Chicago – Tuesday, 9 April 2024 The Global MICE Collaborative (“the Collaborative”) is a joint initiative of the International Association of Exhibitions & Events® (IAEE), Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE). With its overarching aim to advance the global meetings, incentives, conferences & exhibitions (MICE) industry, the Collaborative provides a convenient single solution to provide education and training to accelerate workforce development and destination capabilities within the business events industry worldwide.

Initially launched in 2018, the Global MICE Collaborative delivered educational content in Shenzhen (China) and Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) before the global pandemic imposed a mandatory pause in its activities. The Collaborative is now re-launching with a keynote on Business & Event Trends for MICE Professionals at The Meetings Show, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, 17-18 April 2024 followed by MICE Fundamentals: Conference, Exhibition & Incentive Events, a one-day course available in-person in Germany on Monday, 13 May 2024, the day before the commencement of IMEX Frankfurt. This course will also be available at future industry events, which will be announced in later communications.

Commenting on the re-launch, IAEE President and CEO Marsha Flanagan, M.Ed., CEM said “The Global MICE Collaborative brings three of the industry’s best-known associations – IAEE, MPI and SITE – together to provide the global community of business events’ professionals with a ‘best of’ collaboration, initially focused on education. MPI brings networking, thought leadership and education for Meetings, SITE for Incentives and IAEE for Conventions and Exhibitions. We bring indispensable connections to our combined communities of over 110,000 MICE professionals located all over the world.”

Paul Van Deventer, President and CEO of MPI added “Over the past three years the business events industry has seen significant change in workforce composition. Some reports show that upwards of 60% of industry professionals are new and the average age has declined by nearly 10 years. This brings forth a significant opportunity for new, fresh thinking, yet also demonstrates the need for skill development. Our MICE Fundamentals course provides the perfect pan-industry immersion for those new individuals entering this amazing industry. It also provides the perfect primer for the more specialised certification programs that each of our individual associations offer – IAEE’s Certified in Exhibition Management (CEM) Learning Program, MPI’s Certificate in Meeting Management (CMM) and SITE’s Certified Incentive Specialist (CIS) and Certified Incentive Travel Professional (CITP).”

Annette Gregg, CEO, SITE concluded “As more and more regions, countries and cities around the globe recognize the hard dollar and soft power contribution of Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions, the demand for professionally trained business events executives is increasing. That’s why the leading associations in the industry have joined forces to develop the best MICE workforce in established and emerging markets worldwide. IAEE, MPI and SITE look forward to expanding the scope of our ‘collaborative’ and to serving an industry that currently makes a USD$1.6T contribution to global GDP.”

Further details on the Global MICE Collaborative and, specifically, to register for the MICE Fundamentals course are available on http://micecollaborative.com/

For further information, please contact

Nicole Bowman, MBA, CEM-AP
Vice President, Marketing & Communications | IAEE
nbowman@iaee.com

Drew Holmgreen, MPI
Chief Brand Officer
dholmgreen@mpi.org

Pádraic Gilligan, CIS, CITP
Head of Marketing, SITE & SITE Foundation
pgilligan@siteglobal.com

The Global MICE Collaborative (the Collaborative)

The Global MICE Collaborative (the Collaborative) is a joint initiative of the International Association of Exhibitions & Events (IAEE), Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE). With its overarching aim to advance the global meetings, incentives, conferences & exhibitions (MICE) industry, the Collaborative provides a convenient single solution to provide education and training to accelerate workforce development and destination capabilities within the business events industry in both established and emerging markets worldwide.

About IAEE

The International Association of Exhibitions and Events® (IAEE) is the global association for the exhibitions and events industry, including more than 1,300 show organizers, exhibitors and exhibition supplier companies and over 12,000 individual members in 52 countries.  Along with the globally recognized Certified in Exhibition Management® (CEM) learning program and designation, IAEE has a strong focus on advocacy initiatives.

About SITE

Founded in 1973, SITE is a professional association of 2,700 members located in 87 countries, working in corporations, agencies, airlines, cruise companies, and across the entire destination supply chain. We bring value to our members at both global and local chapter level by networking, online resources, education, certification, and advocacy. SITE is deeply committed to the new generation and operates a best-in-class Young Leaders program and dedicated annual conference.