SACEOS (Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers) has kicked off the next chapter of its Asia-Pacific Community Building Manifesto, which was developed after the association’s annual signature SMF event last year and completed in October.
This year, SACEOS created the industry’s equivalent of the Davos World Economic Forum at SMF2019 with the participation and partnership of nine international organisations.
They were JMIC (Joint Meetings Industry Council), UFI (Global Association of the Exhibition Industry), PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association), SITE, (Society for Incentive Travel Excellence), BestCities Global Alliance, AIPC (International Association of Convention Centres), MPI (Meeting Professionals International), IAEE (International Association of Exhibitions and Events and IAPCO (International Association of Professional Congress Organisers).
SACEOS president, Aloysius Arlando, told TTGmice the intention was to “develop or deepen partnerships with global and adjacent associations with their respective communities so that collectively we can realise the full potential of the business events industry in today’s digital and globally connected era”.
Arlando commented: “The manifesto is a bold commitment among like-minded stakeholders to confidently harness the new forces of change brought about by the digital era in transforming business events into a powerful platform for socio-economic, intellectual and commercial benefits for stakeholders.
On the thinking behind the manifesto, Arlando, who is also CEO of SingEx Holdings, said: “We are in exciting times where businesses, partnerships and value creation are being determined by the global interplay of digital, networks and talent.
“For this interplay to produce optimum results, business events have emerged as significant enabling platforms that will need to bring together different communities from various industry and functional groups to cross-learn and collaborate to develop new solutions to address industry challenges or emerging industry needs.
“SACEOS recognised that in its evolving journey as a leading association for the business meetings and events industry, it needs to strive to stay abreast, share key and relevant issues impacting the industry.”
Arlando shared that SACEOS had restructured its executive committee to focus on the key thrusts of future business events in line with the spirit of the manifesto, which focuses on people, technology, relationship, destinations, sales, business models and ecosystem.
He continued: “SACEOS will be rolling out agreed initiatives along these thrusts and in partnership with both global and adjacent associations so that the Singapore MICE industry can be future-ready.
“For instance, we have developed a total security programme covering both physical and cyber security with the support of UFI. We have also inked key partnerships with both Alibaba and Tencent-WeChat to leverage on cloud-based and mobile services respectively for our SMEs, which make up the bulk of our industry, to adopt.
SACEOS worked with Oscar Cerezales, COO of MCI Group, to spearhead the manifesto initiative.
