Home NEWS Barcelona Convention Bureau partners up with Geneva International Association Forum

Barcelona Convention Bureau partners up with Geneva International Association Forum

Jul 14, 2020

The Barcelona Convention Bureau is the first confirmed Regional Destination Partner to support and engage with the Geneva International Association Forum (GIAF), set to take place on 17-18 September 2020.

Christoph Tessmar

Director of the Barcelona Convention Bureau

Christoph Tessmar, Director of the Barcelona Convention Bureau commented: “International and European associations have a tremendous impact on change and the world we live in, perhaps in the future more than ever. We are interested to learn from and engage with associations to better understand how we can provide the best possible service related to their future event planning. Our world has clearly changed, our business plans and our approach need revision.”

“We need to listen to associations more than ever before. That allows us to help fulfil their important missions and can support the positive change they are making, even and especially in times of crises. As the European Region Destination Partner of GIAF, we have the opportunity to engage in the co-creation of this new innovative association education event in one of the world’s leading association hubs, in collaboration with our friends from the Geneva Convention Bureau. We are excited about the opportunity to support the launch of GIAF and we are looking forward to working with all GIAF stakeholders.”

Whilst the Geneva Convention Bureau is the premier partner and the overall host of GIAF, the regional destination partnership model is based on regional exclusivity. It allows GIAF to work with partners who are interested in such exclusivity, representing their continents, their region and their communities. These partnerships are all about adding value to the event itself and more importantly to the experience of the delegates and attendees.

“The partnership is realised under the umbrella of common entrepreneurial spirit and creative mindset. This is now more needed than ever before. There is great alignment with the goals and objectives that we have established for GIAF. In times of Covid-19 and in the aftermath, we need to find new effective ways of how we as associations and partners deal and collaborate with each other. How we create and activate future collaborations and partnerships is up to all of us and we have to be clever about it. And we are defining the meaning of that and what it can mean to our partners not only at GIAF, but starting now.”

“We are very thankful to the Barcelona Convention Bureau and its team for the commitment to continue to engage in knowledge sharing, education and innovative processes, even in this challenging times when everyone is trying to figure out what the next appropriate steps towards business collaboration should be. We all are forced – good or bad – to rethink and we share similar ideas towards association,- but also destination innovation,” says Kai Troll, President of ASSOCIATIONWORLD and one of the Spokespersons of the Geneva International Association Forum. “We are currently evaluating such partnerships with destinations representing Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.”

The much-expected two-day event will bring together representatives of international and European associations, non-profit organizations, federations, professional societies, NGO’s and universities. Its primary goal is to establish an annual international leading platform for knowledge sharing in one of the world’s flagship host destinations for associations, Geneva.