Association of Association Executives adds exhibition to its congress

The Association of Association Executives (AAE) is adding an exhibition to its annual congress. The move is part of a restructure of the event, which takes place next, 7-9 April 2019, at the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre in Gothenburg. Organisers have accordingly changed the name of the event to the ‘Associations World Congress & Expo’. They also promise a new structure for educational content. During the registration process, delegates will be asked questions about their challenges and event needs and be introduced by an AAE engagement manager to exhibitors who can help them solve challenges involved in hosting their events. The AAE will be using Eventfolio technology to help this process and has recruited Andrea Matthews as the dedicated engagement manager. The AAE’s Executive Director, Damian Hutt, says: “Our Associations World Congress & Expo is the leading event in the calendar for international, European and regional associations. Year-on-year we refresh the content and develop the formats but this year we are innovating at a whole new level. “Introducing exhibitors according to delegates challenges and needs is a whole new approach and will be of great value. There is so much time wasted with delegates having to do this research with each exhibitor themselves and we can jump that stage and make their time much more efficient as well as helping them solve challenges they wouldn’t without the investment we are making and the new technology.” The content changes follow the results of research into delegates have been attending previously and their educational needs. Aside from the keynote sessions, the three-stream format is retired and now in each one-hour period throughout the day there will be seven parallel talks on different topics and formats so delegates can select according to their precise needs and don’t feel a need to attend only one stream. Hutt says the new formats of the talks will be more flexible than before and include presentations, facilitated discussions, crash-courses, briefings, case studies, and focuses. He also promises more speakers and topics for 2019. The congress will also be live webcast for remote delegates that are unable to be in Gothenburg, with a professional presenter. Annika Hallman, Director of Gothenburg & Co Convention Bureau, says: “We are very enthusiastic that the AAE is introducing new and exciting elements to the Associations World Congress & Expo, especially when it comes to boosting knowledge and new meeting formats and concepts. Participants will get to know a knowledge-based city where innovation and co-operation are in focus and Gothenburg also has a strong sustainability focus. We look forward to welcoming all AWCE delegates to our city.”