TRADESHOW – The oldest B2B MICE event in New Europe
CONVENTA CROSSOVER – Festival of events and experiential marketing
CONVENTA TREND BAR – A series of educational events in the cities of New Europe
CONVENTA EXPERIENCE ZONE – The place of real congress ideas and creative solutions
CONVENTA YOUNG TALENTS – More contacts, more employment contracts – job market
CONVENTA TREND BAR
During the worst crisis, we successfully launched the CONVENTA TREND BAR PROJECT.
The story of Conventa Trend Bars is three years old and their main purpose and goal is to build a congress community through education and socializing. A novelty this year are online Trend Bars, which were welcomed very positively. We have developed a special digital platform, where the events take place and thus successfully adapted to the new situation. This way Conventa stays in touch with partners, with whom we are together searching for ways out of the crisis. It is important that we socialize and communicate what burdens and connects us.
To date, we have connected the congress community in the following destinations
CONVENTA TREND BAR LIVE
20.02.2020 Varna, Bulgaria
05.03.20202 Ljubljana, Slovenia
CONVENTA TREND BAR ONLINE
07.05.2020 Budva, Montenegro
14.05.2020 Belgrade, Serbia
21.05.2020 Ljubljana, Slovenia
28.05.2020 Portorož, Slovenia
04.06.2020 Sofia, Bulgaria
We are planning two more online Trend Bars in the spring:
11.06.2020 Bratislava, Slovakia
25.06.2020 Thessaloniki, Greece
Given the epidemiological situation, we will continue with Conventa Trend Bars again in the autumn, when we will also decide what form they will take.
CONVENTA CROSSOVER
Another important project is the CONVENTA CROSSOVER conference, which will definitely take place in CD – Cultural and Congress Centre Ljubljana from 27 to 28 August 2020.
We have prepared an interesting program, with the slogan RECONNECT as the red thread. The event is being developed in the regional Think Tank, which enables the testing of new event formats and the promotion of top knowledge. This way, the event will become a kind of start-up for the post-crisis period and will demonstrate the way forward. According to Conventa Crossover, the future will be hybrid.
An integral part of the project is also the competition for the best events of New Europe CONVENTA BEST EVENT AWARD. To adapt to the situation, we have set two deadlines for project entries this year:
Semifinal 1: 17th JULY 2020
For projects that were carried out between 1st January 2019 and 17th July 2020.
The finalists will be announced at Conventa Crossover.
Semifinal 2: 11th DECEMBER 2020
For projects that were carried out between 1st January 2020 and 11th December 2020.
The finalists will be announced one day before Conventa 2021 and will go straight into Live Voting.
Live voting will take place the day before Conventa 2021, on Tuesday, 19 January 2021. The awards will be presented at the official ceremony at Conventa 2021.
At the outset, we set up Conventa as a boutique, five-star experience geared towards the New Europe region. In doing so, we have always proceeded from the belief that it is better to build on quality rather than quantity. At its core, Conventa was set up sustainably. We are confident that it will continue to carry out its mission successfully along this way.
Our activities during and after the pandemic are focused on
- Remaining the strongest trade show of New Europe
- Building a database of contacts, focusing on regional event planners (from nearby markets in Austria, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, and Croatia)
- Organizing virtual meetings at a time when live meetings are not possible – Conventa Trend Bars
- Introducing hybrid events – Conventa Crossover
- Staying in touch with event planners with our e-monthly publications
- Taking advantage of the Kongres Magazine reach (example of the latest issue: Spring issue)
- Giving exhibitors the opportunity to present their news on our website – Exhibitors’ News – www.conventa.si
