Ljubljana Talks makes another appearance at IMEX Frankfurt, this year at stand C540. Ljubljana Talks began as a humble talk show amidst the pandemic, born from necessity with just a single camera and microphone.
Gorazd Čad, the editor-in-chief of Kongres Magazine, and Jan Oršič, Head of the Convention Bureau at Ljubljana Tourism, initiated it with one goal: maintaining industry connections when physical gatherings weren’t viable. Since then, it has evolved into a groundbreaking podcast, featuring giants from the meetings industry.
The first day of Ljubljana Talks has gone splendidly, with engaging discussions and strong conclusions.
One of the first guests, Petra Stušek, CEO of Ljubljana Tourism joined Gorazd Čad and Jan Oršič to discuss the challenges of leading a multicultural environment within the association, highlighting the need for compromise and patience due to diverse backgrounds, experiences, and values. Despite the challenges, the association aimed to unify its voice and advocate for the industry’s interests, particularly in engaging with policymakers at events like the EU Dialogue.
“But the fact is, what you don’t measure you don’t understand and what you don’t understand you cannot manage. However, when we come to the question, for example of the legacy or the destination, how do you measure that? We just need to accept that some things are beyond metrics, but we can talk”- she stated.
He continued by presenting how he, at Conventa, deals with carbon footprint and how he tries to minimise it, to make the event as sustainable as possible.
“In other tools to measure carbon footprint basic things are covered like mobility, telecommunication, catering and so on. But the field of measuring the carbon footprint of communication, for example, or advertising is not common at all. So, we created 345 tips for sustainable event organisations to have those recommendations for how to measure the type of food we create the goals of educational leaders and materials.”
Anna Abdelnoor from ISLA, our next guest, highlighted the importance of consciousness – she expressed that we can never make the carbon footprint go away, but it’s important that we are aware of it and measure it appropriately. This is where the real change starts. The conversation also touched on the concept of growth in business versus personal values, the importance of regeneration alongside sustainability efforts, and the issue of greenwashing within the industry.
“At ISLA we have three horizons. Our first horizon is decarbonisation, our second horizon is regeneration and our third horizon is funding. We are focusing on giving the industry the tools, the resources and network the education that they need to start making change.”
The following guest was Colja Dams from VOK DAMS. He spoke about how the event industry, sustainability, agility, and digitalisation are the current trends and challenges. He especially touched upon the topic of AI and whether as much digitalisation as we’re experiencing right now is a good or a bad thing. And on that, Colja Dams said that it’s not about the tools taking over, it’s about knowing how to maximise the tool’s potential.
“You will not lose your job through AI or AI will not take over the job of an event manager. But event managers using AI will take the jobs from event managers not using AI because it’s so much faster, so much more efficient.”
The last guest for the first day was Pia Such from Blue Scope.
Pia suggested discussing the topic of sustainability, which is important to younger generations, including herself as a young event professional. She mentioned that the automotive industry, like many others, still has a lot of work to do regarding sustainability. Pia’s interest in the automotive industry stems from identifying areas where change is needed and where she can contribute to making a difference.
“Climate change, a huge topic, is something that is threatening me. But when I’m threatened and I’m not doing anything, I can’t cope with that feeling. So I have to start doing something in order to get along with the feeling and in the end then say that I did something at least.”
Join Ljubljana Talks tomorrow at IMEX Frankfurt, stand C540, or join the live stream starting at 10:00h via the following link: https://kongres-magazine.eu/live/
