2011’s meetings and events industry Summer Summit – Open Your Mind has been hailed a huge success after over 120 senior delegates attended. Held at the Belfast Waterfront between 6-8 July, the Summit’s innovative programme proved thought provoking and brought new ideas of how to do business to the forefront.

Organised by ICCA, AIPCO, MIA, MPI and ABPCO, the congress was supported by Tourism Ireland and the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau. Attendees were warmly welcomed to the city by the Deputy Lord Mayor Alderman Ruth Patterson with a drinks reception at Belfast City Hall. Day one saw keynote speeches from international athlete and Olympic gold medallist Dame Mary Peters, who talked about her life story and involvement in promoting Belfast to event organisers. Motivational speaker Andy Bounds’s presentation on how to develop the core skills to stand out from the competition generated much interest as did Hamish Taylor’s soft insight into understanding buying decisions and what customers actually think.

The summit yet again demonstrated a united effort from key industry associations to both support their members, and deliver action on key industry topics. Designed to look at fresh and radical ways of doing business, the conference’s content led to detailed discussions in day two’s breakout sessions, each looking at different market sectors. Day two also saw the lively industry panel debate where industry issues such as the UK Bribery Act, training, future of meetings and competing in a marketplace with decreasing margins were examined.

Samme Allen from MPI comments: “2011’s Summit has been a great success, showcasing the very best of each of the organising associations. Early delegate feedback has been hugely positive particularly about this year’s featured content and choice of location. It is very clear that the programme of speakers gave the audience an inspiring and fresh insight into ways of doing business.”

David Leech from AIPCO adds: “We are delighted by how valuable the Summit has been in terms of networking and sharing best practice. The event was designed around the theme of ‘Open your Mind’ and from the breakout workshops and panel debate we really believe that delegates have left armed with new ideas and techniques on how they can successfully improve their offering and services for the conference and events market.”