Dubai Association Conference gears up for February return

Registration for the next edition of the Dubai Association Conference is now open. It will take place on 21 February 2022 within the Expo 2020 Dubai site at the Dubai Exhibition Centre. The event will feature a strong line up of leaders from the global associations sector and takes place under patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and chairman of Dubai Executive Council. Under the theme of ‘Associations and The New World: Resilience & Reinvention’, the third edition of the conference will provide a platform for exploring how associations can adapt amid not just the aftermath and direct impact of the global pandemic, but shifting dynamics among the professions and industries they serve. Continuing the tradition of the previous two editions, the event will kick off with a session featuring the founders of the Dubai Associations Centre (DAC): His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, director general, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism and His Excellency Hamad Buamim, president & CEO, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Other sessions on the agenda will explore themes and topics including design thinking, policymaking priorities, innovation, diversity and revenues. Among the international speakers bringing their international insights and expertise will be: Michelle I. Mason, president and CEO of the American Society of Association Executives and Marjorie Anderson, founder, Community By Association. Leaders of global associations also among the featured speakers and include: Alessandro Jacques Cortese, CEO, European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology; Dianna Steinbach, vice-president, Corporate Development, ISSA – The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association; and Magdalena Nowicka Mook, CEO, International Coaching Federation. Michelle I. Mason said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered how association leaders engage with their members and other stakeholders, even as face-to-face meetings are returning. The pandemic has changed the way people work and the way they want to receive critical services, so associations are very much in a race for relevance. “In my session in Dubai, I’ll be sharing more about ASAE’s Conscious Inclusion strategy which will help organisations unlock the full potential of a diverse workforce and membership through intentional representation and creating spaces and places where differences are valued.” Martin Sirk, International Advisor, Global Association Hubs Partnership – who has supported DAC in designing the conference agenda – said: “Resilience and reinvention should be the top concerns on every association leader’s mind and every board’s agenda: ensuring survivability as a necessary pre-condition to re-imagine how we can serve our association’s mission, while working out how to deal with the extreme uncertainty of the post-pandemic world. “We’ve brought together a wonderful mix of association leaders from around the world to share their experiences, insights and recent innovations, and specialist experts in the strategic skills needed to navigate these treacherous seas.  Our education sessions and informal time together are designed to be engaging, interactive, curiosity-stimulating and sometimes provocative: a great platform to mix together thought-leaders from Dubai and the Gulf region with peers from Europe and North America.” Following the conference, delegates will be offered a full-day immersive visit to Expo 2020 Dubai to experience the thematic and national pavilions, attend celebrations and events. Ahead of the main conference, a series of three interactive online sessions have taken place this year. They explored the key themes of the event and provided an opportunity to ensure the agenda addresses the key concerns and topics delegates may wish to explore. The last of these sessions took place on 7 December. The conference is the flagship event of the Dubai Association Centre (DAC), which was established in 2014 to support and license regional and international associations in setting up an office or chapter in Dubai. DAC opened its state-of-the-art offices in One Central, DWTC in December 2019, providing a collaborative environment for registered associations. Previous editions of the Dubai Association Conference have explored key themes and priorities for the sector, attracting experts from around the world and building momentum behind the city’s status as an association hub. The inaugural event in 2017 successfully established the conference under the theme ‘Building a Community’ while the second edition in 2019 built a compelling programme around the theme ‘Driving change: The societal impact of associations’.