An initiative that the European events industry was ready and waiting for. That sums up LiveCom Alliance, a confederation for European trade associations.
Not only does Maarten Schram regularly meet European live-communication specialists as managing director of IDEA (Dutch Events Association), but also in his role as jury member at international award ceremonies. "But what I miss is the real connection all year around with these organizations. We share so much professional knowledge and experience that it seems logical to establish an official connection now. And this alliance is the ideal tool to achieve that", Schram explains.
Schram believes that now is the right time: "People want to be in touch, share knowledge, gain new ideas and attend inspiring meetings. I see LiveCom Alliance as a must; bringing together CEO's and chairmen of the live communication associations is relevant for the industry, in both national and European arenas. What’s more, I consider globalization to be a clear trend: firms are focussing increasingly on international markets, where major companies are in search of global partners for their worldwide projects and events. European trade associations in the events sector should be supporting their members in this quest and serve as access to these international markets. And a solid European network makes that possible: LiveCom Alliance."
Goals and ambitions
"Obviously we want to welcome as many trade associations as possible, at least fifteen across Europe." LiveCom Alliance will set a clear schedule of business events in order to achieve this. And research projects are also being launched: "For instance, we're working on a survey to produce a definition of “live communication". There's no clear-cut response to this surprisingly. We’re also preparing a market research study; because in order to further develop the events industry, we need to know how big it is, what similarities and differences there are within European local and regional markets, which trends play a role, and so on."
We believe in live, compact and concrete
As well as being an online tool, LiveCom Alliance will also host two live events for all its members each year (February and July). "We also have a special section in the Eubea festival programme that's scheduled for October in St. Petersburg and there’s also an annual visit to one of European members. That brings us back to the objective to organize more regular and more focussed meetings with a compact agenda, and with a concrete follow-up."
Source: Photo: Yvette Kulkens
