After three years without meeting in-person, the IELA Network says it’s excited to celebrate the uniqueness and power of meeting face-to-face, gathering more than 200 delegates from 130 companies from 47 countries in Bruges, Belgium, for their annual Congress and General Assembly taking place from June 27 to 29, followed by the 9th IELA Partnering Event starting on June 29 until July 1.
During this year’s IELA Congress, NET ZERO CARBON will take centre stage at the IELA FORUM, discovering new concepts, opportunities & opening new conversations on the move toward sustainable operations.
IELA members will also be discussing how the new reality (volatility, uncertainty and complexity) is affecting the exhibition logistics freight forwarders, addressing how companies can shift, flourish and do better in spite of the challenging world in which we are all living.
Guido Fornelli, 2020-2022 IELA Chairperson and Managing Director of Expotrans S.p.A., Italy, explains that “It is clear that we are still living in great uncertainty but the massive restart of exhibitions in the last couple of months makes me feel that the best is yet to come. We must understand how to respond to market changes and rise again, adapting our services to new needs and in particular to business sustainability which will be a main focus at our Congress. Greater cooperation among partners will be key in the future and IELA provides once again the best platform to develop new business during its Congress period.”
The only event of the association opened to non-Members is the IELA Partnering Event which will take place for the 9th edition. This event will once again create unparalleled opportunities for international networking and the exchange of experience between exhibition & event logistics experts and partners around the world. It is designed to enhance business opportunities and provide an introduction to the association. On July 1st, additional networking opportunities will focus on Fine Art, Sports, Entertainment, Mega Events and Project Logistics.
Sandi Trotter, 2020-2022 IELA Vice Chairperson and Director of TWI Group Inc. (Canada), comments, “At this critical point in our industry, it has never been more important to sustain our networking opportunities and prospects. We all share the common goal to build back better and stronger. This is the most valuable instrument for success.”
She also highlighted the need for in-person events, explaining, “Technology provides us with many ways to stay in touch, to make business and develop relationships. However, even with all these tools at our fingertips, face-to-face meetings remain a compelling, valid and necessary aspect of business life.”
Elizabeth Niehaus, Executive Officer of IELA, explain that “As an industry, we can and must do better. As an Association, we can embrace change and challenges much better together. As the organizer of the event, how we produce events really matters. IELA has applied several measures to reduce actively the waste and carbon footprint generated by the Congress. We look forward to sharing the journey with our delegates, reporting our progress on the different sustainable initiatives.”
For the very first time, the association’s Working Group meetings will take place as hybrid events, inviting the members not able to travel to the event to participate online on June 28th, in order to share their inputs and continue the active work of the groups. These are the only sessions to take place hybrid as the Association wishes to focus on the live experience of being back together again!
