The fourth edition of the annual ICCA Asia Pacific Business Events Youth Challenge, an initiative that is supported by ICCA, Goyang City and Goyang Convention & Visitors Bureau this year, is underway this week, with final presentations kicking off this morning at Sono Calm Goyang hotel in South Korea.
The challenge, which comprises both Student and Young Professional categories, is designed to offer participants aged under 30 an opportunity to showcase their creative ideas and understand what is expected in the role of a business events professional in a bidding process, shared Waikin Wong, regional director Asia Pacific at ICCA.
Wong told TTGmice that the challenge is realistic, as it tests the participants’ ability to meet the requirements and criteria outlined in a client’s bid document or brief. A real business event is selected for the challenge every year, and a theme is identified for the participants to focus on.
For this year’s challenge, participants are required to design the delegate journey for a conference for the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance.
The Student Category calls for a proposal that addresses potential factors that may cause dissatisfaction for the organiser during the site inspection, sustainability and wellness principles, and more. The Young Professional category calls for a proposal that covers host destination selection, communication plans, potential issues that could dent the delegate experience, and more.
Their proposals are judged by a panel of industry leaders in the region: Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau’s CEO Ashwin Gunasekeran; MOA:R Co’s chief strategy officer Bona Lee; Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau’s director of convention department Jittanun Techasarin; Tourism New Zealand’s special advisor business events Leonie Ashford; Daejeon Tourism Organization’s director Lorraine Han; Kyoto Convention & Visitors Bureau’s director Matsui Yoshiaki; and Talk2 Media and Events’s CEO Matt Pearce.
“The experience will bridge classroom learning with a real-life event organisation process. Participants will have to thoroughly read and digest the bid brief before drawing up their proposal, and be able to flesh out their ideas in front of judges. This is a real world experience that every event professional bidding for an event goes through,” added Wong.
Finalists are awarded with an opportunity to “go on a business trip” to present their proposal to a panel of judges in the event’s host city, and the winning team in each category will be invited to attend the high-profile ICCA Congress.
This year’s ICCA Congress will be held in Porto, Portugal in November.
Wong said the Asia Pacific Business Events Youth Challenge has inspired students to pursue a career in the industry.
Min Arona is one such example. She was one of the participants in the 2023 edition, and had gone on to work on the Goyang International Flower Festival – also known as the International Horticulture Goyang Korea.
“Participation in the Asia Pacific Business Events Youth Challenge allowed me to meet and learn from many peers from around the world, and I realised I enjoyed such interactions very much. The challenge was a positive influence on my decision to build my career in business events,” said Min.
Min is now an exhibition and AI track research student at Hallym University of Graduate Studies.
