That was then and this is now

This year we changed the way we positioned ourselves both as a global brand and how we perceived ourselves internally, is how ICCA CEO Senthil Gopinath sums up 2023 as he looks back on a “significant year” for the association and forward to new challenges. n 2023 we launched the ICCA Digital Transformation, incorporating the new ICCA website and Business Intelligence (BI) database. To meet renewed demand for post-pandemic in-person meetings we staged major gatherings across the globe culminating in the extraordinary 62nd Congress in Bangkok. We grew both our International Association Community network and our membership. We made tremendous in-roads into the world of advocacy through our strategic partnerships, and by bringing governmental meetings into our BI portfolio. We continued our push for a more sustainable industry via our leadership role in the Net Zero Carbon Events movement, our ongoing commitment to the GDS Index, and introducing legacy initiatives such as the Bangkok Pledge on Gastronomic Sustainability by ICCA. We graduated more students through our ICCASkills programme, saw the second cohort of our Future Leaders Council share their first assignment, published a Presidential Survey, Partnering For Success, and of course, the ICCA City and Country Rankings 2022. All this activity allowed us to leave 2023 proudly stating that ICCA was stronger than ever. That was then and this is now. Our value proposition lies not in what we’ve done, but what we are doing. We strategise and think far ahead. But the work we do is very much assessed in the moment when everything goes live. Only when we experience what we do in front of delegates, can we ascertain the effectiveness of what we deliver. It’s a nerve-wracking, exhilarating experience. One that keeps us fast, agile, and open to change. The ICCA team is forever challenging, thinking, reworking. To use a cricketing term, we stay on the front foot. Being forward thinking is a necessity of the international meetings industry. And I am very excited about where our forward- thinking endeavours will take us this year. I addressed the ICCA community in December saying, “what we do now matters in 2024, 2025 and beyond”. We exist to grow and expand the opportunities for both our members, and the role our industry plays in society at a local, regional, and global level. So come and join us at our dedicated ICCASkills Hubs in Luxembourg and Beijing, or Christchurch, or sign up and learn online. Come and talk to us at IMEX in Frankfurt and Las Vegas. Come and be part of our Business Workshops in Vienna and Baku. Come and see ICCA in action in Panama City, Zurich, Cancun, Washington DC, or at Chapter meetings across the world. Come and join us at Congress because this year, everything we do leads to Abu Dhabi and the 63rd ICCA Congress, 20–24 October. And if you can’t join us in person, we will continue to share the work that we do in as many engaging ways as we can. It is a great privilege to be ICCA CEO, to lead a 60-plus year company with an indelible connection to this amazing, vibrant business community. 2024 fills me with hope and excitement and I can’t wait to reveal to everyone what ICCA has planned. The theme of Congress is ‘tomorrow starts today.’ For all of us at ICCA, tomorrow started late last year