Organizing quality meetings will be easier for association executives who choose to use the International Congress and Convention Association’s (ICCA) new online Association Portal.
Qualifying association executives can register for the service online at http://associations.iccaworld.com to access a password-protected section in the ICCA’s website, which draws together the ICCA’s unique data and specialized resources to association executives who are responsible for organizing international meetings. The ICCA Association Portal is a safe and trusted environment for association executives. They are not approached with commercial intentions.
“The ICCA board and my management team are delighted to be able to launch this new service for associations in this 50th year of ICCA’s existence,” said Martin Sirk, CEO, ICCA. “It marks an important new phase in our efforts to connect ICCA members and associations as part of a single, organic, business community and to provide association executives with easy pathways to their peers, something that has been missing but much needed.”
The portal enables association meeting planners to access their own meeting profile in the ICCA database and to share insights with other association colleagues. They easily can search for the leading specialists in handling, 
transporting and accommodating international events among other ICCA members and access meetings resource publications on various topics, such as bidding and decision-making processes for associations, contracting with major congress and convention venues, negotiating with hotels, working with convention bureaus and social media for events. Other resources available are the ICCA statistics reports, case studies and hosted-buyer event information. Associations also can request advice on how to improve their bid manual.
The new product, although aimed at associations, will benefit ICCA members by enhancing and strengthening the ICCA’s relationship with the international associations community. Initial reactions to the Association Portal have been very positive, and the ICCA board will present its new product to members at the upcoming mid-year sector meetings in May in Frankfurt, Germany.
The ICCA represents the main specialists in organizing, transporting and accommodating international meetings and events, comprising over 950 member companies and organizations in 88 countries. The ICCA is the only international meetings association specialized in the international association meetings market and has been tracking international association meetings for 50 years. The ICCA is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2013 and has five regional offices in addition to its head office in Amsterdam, with established operations already serving Asia-Pacific, North America, Latin America and new regional offices in the Middle East and Africa.
