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PLANNER Patricia de Bont:No frills, but technically perfect

FINANCE How to find a sponsor:Reciprocity is the magic word

MYSTERY GUEST The Field of Tension: Ton Soons’ opinion on the COHEHRE Conference

SPEAKER Guide in the new world: Daan Roosegaarde and his ‘techno poetry’

INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT Flawless organisation: 58 world leaders meet in The Netherlands

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT The corporate way: Developing a business plan based on market research

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Amsterdam in 2013 was named the second hottest destination in the world to visit according to The Lonely Planet. The annual list was compiled based on feedback from the popular guide’s online community, staff and writers. Amsterdam’s high ranking was likely based on the re-opening of the Rijksmuseum after a 10-year renovation, as well as the various anniversaries.

By EDwiN NuNNiNk

An extremely well-equipped villAge

A PuBliCATiON OF HET PORTAAl uiTGEvERS B.v.

MeMber of Partner of

Het Portaal Uitgevers b.v.Veerdijk 40-i, 1531 MS WormerThe NetherlandsP.O. box 125, 1520 AC WormerveerThe Netherlandstel: +31 75 647 57 47fax: +31 75 628 49 14e-mail: info@hetportaal.comWebsite: www.hetportaal.com

editorial staffeditor in Chief Edwin Nunninkedwin.nunnink@hetportaal.comsenior editor Judith Munsterjudith.munster@teksthuys.nlContributing editor Jos Goossensjos@josgoossens.nlContributing editor Daan Andrea Vera Borrelindustry specialist Eric Bakermansebakermans@holland.comindustry specialist Annemiek Kuijstena.kuijsten@statusplus.netindustry specialist Tons Soonston.soons@winningwords.nl

PHotograPHs & illUstrationsCover illustration Erwin Kho www.zerbamine.nlContributing Photographer Thomas Fastingwww.fastingfotografie.nlstock photos iStockwww.istockphoto.com

design & PrintCompany SDA Print + Mediawww.sdaprintmedia.nlCreative director Aryen Bouwmeesterabouwmeester@sdaprintmedia.nlgraphic designer Dirk van der Burghdvanderburgh@sdaprintmedia.nl

advertising staffsales director Philip Lasancephilip.lasance@hetportaal.comsales Manager Ferry Aaftinkferry.aaftink@hetportaal.comaccount Manager Arjan Woortmanarjan.woortman@hetportaal.comtraffic Manager Monique Zijlstramonique.zijlstra@hetportaal.comProduction Coordinator Eefje van Doorn traffic@hetportaal.com

ManageMentChairman and Ceo John Michael Swaabjohn.swaab@hetportaal.comChairman and Ceo Hans Janssenhans.janssen@hetportaal.com

Copyright 2014 by Het Portaal Uitgevers B.V.

WWW.ConferenCeHolland.CoM

@ConferenceNl

www.facebook.com/conferenceholland

EDITION 2014

The famed canal ring turned 400 years old. It was Vincent van Gogh’s 160th birthday and the 40th for his colour-swirled museum. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – often considered the world’s best – blew out 125 candles. Plus, the Artis Royal Zoo and Felix Meritis cultural centre marked 175 years and 225 years, respectively.

In 2014, it is Rotterdam, the Netherlands' second city, that holds extra attraction for foreign visitors. Rough Guides placed Rotterdam at number 8 in “Top 10 Cities for 2014” and the city has also hit 10th place in the New York Times list of “52 Places to Go in 2014”. Along with the many modern buildings that the world port already has, in recent months they have added the new Central Station and The Netherlands’ biggest building, a “vertical city” called De Rotterdam, and in the autumn the spectacular horseshoe-shaped, colourful arched Market Hall will follow. With a hundred fresh food stalls, it will be our country's first indoor food hall.

In March, our national capital, The Hague, was in the international spotlight when 58 world leaders came to visit for the Nuclear Security Summit. The Hague was the host, with the World Forum as conference venue, but the outdoor category event included practically all of the western part of the Netherlands.

Noordwijk was where the two key delegations slept and, at the last minute, it was also the host for the China forum and an official state visit. In Amsterdam, there were many NSS-related overnight stays, the Novotel Amsterdam City was the conference venue for the official side event, the Nuclear Knowledge Summit, and U.S. President Obama came to visit the Rijksmuseum. The historic universities city of Delft and Leiden received several delegations for a working visit or a social visit.

All those delegations had to be transported between the cities and locations according to a tight schedule and, in the case of world leaders, surrounded by very heavy security. This logistics operation went smoothly, as did the entire conference, according to President Obama, partly due to the short distances and the efficient connections.

We Dutch say with good reason that our cosmopolitan Amsterdam is actually a village. That goes for all of our “big” cities and, as the NSS has shown, when put together they even form a compact unit, with all the facilities and many attractions, both modern and classic, a short distance from each other. The Netherlands is simply an extremely well-equipped village.

Edwin Nunnink is editor in chief of

Conference Holland and QM. He

can be reached at edwin.nunnink@

hetportaal.com or @edwinnunnink

on Twitter.

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A hippie with a business planDaan Roosegaarde (34) is an artist, innovator, entrepreneur, inventor. With his “techno poetry”, where idealism and technology blend together, he stimulates an international public:

“I teach people to look at and think about the world differently.”

Flawless Summit puts the Netherlands into the international spotlightOn 24 and March 25, 2014, the Nuclear Security Summit brought 58 world leaders together in the Netherlands. U.S. President Obama spoke at the closing press conference of the flawless organisation. That took a lot of improvisation skills, according to the evaluation of the top class conference.

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Creative sponsorship, smart budgeting and free moneyMoney forms the theme of the Rotterdam Association Symposium. How do you get sponsorship money, what is

a realistic participant’s fee and what subsidies and guarantees are available? These and other questions were answered by a wide range of specialists and experts.

The Field of Tension between the European Annual Theme and local Focus AreasTon Soons had to navigate to and through the conference venue with minimal directions. He noted that the workshops that had nothing to do with the European Annual Theme drew the largest crowds. According to Ton, this

theme is the reason why there are fewer students among the participants than expected.

Rod Cameron

Distancing meetings from leisure travel should be a priority for everyone Our failure to emphasize the distinction between leisure and meetings-related travel hurts us all in the long run.

Annemiek Kuijsten

you work for the continuity of the association Commission payments and kickbacks keep the costs for attending congresses artificially high. Ultimately, this ruins the market.

Eric Bakermans

A broken model

We will need an alternative to long lists of facts and figures about the destination, and a clear division of tasks in the value chain to assist the association that is looking for a destination.

‘we want more money for the society’No frills, but technically perfect and with a high standard of service. Under this motto for eighteen years Congress Manager Patricia de Bont organises the annual congress of the European Association of Urology.

‘Associations that want to survive, must be run in a corporate manner’A business plan based on market research. There is a lack of that within international associations, argue Jeroen van Liempd and Peter-Willem Burgmans of MCI. Thus, the much needed product development that must make associations future-proof is compromised. 38OPINION

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Brabant

North-Holland

UtrechtLeidenThe Hague

Rotterdam

NoordwijkAmsterdam

Amersfoort

Maastricht

about

Conference Holland is the most comprehensive guide for association

managers and meeting planners who consider or decided to organise

a conference in The Netherlands.

Conference Holland is a special edition of QM [Quality in Meetings] a

publication of Het Portaal Uitgevers. Het Portaal Uitgevers supplies

trade and industry information in the trade fair, meeting, promotional

marketing, corporate gift and promotional product domain. We

aim to improve knowledge in those who use these marketing and

communication media to increase their returns and to stimulate and

support further development in the relevant industries. We organise

printed media, digital platforms and events to this end. These activities

are carried out under the Expovisie, QM, and PromZ brand names.

Noordwijk‘The Space to Be’

Noordwijk offers astounding diversity for each square mile. This exclusive seaside resort is situated in the Dutch Dune and Flowerbulb Region and is, with its numerous international space agencies, the epicentre of the European aerospace industry.

DESTiNATiON REPORTS(with congress calendar on page 69)

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AmersfoortCentre of the Network Economy

The historic city of Amersfoort has developed into a vibrant network economy. Many knowledge institutes, industry associations and NGOs have settled here in recent years. This development makes the city an increasingly important meeting destination.

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The HagueMeeting destination that works

The Hague is the international centre of Peace, Justice and Security. The city is, therefore, committed in terms of knowledge-based economy to these top sectors. Other spearheads are ICT Telecom, energy & sustainability and the creative industries.

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BrabantSmartest region of the Netherlands

The Hague is the international centre of Peace, Justice and Security. The city is, therefore, committed in terms of knowledge-based economy to these top sectors. Other spearheads are ICT Telecom, energy & sustainability and the creative industries.

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Rotterdam2014: Architecture in the Spotlights

The New York Times, Rough Guides and CNN all proclaimed Rotterdam to be a Must-See City in 2014. The primary reason for being awarded this honour is that this year will see the opening of three new architectural icons, including the building De Rotterdam, home to a design hotel fully equipped with all business meeting amenities.

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North Holland, north of Amsterdamland of wind and water

Water management, sustainable economy and agriculture. These are the focus areas of North-Holland North, the region north of Amsterdam.

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utrecht City of knowledge and culture

Utrecht has the most highly educated workforce in the Netherlands. That is due to the many important knowledge and educational institutions and NGOs that can be found there.

Maastricht Health and Chemelot Campus as superchargers

In terms of knowledge development. Maastricht is placing the focus in the coming years on Life and Science, whereby the focus on ‘Life’ lies in the Cardiovascular field and on Science in Biomaterials. Cooperation between the government, education, knowledge institutes and NGOs is of vital importance.

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leidenCity of Science

Leiden, with its university and Bio Science Park, is among the leading scientific centres of excellence in Europe. The University has a worldwide leading position in such research areas as science, medicine, social sciences, law and humanities.

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Money forms the theme of the Rotterdam Association Symposium. How do you get sponsorship money, what is a realistic participant’s fee and what subsidies and guarantees are available? These and other questions were answered by a wide range of specialists and experts.

By EDwiN NuNNiNk, EDiTOR iN CHiEF CONFERENCE HOllAND

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CreAtive sponsorship, smArt budgeting And free money

The Rotterdam Association Symposium held its fourth meeting on March 11 in Rotterdam at the Erasmus University Campus Woudestein. Initiators and organisers of associations and public meetings were, at the invitation of Rotterdam Partners, given explanations about such matters as budgeting, spon-sorship and the insuring of conferences.Hans Boerwinkel, Senior Marketer of ABN Amro, told his audience how the bank assesses sponsorship applications. Reciprocity is the magic word. These days, sponsoring is more than just giving money with visibility at the event as the only consideration.

Creating RangeIt is now entering into a partnership in which the sponsor, along with the organiser, wants to seek the highest possible return on the money invested. That means, above all, creating a range that goes beyond the participants in the conference. The potential participants, the contacts at the bank and the news media are also included here. This “activation” of the sponsorship costs ABN Amro extra money, emphasised Boerwinkel. In this vein, the bank spon-

sors the ABN Amro Tennis Tournament for 2.8 million, but that does not include another 0.5 million for the VIP lounge and one million for the seminars which the bank holds during the tournament. This last part is important in the current sponsorship. ABN Amro is committed to content marketing: you tell your guests a good story and then interact, instead of doing advertising and product presen-tations.

Some more tipsIn a wrap-up panel discussion with organisers of association conferences, more tips came up. Start on time. Robert Frank Houbaer, Secretary of the Hellende Dak, began sponsorship recruitment three years before the congress. Firstly, it does cost a lot of time to complete the process properly and you can also offer the sponsor exposure in the preliminary stages, among a larger group than only the conference participants. During the previous edition of the biennial conferen-ce in Paris, Teun van Gelder, Chairman of the Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmaceutics, visited all the exhibi-tors to get them enthusiastic about parti-

cipating in the next edition in Rotterdam.Think outside the box. Ultimately, the sponsor of Houbaer’s Congress was not one of the established companies. There were also sponsors who were did not give money, as such, but did provide support in a different way – read: cost savings.Ask (potential) sponsors for their ideas. Dick van Dijk, Professor of financial eco-nometrics, was surprised by the creativi-ty of his sponsors. Try not to “sell” (only) pre-formulated sponsorship packages.Finally, another suggestion from the au-dience: Involve students. They are more open-minded in devising sponsorship op-portunities. Even better: a kindergarten.

Determining the participant’s feeIn the workshop Budgets & Budgeting, three PCO’s answered financial questions from the participants. Some questions were about determining the participant’s fee and how you can raise that. That depends primarily on the revenue model, replied Jarno de Boer of Congrex Holland. To what extent do the participants determine the revenue of the conference? This may also mean that, if there is less (expected) sponsorship revenue, you must look at a higher fee.

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iN A wRAP-uP PANEl DiSCuSSiON wiTH ORGANiSERS OF ASSOCiATiON CONGRESSES, MORE TiPS CAME uP

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The participant’s fee indicates, if correct, the value of the conference. You do not always, as the organiser, need to stick to the prevailing rates. Do participants find the conference to be too expensive? Then you have to wonder, as an organiser, if the content is good enough, says De Boer. They also want to know how big the dif-ference should be between the various rates. A large difference between the early bird and the standard rate is not really credible, is the answer. One option is to use the discount early bird rate for a specific target group. For example, at a European conference one could focus on participants from Eastern Europe. In Western Europe, after all, money is less scarce than time. Moreover, the weight of the fee is not that bad if you look at the total costs of participation, which includes the travel and accommodation, qualifies De Boer in the discussion. On-site registration may be significantly more expensive and a one-day registrati-on for a three-day conference can be done based on “two-day rate,” says Nicolette van Erven of Congress by Design. This can be easily presented and, in practice, is generally accepted.

Most of the mistakesShe points out that you can also approach the pricing from the cost side. The variable costs must certainly come from the participant’s fee. If the confe-rence is held for the first time, it is important not to overestimate the regis-tration, Peter Bogaard of Cygnea adds.Most of the mistakes are made with risk and cash flow management, according to the PCOs. If you need to pay the down

payment on April 1, then an early bird deadline of May 1 is not al good idea, says De Boer. It is also important to create some space within the variable costs and to start low. De Boer calls catering the most variable item. First, start out with a sandwich lunch. If the registrations are going well, you can always opt for a hot lunch. A step forward is always easy, one step back is more difficult.You can also choose a location with diffe-rent room sizes, says Bogaard. This is certainly recommended for a first time. Then you can always scale up to a larger room.

Responsible costsAnother cause of too high (initial) costs: the substantive committee comes up with expensive wishes. Think of voting

machines, e-posters, twitter walls, apps and such. De Boer said that one often ends up in a means discussion and does not look critically enough at the value of something. His advice: choose one focus area and ignore the rest.Those present now want, of course, to hear from the panel members whether the costs of a PCO are responsible. What you are paying for is time and purchasing experience, says De Boer. Just think about accounting, financial flows and registration. Congrex receives an average of 4.2 emails per conference participant. If De Boer hears a (potential) client say one of his own employees can do it along with his own work, then he wonders what the employee normally does in his or her working time. The advantage of purchasing experience goes <

iN THE wORkSHOP BuDGETS & BuDGETiNG, THREE PCO'S ANSwERED FiNANCiAl quESTiONS FROM THE PARTiCiPANTS

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beyond simply being able to get the best price for something. A PCO also know that the conditions, including the cancel-lation policy, are negotiable.

Free MoneyThe plenary session that ends the Rotterdam Association Symposium is about free money and insurance policies. Joyce Wittelaar, acting on behalf of Rot-terdam Partners, is the first one to chip in. Rotterdam has an incentive fund that is intended for financial support to pro-moters of multi-day international asso-ciation conferences that are linked to the economic spearheads: harbour, medical, creative or food. The money is intended purely for bringing in a new conference.The contribution shall not exceed 10 Euros per participant per official conference day to a maximum of 5,000 Euros per day and 15,000 Euros per conference. Up to 50 per cent will be paid as a deposit prior to the realisation of the conference event. The remainder will be paid within three months after the event, based on an accountant-approved financial statement.

GuaranteeThere is also national support for organi-sers of international multi-day conferen-ces, explains Paul Gruijthuijsen, project manager of the Pre-financing and Guarantee Fund (VGF). This fund provides financial security, in particular through a loan and a guarantee.Through the pre-financing arrangement, conference organisers can request a free

and interest-free loan. The maximum loan amount is 90,000 Euros. This scheme is intended to finance the start-up costs. The money can be used, for example, for the initial down payment for the accommodation or for the development of the conference website.The guarantee scheme is a conference insurance that is intended to cover any loss that arises from disappointing par-ticipant numbers. The fund thus tries to ensure that the conference can continue, even in that situation. The size of the amount to insure is also set at a maxi-mum of 90,000 Euros.

Special event insuranceIn the case where the PCO or supplier is a member of Dutch association for live communication CLC-Vecta, it is possible to insure the congress against disasters.At events, you always have to deal with the problems of getting to the location and that brings all kinds of risks, says Wim Maas of Vecta Guarantee Fund. As an example, he mentions the volcanic eruption in Iceland that paralysed inter-national air travel in 2010. And he also points to a possible death in the royal family. There is no protocol for that, but as an organiser it will certainly affect you, says Maas.The insurance also has additional cover-age for loss of paid guest speakers, insolvency, tickets already sold, the total budget and accident and liability.The cost of the entire package amounts to 2 per cent of the sum insured. ≈

iMMEDiATEly AFTER THE COMPlETiON OF THE ROTTERDAM ASSOCiATiON SyMPOSiuM, PARTiCiPANTS COulD viEw A SuMMARy OF THE MEETiNG ON THE wAll ON THEiR wAy OuT. THE ARTiSTS OF wANDvERSlAG [wAll REPORT] HAD, wiTH A COMBiNATiON OF MiND MAPS AND CARTOONS, MADE A viSuAl SuMMARy OF THE kEy iSSuES OF THE DAy ON A CANvAS A FEw METERS wiDE.

The new board of the Pre-financing and

Guarantee Fund (VGF) has relaxed the

funds’ terms and conditions. The fund

aims to give organisers of multiple-day

international conferences in Holland

additional financial security.

the changes are:

1. The main change is that the VGF is

now 100 per cent guarantor, whereas,

previously, the organiser had to find a

third guarantor for 25 per cent of the

guarantee amount.

2. The application has to be submitted

no later than eight months prior to the

start of the conference. Previously, the

application had to be submitted twelve

months beforehand.

3. The conference budget must be

drawn up by a party that has verifiable

experience in organising international

conferences including accommoda-

tion, instead of the budget having to be

drawn up by a Professional Congress

Organiser (PCO).

NEw BOARD

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HAS RElAxED TERMS

AND CONDiTiONS

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How did you get involved in the association?I started working at the EAU after my studies in event organisation at the NHTV in Breda. This was in 1996, shortly after the EAU Central Office was set up in The Netherlands. EAU Secretary General, Professor Debruyne, who was affiliated with the Radboud University Hospital in Nijmegen, established a fixed Central Office for the European Association of Urology. We started with few people and now the EAU Central Office has around 65 employees. We are nowadays an as-sociation with approximately 13,000 urologists as members and with the objective to improve patient care in the field of urology.

And how did the conference department evolve?In 1996, we set up our own conference department and we turned the biannual EAU congress into an annual congress. Several independent urological specia-list groups became sections of the EAU and soon afterwards the organisation of EAU section meetings were added to our department The European School of Urology, which organises all kinds of teaching courses, hands-on trainings and

meetings is an important department of the EAU and our conference office takes care of the practical organisation of part of their courses and meetings. Altogether, with about 20 people, we organise around 40 events per year.The basis for setting up an own confe-rence department was to make the costs manageable and to have any number of matters balanced better. In particular, we wanted to take care of the fixed elements, such as abstract submission, and we wanted to keep complete control on the handling of the scientific programme and develop a good routine for that. If you always outsource an annual congress to a different PCO you risk that different organisations place different accents on it and that also implies a difference in costs. Also, there may be great fluctuations in the level of service from year to year. It is now very clear to everyone that it is always the same organisation which takes care of the EAU Annual Congress and other EAU related meetings.

What role does the local organising committee play?For the Annual EAU Congress we do not have local organising committees. Everything is managed from the conven-

tion department. The EAU has a Scientific Committee that consists of approxima-tely 35 professors from major urological departments of University Hospitals around Europe. They meet a few times a year and are responsible for the compo-sition of the scientific programme. We provide the practical handling such as inviting all speakers and act as inter-mediate between the latter and the members of the Scientific Committee.

No local colour at the Annual Congress? We do not put emphasis on a local colour. We have a large annual congress, including 13,000 participants and a programme that runs simultaneously in 25 rooms with an exhibition hall of 14,500 square metres. In Europe, there are only few venues able to host our congress. This is also much to the regret of our members in those countries who would very much like to host the EAU Congress. Therefore, we emphasise that it is a European conference.

How do you set to work on the Annual Congress?I am working on securing venues up to 2025. We start long in advance to get the dates that we want and still have a good

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No frills, but technically perfect and with a high standard of service. Under this motto, Congress Manager Patricia de Bont has been organising the annual congress of the European Association of Urology for the past seventeen years.

By EDwiN NuNNiNk, EDiTOR iN CHiEF CONFERENCE HOllAND

‘we wAnt more money to go into the soCiety to fund our projeCts’

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PATRiCiA DE BONT: ‘wE HAvE DEvElOPED A METHOD TO ENSuRE THAT wE GET A CONSiSTENT quAliTy OF HOSTESS SERviCES’

position for negotiations. We have a profit motive with our annual congress, the revenues are channelled into the association and that is how we pay for a great many important projects. For the annual congress, we have alloca-ted different project teams to the scienti-fic programme, the logistic organisation, the teaching courses/hands-on trainings, the registration handling and we also

have an exhibition manager who works on the organisation of the exhibition that involves approximately 150 companies.We are now starting up the congress in Madrid for next spring. Everything has already been completely allocated. Next week, we are going to talk to various suppliers. We will go back a few more times depending on how efficiently everything runs.

Do you work with fixed companies or local suppliers?For the most important elements we use the same suppliers every year. In particular for the AV and the handling of the speaker service Centre. What is good in the venue in terms of audio visual equipment we use and also good local technicians are contracted by our fixed AV supplier.

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For hostesses, we work with local suppli-ers. We have some 150 hostesses running around during the Annual Congress. We have developed a method to ensure that we get a consistent quality of hostess services. We are deeply involved in the selection of the people and they must take an online training where we show instruction videos and do a test.

Do you often introduce innovations when setting up the annual conference?The set-up of the scientific program remains rather the same. For example, we still work with paper posters hanging on poster boards in session rooms. There is a half hour of poster viewing, followed by podium presentations and a discussion. Up till now we felt that freestyle poster sessions do not give the poster presenters the kind of exposure that we think they deserve for their work.Of course, everything has become digital. We have an App containing the full programme details, the abstracts and PDFs of posters et cetera. Furthermore, all sessions are webcasted and we have live-streaming from the main plenary auditorium. We see the use of social media increasing, especially during the scientific sessions. We facilitate the chair persons of sessions with a panel on the speaker tables where they can see the incoming tweets. In addition to the general hashtag #EAU14, each topic has its own hashtag and the chair person decides whether or not to use these comments to enable a good discussion during the session and beyond since Twitter is not restricted to the ses-sion room of course. Our recent annual congress in Stockholm was rewarded with the BJUI (British Journal of Urology International) Social Media Award for Best Urology Conference.This year, at our request, one of our suppliers M Events, developed a special digital speaker table with various easy-

to-use options to project speaker names. We have 1,500 presenters at the confe-rence, and then you spend a lot of time making speaker name plates. Now, a speaker only scans his or her badge and their name appears on the plasma screen in front of the table. The control panels that the speakers have in front of them also feature options to manually insert or select names for projection on the table. Furthermore, the panel shows the presentation that runs on the main pro-jection screen and all incoming tweets. Also chairs and speakers can see the pro-gramme overview of the current session. The screens in front of the speaker tables can be customized for any session which is much more convenient than changing hardboard plates to brand the speaker tables.

How do you deal with the increasingly stringent regulatory measures?The EFPIA codes address the behaviour of the pharmaceutical industry but, when depending on support by the pharma-ceutical industry, these codes affect the congresses. For the Annual EAU Congress we did not alter a lot in order to comply with the EFPIA codes. Basically, we have always run a congress that has been deprived of most of the issues addressed in the codes. We see a slight decrease in the percentage of supported delegates. Of course we wonder about how this will affect our meetings in the future. If doctors are no longer supported and the costs are to be covered by the urology departments or themselves, will they still attend our congresses? For certain the future holds some interesting challenges in this respect.Sometimes it happens that a congress date is leaked and hotel prices skyrocket. This has sometimes resulted in us remo-ving the congress from a city. The pharma codes regulate that companies can only pay up to a certain amount for hosting

a delegate in a hotel room. If rooms cost 350 Euro, you cannot facilitate a lot of people and that’ is a major problem.

What do you like and dislike in congress venues?I prefer not to work in venues where no-thing is possible and all procedures, rules and regulations are written in stone. On the other hand is it always great when you meet venues that say: it's not just your problem, it is also our problem and we will do our utmost to help you find an optimal solution. This approach is a good basis for cooperation.

Typical example of Dutch frugality?We are certainly looking for value for money. We remove the fringes because it basically revolves around the scientific programme. Technical innovations are important, because the conference must be technically perfect. The appeal must be good, and we keep a high standard of service. It is often about a lot of money. Some-times we designed all signage ourselves. That can make a difference of quite some Euros. Those maybe peanuts in terms of the total amount, but the peanuts do keep us busy.Ultimately, we want the savings to ensure that more money goes back into the soci-ety, that it goes into patient care. We find that more important than, for example, spending the money on carpeting. ≈

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A broken modelWe will need an alternative to long lists of facts and figures about the destination, and a clear division of tasks in the value chain to assist the association that is looking for a destination.

By ERiC BAkERMANS

Last March, the most recent Global Report on Meetings of the UNWTO, the United Nations World Tourism Organization, was published. The Global Report, which may be down-loaded on www.media.unwto.org, contains an extensive account. This is not so much all hard and fast numbers and statistics, but rather a contemplative overview of the state of play, focusing on the current situation and the future.

Confrontational reportOne of the authors, Oscar Cerezales of the MCI group, writes in his con-tribution that the current business model of Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) is ‘broken’. In other words, it no longer works as he feels it should work. More-over, it is not sustainable. Why is the model broken? In the author’s words, Destination Marketing is not about tourism, it is about economic development. Business meetings, including conventions, are not merely a source of income, the significance of their economic impact far exceeds the expenditure of its participants and delegates. Cerezales’s article in the overall report is confrontational, yet not surprising.

At any rate, it does not surprise me. His account, however, may be an eye-opener for those outside the industry, for buyers (associations) and suppli-ers (DMOs). The world of associations is not exactly a very progressive, dynamic reflection of society. With some exceptions, many associations have to explain their added value, both to their own members and to potential new members. The relationship between an association and a DMO usually starts after they have learnt that a con-vention may be bid for. In the past fifteen years, the global market has grown considerably. Both supply and demand have increased. Every self-respecting city boasts a city marke-ting organisation that promotes the city’s qualities. These qualities quite often overlap with those of other destinations. Many of the destinations’ propositions are similar. As a consequence, ‘price’ will become the only distinguishing factor, turning the brand into a mere commodity.

Loading of the brandThe future cooperation between the associations and DMOs will require

the loading of the brand, and this goes beyond the way in which the brand is being used now. We will need an alternative to long lists of facts and figures about the destination, and a clear division of tasks in the value chain to assist the association that is looking for a destination. Most importantly, we must provide access to a network that will really support the association.

Innovative offerDMOs, just like the organisation I work for, will have to be aware of the fact that much of the knowledge and facts that they currently have are no longer their exclusive domain. In order to connect with today’s techno-logical and communication develop-ments, we must be more innovative in what we offer associations in order to meet their needs. The attracti-veness of the tourist destination is secondary to the value that an associ-ation is looking for when completing a convention RFP. The question that is paramount these days is which destination offers the best business climate? This is the biggest challenge we face today. ≈

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eriC baKerMans is Marketing Manager

Meetings & Conventions with NBTC |

Holland Marketing. He is responsible

within the Business Development depart-

ment for all activities and campaigns

related to the brand experience 'the inspi-

ring meeting'. For these activities, he

particularly focuses on meeting planners

and conference organisers.

ebakermans@holland.com

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‘ AssoCiAtions thAt wAnt to survive, must be run in A CorporAte mAnner’A business plan based on market research. There is a lack of that within international associations, argue Jeroen van Liempd and Peter-Willem Burgmans of MCI. Thus, the much needed product development that must make associations future-proof is compromised.

By EDwiN NuNNiNk, EDiTOR iN CHiEF CONFERENCE HOllAND

MCI Group interviewed representatives of associations based in Brussels about the trends they identify and the ques-tions it poses to them. The results have been recorded in the white paper “Navi-gating the major trends affecting associa-tions’. The issues that associations today are struggling with are clearly discussed here. However, no concrete solutions are given. We therefore asked Jeroen van Liempd (Director Strategy & Community MCI Brussels) and Peter-Willem Burg-mans (Managing Director MCI Amster-dam) about the answers they have to the challenges associations are facing.A major theme in the white paper is that associations can no longer distin-guish themselves using the old forms of information transfer. Their members can now get the same information from the Internet, any time they want. One of the solutions they have chosen is product development. However, I read that you have reservations about the way in which associations do this.Jeroen van Liempd: “What associations are not good at is doing market research and, based on that, developing a business plan, doing product development and

putting the product on the market. Typi-cal of the leadership of the association is that they often consist of volunteers who come together because they are passio-nate about their métier, about their pro-fession. That does not necessarily mean

– in some sectors that is stronger than in others – that they can run the business. People often do what they enjoy doing.”Peter-Willem Burgmans: “The leadership is mostly of a certain generation and the accretion of members of another genera-tion. That is where the difference in need arises and that is what you must iden-tify and do something with. Such a ‘gap analysis’ is, for any association, a must in order to survive. Jeroen van Liempd: “In Brussels, we carried out a market study on binding international scholars to an international association. One of the things that came out of the study was that these young people do not want to wait to go through a ‘peer review’ process before they can publish. They want a website with a blog and other means of communication so that they can immediately talk about what is on their minds and they want, for example, to have a summer school. Half

of the commissioning committee con-sisted of middle-aged men in grey suits and they looked at me like I was crazy. They did it anyway and the membership of young, international scholars rose, within a year, from zero to nine hund-red and it is still on the rise. They now, among their members, have a large group of young academics from Eastern Europe and other countries where people have li-mited opportunities to publish. They can now share their research with the whole world and that is a great success.”

What, according to you, are products that associations could come up with in the future?Jeroen van Liempd: “What associations do not exploit enough is the fact that they are a trusted source. When I google and I find something on Wikipedia, I be-lieve that it is the truth. When it comes to heart surgery for example, I should really surf first to the website of the As-sociation of Cardiologists. Why don’t I do that, while I myself work in the industry? That typifies the problem that associati-ons have. They are a ‘trusted source,’ but they do not position themselves as such.

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That’s because they are not sufficiently professionalised in the field of market research, business planning and, often, marketing.

Could it be because there are more parties who wish to claim the function of independent and reliable online platform; for example, the leading universities?Jeroen van Liempd: “The association has always been a highly appreciated partner and stakeholder in the academic world. I do not see any form of competition here. The leadership of an association is often made up of professors and lecturers and what they use the association for is to provide visibility for the good work of the university.”Peter-Willem Burgmans “It actually leads to more cooperation. In this way, what is happening in universities and hospitals, brings you closer to each other, so that it becomes more of an entity, just as the visibility of a university is enhanced when it does the hosting of a conference. That gives the university access to the content that is being supplied and it gets them more visibility in the world. That is

precisely what strengthens a university.”Jeroen van Liempd: “Academics need publishing channels and associations are very important in this. An association is a purer stakeholder than if you were to go directly to Reed Elsevier and offer your article to them. That is because they are really a purely commercial stakehol-der and I think that the real competition is there.”

How can associations make the transition to becoming a generally recognised and trusted source?Jeroen van Liempd: “I think they are already an independent platform. The problem is that they do not know how to communicate well enough. And they often do not know how to exploit it suf-ficiently. This because they do not think commercially enough.

“You can see that the big publishing houses, over the past decade, have set up large trade shows which primarily involve the exhibition (“Product,” emphasised Burgmans) and the content is pasted onto that, content which is often not of the highest quality. In this way, they have bound the big companies to them and have earned a great deal of money.”

“In this way, the publishing houses have gone into the conference business, and that used to be the business of the asso-ciations. It’s time to catch up, but it must be done in such a way that an associa-tion can sufficiently use its reputation as a well trusted source. This is because I think that associations have a very strong point there. Who can I trust? Is that the cardiologists who come together, are passionate about their work and pu-blish it, or is it a group of companies at a trade show who are there purely for their own operating profit?”

“We are now, for example, working with the American Society of Mechanical Engi-neers, as a sort of counter- auction power, in order to introduce true, high-quality

content. We are going to develop the content of the conference so that we do truly bring something innovative. We’re not going to talk about the technology of today and showcase all of that. We provide very good speakers and very good papers that already meet the future needs of members or other users, and we ask the companies whether they are already dealing with that.”

What needs to change in order to get to the business community back to the association exhibition?Peter-Willem Burgmans: “It used to be: “Come with me to the show and you will get a hundred square meters for a hundred Euros per square meter”. Now the question is: “What is going on with you.” The content is just as important for the companies as it is for the associations. That is the win-win situation. Because as-sociations also need the companies again. They need the knowledge from the field. That is just as necessary as the knowledge of those who operate within the univer-sity. The involvement of the industry will continue to grow and to be about more than just products.”

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JEROEN vAN liEMPD: “THE EuROPEAN ASSOCiATiON OFTEN COMPlAiNS THAT, iN THE NATiONAl ASSOCiATiONS, THE PROFESSiONAl lEvEl iS NOT HiGH ENOuGH”

PETER-willEM BuRGMANS: “iN EuROPE SixTy PERCENT OF THE PEOPlE wHO PuRCHASE SERviCES ARE NOT MEMBERS”

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Jeroen van Liempd: “You see that asso-ciations are becoming more professional, but you also see that businesses, based on their Corporate Social Responsibility, are positioning themselves differently. Today, it’s about more than just making profits. They are also thinking about society and the welfare of people. They must therefore really live up to that: walk the talk.”

“There are simply a lot of parallels such that both groups can learn from each other. Lots of things we do for an as-sociation, we also introduce when we do a corporate meeting for a company. It is also about sharing knowledge and crea-ting communities. What are you going to do with those communities, how do you activate them, how do you engage them and how do get something out of them or put something into them? That’s actually what we do.”Peter-Willem Burgmans: “Our role is to facilitate the content. We are not the ones who determine what is being discussed. We facilitate the association with studies to map out what the content should be. We try, by asking the right questions, to get to the core of what an association is now doing and what they should be doing differently. We try to do that via a consultative approach.”

Are associations anxious to have such a consultative approach?Jeroen van Liempd: “We as MCI also have consultants who help us internally to improve and that is very refreshing. We now do things which we would not have been able to do without that consultancy or it would have, in any case, have taken much longer.”Peter-Willem Burgmans: “People from outside have a different view of the orga-nisation. They are objective and ask critical questions, then you need to think about it. That’s always good; even in a relationship. It’s always a good idea to have another

person say, “Hey look at it differently.” Otherwise, you create tunnel vision.”Jeroen van Liempd: “Lack of innovation and stagnation is one of the greatest dangers. You see, in the associations in Brussels, many middle managers who are held back. They want to do something, but they cannot. I often noticed this frustration when I was doing interviews for the white paper.”

I can also imagine that it’s a big culture shock for many associations if you preach a businesslike approach. Jeroen van Liempd: “The international European associations that want to survive will have to be run in a corporate manner between now and for the next ten years, otherwise it will not work. You already see this trend in the United States. There, association management is a clearly recognised profession, a real job.”

“You see new models emerge there, where there is a movement away from the traditional membership. You then have a kind of engagement model. You are no longer a member of the association for a hundred dollars a year, but on the web-site you can choose what’s important to you. You tick a few boxes and at the end of the year you get a bill. It is still called an association. No dividends are paid and there are no shareholders. It’s still purely to develop and share content through conferences and in other ways.”

“Europe is, in that respect, very far behind, but I think that, in ten years, the truly successful associations will be run like this.”Peter-Willem Burgmans: “In Europe, you see, when you map it out, that sixty per-cent of the people who purchase services are not members. That shift has to be made so that the focus will also come to be on those people, not just on the paying members.”

“Commercial thinking is more important than simply being commercial. It’s all

about a different way of thinking. Maybe ‘commercial’ is not the right word. It’s simply thinking and doing things differently.”

From the white paper, I understand that it is difficult to get the European association and the national associations in line with each other, with respect to that new thinking.Jeroen van Liempd: “In particular, with trade associations – which represent the interests of the industry – you really see a problem between national and European associations. Sometimes, they need Europe and the rest of the time they forget about it. However, to make the European lobby effective, you must also continue to do certain things at the national level. It seems to me that there is often more competition that cooperation with each other; they seem to forget that they are all working for the same club.”

“The European association often com-plains that, in the national associations, the professional level is not high enough. Again, here too, it is important that you get professionalism from the people who work for the associations.”

Why don’t you then offer this training course?Jeroen van Liempd: “That’s exactly what we are initially going to do in Brussels. We are going to do an outreach to the young middle management. We work with the educational programme of the ASEA [The Centre of Association Leader ship, RED], that we, as MCI, have adapted to European needs. We have now opened our in-house MCI training institute to association professionals in Brussels. We do this not because we immediately expect to gain business, but because we have an interest in increasing the level and the recognition of associa-tion management.” ≈

‘ What associations do not exploit enough is the Fact that they are a trusted source’

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the field of tension between the europeAn AnnuAl theme And loCAl foCus AreAsTon Soons had to navigate to and through the conference venue with minimal directions. He noted that the workshops that had nothing to do with the European Annual Theme drew the largest crowds. According to Ton, this theme is the reason why there are fewer students among the participants than expected.

By TON SOONS, TRAiNER AND ADviSOR iN TExTS, PRESENTATiONS, AND CONFERENCES

“The conference will be a success if the students were motivated to come into contact with one another and with the professional participants,” said dean Ar-win Nimis, MSc, of the School of Health Care Studies of the Hanze University of Applied Sciences (HUAS) Groningen. This was his academic heart talking. The COHEHRE Conference in Groningen even has an academic feel to it, ex-pressed through the venue, programme, surroundings, atmosphere and quality level.

Cooperation ProjectThe Groningen Convention Bureau (GCB) was engaged as a Professional Congress Organizer (PCO). Therefore, no amateur work by students or depart-mental secretaries. The PCO had arran-ged, amongst other things, registration, city contacts, courtesy bikes, student volunteers, accommodation and the conference scheme. The development of the conference programme was largely the work of Henk Willemsen who, from within the HUAS, maintains contact with other

(international) healthcare schools. The Cohehre office in Ghent (Belgium) handles the invoicing and collection process. They probably thought you shouldn’t outsource everything.

European Annual ThemeCohehre is a consortium of institutes of higher education in health and rehabilitation in Europe. The exchange of knowledge, insight and experience is the main objective.The conference, which has celebrated its 25th anniversary, always tries to tie in with the European annual theme. The theme of the 2014 conference is “Recon-ciling work and family life in health care”. The local host organization would like to deal with issues that give a good picture of the school and that are current and in-teresting from a vocational point of view. This turns out to be a field of tension. Be that as it may, Cohehre and Willemsen approved half of the submitted abstracts, rejecting the other half. I later discovered that the workshops that had nothing to do with the annual theme drew the largest crowds.

“Challenging” DirectionsI wanted to follow the main programme on Thursday, 10 April. After an over-night stay in a hotel, I arrived early at the school’s Zernike Campus. I had been warned in advance – the directions are a challenge. Buildings have street addresses, a letter, a name and an abbreviation. What is the organization communicating, and what do the local signposts say? I had even downloaded the HUAS Location Finder app onto my phone beforehand. It was no use, since it did not use my GPS coordinates and therefore did not take me from where I was to where I had to be. I asked a student where the sports centre (code-name: ZP17) was, but he didn’t know. When I drove on, I suddenly saw the name “Willem Alexander Sport-centrum” in large letters, behind which lay an empty car park. Entering through the back door and twice asking for directions, I found my way to the registration desk on the first floor. The special signs for the COHEHRE Conference didn’t contain any arrows or text to help you find the registration

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area, lecture halls, cloakroom or foyer. However, they had my lanyard ready for me, and, hurray, it could be worn on both sides. I also received a conference bag containing a 120-page(!) conference guide, a pen, a list of participants, city information and tourist vouchers.

Unlimited HospitalityI was personally welcomed by Mariska Pater, the director of the GCB, and Henk Willemsen. “Have you really got time for me?” I asked, “Everyone is usually busying about, except with a critical re-porter like me.” But their hospitality was without bounds.

After an extensive explanation by Ms Pater, I wanted to attend the first plenary lecture in the auditorium. The audito-rium turned out to be a sober, tiered lecture hall. After a while, it became clear that the hall was not properly ventilated. The keynote speaker (Robbert Boonk, Director of the University of Applied Science in Rotterdam) spoke fluently and with humour about the new Co-hehrebook.com website, which serves to promote the exchange of knowledge and contacts within this target group. The technical explanation that was then given by the website builder was

– although accurate to a T – inaudible,

boring, pointless and not very smooth.The building is equipped with Wi-Fi, which I was easily able to access with only my e-mail address. However, because I had to keep logging in again and again, I switched to my own 3G subscription …

Low Student TurnoutDuring the coffee break, I talked to Cor Segeren, Cohehre’s president. He told me that a good relationship between students and professionals is important.

“But why are there only 30 students out of a total of 186 participants? This isn’t an examination or holiday period, is it?” He

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DRiNkS iN THE ATRiuM OF THE PROviNCiAl HOuSE

PHySiCAl ExERCiSE FOR THE PARTiCiPANTS

THE wiEBENGACOMPlEx DiFFiCulT TO FiND yOuR wAySOuND AND iMAGE quAliTy wAS NOT STEADy

STuDENT vOluNTEERS wEARiNG CONFERENCE T-SHiRTS

PHOTO TOuR THROuGH THE CiTy AS ENERGizER

iNTERACTiON BETwEEN THE PARTiCiPANTS

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suspected that the lure of the city played a role here. However, I think this was more likely because of the conference theme. There were separate programmes for deans, students and staff members. The students attended workshops during the day and prepared meals, went out, cycled and partied together at night. I concluded from the list of participants that, of the 186 participants, 56 per cent came from the Netherlands. This struck me as a normal percentage. 35 deans had their own programmes on healthcare education, fortunately not restricted to the European annual theme.

Technical ProblemsAfter the coffee break, I went to a work-shop for which Room 09 proved to be too small. However, those who couldn’t get in were given another opportunity in the afternoon. Although the air-conditioning system worked properly, the sound and image quality of the videos shown was not steady. The equipment had appa-rently not been tested, and there was no technician to lend a hand. The 120-page conference guide did not contain an emergency number. A participant from the HUAS nevertheless managed to call in a technician by mail, who concluded matter-of-factly that realtime playing films from USB sticks takes up too much time. The workshop did not actually deal with the balance between work and family. Instead we were asked to guess eight or nine medical professions. Interesting, but not relevant to the conference theme, and only conveying the following message:

“Look how many medical professions there are today.”

Very GoodAfter the fourth, I slipped away and ran into Willemsen. He seemed very relaxed

– everything was going smoothly. Hmm. He told me that all but one student

had shown up. Under the direction of two lecturers, they were turning into a close-knit group: they were working on an assignment to induce the other conference participants to take physical exercise in the afternoon and analyzing the QS readings of the twenty monito-ring devices that had been handed out so that they could report on this to the conference participants on the following day. QS stands for “Quantified Self”, a promising multiple self-diagnosis tool for laypersons. They even have a separate institute for this, which enjoys worldwide fame and interest.I asked Willemsen why so many Dutch speakers were giving the keynote speeches and workshops. “Simply because we’re incredibly good. For example, did you know that the University Medical Centre Groningen is one of the largest hospitals in Northern Europe?” No. Groningen pride briefly won out over modesty.

Compulsory ParticipationLunch was served in another building. There was no way I could have got lost, since I was allowed to tag along with someone from the organizing committee.During lunch, I talked to a Danish woman who had only just managed to receive permission to take part, “as the scope of the conference was “too wide”. She was eventually allowed to attend since she was a speaker at the conference and would be able to meet some interes-ting colleagues there. Someone else at my table, someone from the HUAS, had been forced to take part by his manager. What can I say.I tried several times to find out if the directions, the communication or the organization were flawed in any way, but I turned out to be the only one making a fuss. Until someone asked me where Room 01 was. In the foyer, which gives on to the dif-ferent rooms, miniscule permanent signs

had been posted, pointing to where the classrooms, bicycle shed and dressing-rooms were in the sports centre. Half of these signs were taken up by HUAS logos. Rooms 01 and 02 were not indicated at all. Fortunately, we were able to ask the student volunteers, who were wearing specially made conference T-shirts.

Good AtmosphereI shouldn’t complain. The atmosphere I sensed was good. Groningen had reason to be proud.However, after the tea break, just as I was about to leave, I saw that the regular caterer had not given any thought to signposting either. There were nine half-filled cups of water, since there were no TEA and COFFEE signs to distinguish between two identical coffee-containers. I decided to pass up on the energizing programme with the students, which had been scheduled for 16:15, and the visit with drinks to the Groninger Museum, which had been scheduled for 17:30.Under the multimedial supervision of my Google Maps, I drove straight to the cam-pus exit and headed home in the sunny South of the Netherlands. ≈

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Number attendees 186 Of which 30 students

35 deans

121 staff & speakers

Programme

Keynote speakers 4 Workshops 5 20-minute parallel

sessions 19 x 61 speakers

Posters 9

Congress fee

Members € 475 Non-members € 725 Students € 250 Host school staff € 150 Host school students € 100

FACTS & FiGuRES

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you work for the Continuity of the AssoCiAtionCommission payments and kickbacks keep the costs for attending congresses artificially high. Ultimately, this ruins the market.

By ANNEMiEk kuiJSTEN

If you look at our colleague-competi-tors, then you will see that they still often work on the basis of commissi-on deals and kickbacks. The amounts earned in the past from these were really huge. We work on the basis of a fair hourly rate and invoice only for the hours worked. Any commission payments and kickbacks are for the client.We don't want to get into any situ-ations where we have a conflict of interests. Take the following situa-tion: you have a client – a medical association with a committee you are serving – and you have hotel A and hotel B. Hotel A would be perfect for the congress, but Hotel B will give you a lot more commission. Which hotel would you offer to the client?

ConvictionsMy focus is on my client, the associ-ation and its committee. What you really need to do is to share their

convictions. And if you work on the basis of certain convictions, then things become very simple. Each step you take, consciously or unconscious-ly, is a step towards that objective. If you reach the point at which you need to scratch around for revenue elsewhere, then you have actually lost focus.

Why?Ultimately, this ruins the market. And that is what is actually happe-ning. Pharmacists are up in arms as they make a significant contribution to the financial success of a congress. They are saying that you get a 20 percent commission on every room

– why doesn’t that go back to the association? One of the objectives of every association, medical or otherwise, is education. And the associations want to make education available to practitioners all over the world, in

developed, developing and under-developed countries.

ScandalousIf you, while working as a PCO, keep the costs for congress attendance artificially high, then I have to say I find that scandalous. Who are you working for in that case? I would say that you are working solely for yourself.You work for the continuity of the as-sociation. A congress is not a product that you develop. But some PCOs do see it like that. Once the ‘Congress X’ product is no longer profitable, then you discontinue production. Our contracts last for three to five years. Naturally, our aim is to extend the contracts, and to do so on the basis of the client wanting to extend the contract because it has complete confidence in our services and the total transparency we provide. This is the basis on which I want to work. ≈

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KUijsten. In September, she took up

the position of chair of the Netherlands

Chapter of the MPI Foundation, and at the

turn of the year she became a partner in

the professional congress organiser and

association management company, Status

Plus.

a.kuijsten@statusplus.net

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On 24 and March 25, 2014, the Nuclear Security Summit brought 58 world leaders together in the Netherlands. U.S. President Obama spoke at the closing press conference of the flawless organisation. That took a lot of improvisation skills, according to the evaluation of the top class conference.

By EDwiN NuNNiNk, EDiTOR iN CHiEF CONFERENCE HOllAND | PHOTOGRAPHS www.NSS2014.COM

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“The Netherlands was, within Europe, a logical candidate. We are known as a land of building bridges, internationally oriented and a country that gets things done. In short, we are a country that can organise.”These were the words of Marc Gerritsen. He talked to the meeting planners and professionals in the World Forum in The Hague, Netherlands about how the organisation received the commission for the the prestigious Nuclear Security Summit (NSS). The conference brought

58 world leaders to our country and was also further enhanced, at the last minute, by an official state visit by Chinese Presi-dent Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan, the Sino-Dutch Economic Forum and a G7 conference on the Ukraine.During the evaluation meeting organised by MPI and the Netherlands Society for Event Managers, Gerritsen acknowledged that for him the political process, prior to the allocation of such a conference, is not always easy to understand. It was Europe’s turn, because the two previous editions of the NSS had taken place in the United States (Washington) and Asia (Seoul). A number of countries had already offered; The Netherlands had not. Yet, our country was sounded out, in particular because the Americans wanted to have the summit in a place where the organisation would proceed smoothly. And thus, in March 2012 the Nether-lands, with no bid-book or campaign – and purely on reputation and trust – was officially nominated and appointed to host the Nuclear Security Summit in 2014.

No secretariatWhat was extraordinary about this confe-rence is that there was no association or secretariat as the commissioning party. For the content, there was a circuit of chief negotiators, the so-called Sherpas. The Dutch Sherpa, Piet de Klerk, was the head of the actual team that was set up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Han-Maurits Schaapsveld and Marc Gerritsen were appointed by Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, as pro-ject director and deputy director of the project team, respectively, and designated to take on the organizational side of the summit itself.They first asked the question: how should the ultimate success be measured. Num-ber one was, of course, security, in view of the large number of world leaders, which included U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Moreover, we felt it important that the Netherlands would be well presented in the international spotlight and that the entire conference should truly be an entity.

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Main structure of the organisation teamWithin a few weeks, a main structure was set up within the organisation team and divided over five disciplines: management, branding and facilities, hospitality, hotels, communications. After the summer of 2012, it was gradually scaled up, so that it would ultimately grow exponentially into an organisation team of 50 people.The starting point was to deploy as many people from the central government as possible, and to look for suppliers only where they lacked expertise and capacity. The vast majority of the 450 delegation liaison officers, hostess and hostesses therefore came from their own ranks of the ministries. In addition, there were about 600 employees from suppliers ac-tive at the conference location. To ensure safety, there were some 13,000 police officers and 4,000 military police and 3,000 soldiers deployed.

Brought in lateThe chosen approach also led to external parties that were involved in the organi-

sation being approached very late, as evidenced by the stories told by Peter Schure (Pino events & conferences) and Ingrid Vermeeren (Kronenburg Hospitality).Schure, who had assisted in the procu-rement of the sites at an earlier stage, was only added full time to the project in February. During the evaluation meeting, he showed an example of the contingency plan. This was deliberately kept very simple, he says. “It had to fit in your jacket pocket and you had to be able to find something in it fast.” After the dress rehearsal, for which Schure had gathered 60 former ambassadors, a script for the Master of Ceremonies was added in a rush. Fortunately, this conference also proved that the saying ‘a bad dress rehearsal is followed by a good perfor-mance’ was yet again correct.Vermeeren had the challenge, in January, to write a hospitality master plan and to mould 200 volunteers from various mi-nistries and 80 hotel school students into a team that had to offer hostmanship with a capital H.

Good at improvisingIt says something about the Dutch re-laxed way of organising. Marc Gerritsen. “We can improvise well. We are confident that if things turn out differently, we can cope.”This was especially clear to him during negotiations with representatives of the delegations. He looks back on it as an exercise in understanding other cultures. “We believed that we have a good busi-ness plan and that we made sure there were no surprises but, for example, in the eyes of someone from Japan or Singapore, we just tossed it off.” There, they would have all possible scenarios worked out in detail.” Negotiations went sometimes into the second and final day of the conference. Gerritsen understands why. “In every country, the leader in question is the most important person on earth for the protocol staff member. It is natural that you want to know everything and leave no stone unturned. Suppose one of the delegations has negotiated a particular privilege and you, as protocol staff <

u.S. PRESiDENT OBAMA AND DuTCH PRiME MiNiSTER RuTTE ON A PRESS CONFERENCE AGAiNST THE BACkDROP OF REMBRANDT’S FAMOuS “DE NACHTwACHT”.

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member, have not done that for your delegation. Then your leader says that you have not done your job well.In order to maintain control, all delegati-ons were given, in two rounds (February and March), the opportunity to come to the ministry and view the conference location and discuss their wishes. “In this way, we were able to have all the countries get acquainted with how the conference was organised and which frameworks we were maintaining for satisfying specific wishes. Of course we, as good hosts, listened to the wishes of our guests and, as long as it was within our own frameworks, carried them out to the best of our ability.”

World Forum convertedWhile the Netherlands was asked to be host country, cities and locations did have to take part in a procurement proce-dure to qualify as a host city and con-ference venue. The choice finally fell on the World Forum in The Hague. One of the important criterion was the required square meters of conference space and the layout plan. That is not to say that this well-equipped conference centre was immediately ready for use. Thus, the beautiful and spacious entrance was not considered appropri-

ate for security reasons and a small side entrance was used as the entrance for the world leaders. With a temporary pavilion set up by De Boer Tents, an entrance was created that looked completely elegant to the outside world.Also, the state-of-the-art auditorium of the World Forum had to be rebuilt because such a summit conference simply requires that everyone must be seated equally at a round table. The theatre was given a false floor with a custom-built conference table. World Forum had al-ready gained experience with this during the Afghanistan Conference in 2009. This time, however, the dimensions were even greater: a conference table of 23 meters in diameter with a supporting scaffold floor that actually ‘floated’ 2.5 meters above the floor.

Modern twistThe table was decorated with stylised mo-dern Dutch icons such as wind turbines,

skates, bicycles, clogs, Rietveld chairs and several historic buildings. It fit the theme “A modern twist to Dutch classics”, that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had devised to ensure that the conference would also put the Netherlands in the spotlight internationally. The objective was to make it as clear as possible to the delegations and in the media that the conference was taking place in our country.Fraai Projecten not only produced the conference table, but also ensured, with the partner companies, that the en-tire 12,000 square metres of the World Forum was decorated and furnished according to the chosen theme. “There were lots of little meeting rooms and we decorated every square centimetre,” says owner Gerben Touch. “Every chair, every table had been thought through.”“Take, for example, the informal Plenary Room. We furnished that as a Dutch period room with a modern twist. It was turned into a very white, bright space. As wall decorations, we hung pen-decora-ted cloths and hung voile over them.” For the furnishings, we used furniture by the famous Dutch furniture designers, Marcel Wanders and Lensvelt. Colour was subtly added by a Delft blue carpet and orange tulips in a modern version of the classic Dutch tulip vase.When Raak told his audience that the world leaders only spent forty-five minutes in this space, his audience gulped. But the images live longer in the media and in the memories of the world leaders.

FiTTiNG THE THEME “A MODERN TwiST TO DuTCH ClASSiCS” EiGHTy PAiNTiNGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF DuTCH MANuFACTuRE DECORATED THE wORlD FORuM

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New discussion systemWhat was particularly special at the conference table was also the conference technology. Jacot Audiovisual had installed the Bosch DCN Multimedia, an interactive discussion system with LCD screen, which was not yet on the market and had been developed in collaboration with the Technical University in Delft. This enabled the world leaders to discuss among themselves, re-enact cases, vote, follow translations and review presenta-tions. An additional advantage was that there were no table microphones required because of the built-in microphone, said team coordinator Marco Kringelstijn. As a result, there were also better images of the world leaders.

Le GarageEven the garage of the World Forum was furnished and actually made into a staff restaurant, which was renamed ‘Le Garage’, in reference to a famous restaurant in the Netherlands. From here, Van der Linde Catering operated, taking care of the entire food & beverage service. At the main facility of the company, in nearby Berkel and Rodenrijs, the food was pro-duced, then after bomb checks and under constant supervision by the Food and Drug Administration, it was transported in sealed containers to The Hague. Meals were served from ‘Le Garage.’ The catering also focused on the theme: “A modern twist to Dutch classics.” For the working lunch of the world leaders and ministers, star chef Jonnie Boer of the Librije was brought in to give his own personal interpretation to the theme. On that day alone, the caterer served 5,000 meals.

Together with the neighboursThe conference location was somewhat more than just the World Forum itself, emphasised director Michiel Middendorf. “With the tender, we offered the World

Forum area. Together with our neigh-bours, we made it into an entity.” Those neighbours were the Novotel and Bel Air hotels, the UN-related organisation OPCW, the movie theatre Omniverse and the museums Museon and the Gemeente museum, where the final press conference took place. The advantage is that fences could be set around this compact area and thus the various secure areas could be created.

Only with accreditation and a RFID pass, which made it possible to follow the people everywhere, did you have access to this area.Krijn Taat and Stephan van der Meulen, the general managers of Novotel Den Haag and Bel Air Hotel, respectively, had a special experience because their hotel was given a very different function, for which all the sleeping facilities were tem-porarily removed from the rooms. In the <

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How do you arrange all these world leaders for the group photo? Jean Paul Wijers of

the Protocol Office explains. He directed the photo opportunity of the Nuclear Security

Summit.

At the Congress of Vienna, 200 years ago, it was established that all countries are

equal, begins Wijers. This basic principle is followed in making the group photo with

world leaders.

The protocol office developed a computer programme for the royal wedding in 2002,

by which this type of standing arrangement can be made and modified quickly. The

latter is useful for last minute changes, such as during the NSS when French President

François Hollande proved to be unavailable for the photo.

In this case, the choice was made to first look at the position of the respective head

or a delegate in his own country. At the front, there are the Presidents, followed by

the vice-presidents, prime ministers, ministers and deputy ministers. Within these

‘function groups’ the seniority principle prevails. First, the longest serving president,

then the second-longest serving and so on.

The first exceptions are the three men in the middle. The Dutch Prime Minister rutte

as host in the middle, with, at his right, U.S. President Obama as the initiator of the

NSS and, to his left, President Park Geun-hye of South Korea, as host of the previous

nuclear summit.

There are also three people in the photos who do not represent a country. It was

decided to place the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, behind

the last head of state and the president of the European Commission, Barroso, and the

President of the European Council, Van rompuy, a row behind them.

The more objective you are, the easier it is to explain and the more easily you can stick

to the arrangement, emphasises Wijers. If you loosen the reins, it goes wrong.

HOw DO yOu ARRANGE All THESE wORlD lEADERS?

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Novotel , there were two rooms for each delegation furnished as a lounge area and boardroom, and there were also freshe-ning-up rooms set up for all 58 heads of delegations. At the Bel Air hotel, work rooms were set up for the press, organisa-tion and the the Defense Department.

Pleasing the pressA large part of the fenced-in and heavily guarded grounds of the NSS served as press area, with all the necessary facilities and 40 employees to receive and help the journalists. A thoughtful choice, says Pim Koster of Dutchview, the company that took care of the press facilities. “You know there are a lot of press people who flock to such a conference. Ultimately, there were about 2,000 journalists who came to the NSS. Then, it is better to give them a comfortable workplace, where they have access to all the information. You have to prevent them from walking around unsupervised. Then you get pro-blems. Now they had a workplace, they were accredited and you knew where they were.”“It is also important for the media value. The more you facilitate the press, the greater the chance that the message that comes out is positive. The press influen-ces the outcome of such a conference, and what we have done is simply a bit of press pleasing.”In Noordwijk, 27 kilometres from The Hague, there was also a press invasion. In NH Leeuwenhorst, some 150 press people were given accommodation, inclu-ding those from the American channels NBC, CNN, FOX and ABC.

Two largest delegationsThis exclusive beach village was where the two largest delegations and their Presidents were staying, those of the United States and China.For Stephan Stokkermans, managing director of Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin, the main issue was to remain the boss in his own hotel, he said in an evaluation meeting in Noordwijk. He had the U.S. President Obama and his entourage in the house, which meant that his hotel was functioning at that time as the White House. For such purposes, the 19 mee-ting rooms worked in the hotel, but the Americans wanted to have the command centre in hotel rooms, which meant Stokkermans had to adjust the layout and the ICT structure of the rooms. And thus, every member of the U.S. prepa-ratory team had his own requirements for the particular component that he was responsible for. For Stokkermans, the issue was, on the one hand, to meet the demands without losing his ultimate responsibility as managing director of the hotel. In answer to questions about what kind of requirements Obama had during his stay, he did not answer. “That falls under the discretion of the hotelier,” he replied.

Last-minute additionsAlso, managing director Jaap Liethof, in his Hotels van Oranje, had to make adjustments as host for the Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his delegation. His hotel did not have the necessary 24 suites and therefore 24 connected rooms were converted to suites and newly furnished.

However, what he most remembers are the last-minute additions to the pro-gramme. Thus, the visit of Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan also became an official state visit, which meant that King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima also paid them a visit. One month before, the Sino-Dutch Economic Forum was added, which was held in the hotel with an additional 150 extra participants, who were accommodated in Amsterdam.Moreover, various other world leaders came during the stay of the Chinese President for a bilateral meeting: Presi-dent Sauli Niinistö of Finland, President Park Geun-hye of the Republic of Korea, President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan and Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon. The only thing that Liethof and his team knew was that they had to have the meeting rooms ready at a certain time. It was only right beforehand that they heard who the guest was and they had to make sure that the correct flags were on the table and that there was the appropriate catering.

Many storiesThe above stories are indicative of the many stories circulating on the Nuclear Security Summit within the Dutch meeting industry. For, surrounding the conference, there were many more activities. These were not only the things that made the world press, such as the G7 conference on Ukraine added at the last minute and the visit of Barack Obama to the newly reopened Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Many sub-conferences and social visits were part of this top class event. Many hotels and venues were host to the various delegations.The U.S. president spoke in his speech about a “flawless organisation”. What he learned about the Dutch talent to improvise remained unmentioned. ≈

A RECEPTiON By kiNG willEM-AlExANDER AT THE ROyAl PAlACE wiTH wORkiNG DiNNER

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distAnCing meetings from leisure trAvel should be A priority for everyoneJoint Meetings Industry Council Executive Director Rod Cameron argues that our failure to emphasize the distinction between leisure and meetings-related travel hurts us all in the long run.

By ROD CAMERON

Something that has haunted the meetings industry for many years has now become a matter of real urgency, courtesy of the global recession and its fallout. That “some-thing” is our collective failure to more clearly distinguish between travel for personal and leisure oriented reasons and that which is undertaken for business purposes.The reason this is so important is that those who make decisions about the organization and financing of meetings, conventions, exhibitions and conferences, as well as those who decide who should attend them, are now highly sensitive to the appearance of such events as simply vehicles for personal enjoyment at public or corporate expense. In fact, just the word “tourism” in associa-tion with such events suggests that their real purpose is something other than their actual role as a primary

tool for economic and professional development.

No small issueThis is no small issue. In fact, there are now very specific professional codes and even legislation aimed at exactly this point, with the result that any suggestion of event atten-dees from certain sectors like the medical area attending meetings to pursue personal enjoyment rather than to engage in business or professional development can be sufficient reason to question atten-dance and / or remove financial support for them entirely. At the same time, many governments have implemented restrictions or outright bans on meetings-related travel as a first line of cost-saving measures, illustrating clearly that concerns in this regard are anything but theoretical.

We in the industry haven’t done much to encourage such a distinction and, even worse, actually blurred the lines by continuing to promote mee-tings destinations and even attendan-ce on the basis of leisure qualities like beaches, golf courses and nightlife – a practice that perpetuates the notion that business travel is in fact a thinly disguised excuse for a holiday paid for by someone else. When that

“someone” is a shareholder or taxpayer it becomes almost impossible to rationalize participation, which accounts for the kinds of challenges we’ve seen recently like ongoing calls for reductions in meetings partici-pation by governments and corpo-rations in various parts of the world.

The losersOver the long term this failure to distinguish these two elements of the overall travel equation – and reflect

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rod CaMeron is President of Criterion Commu-

nications, a strategic management consul-

tancy based in Vancouver, Canada. Through

his company, he currently serves as Executive

Director of the Brussels-based International

Association of Convention Centres (AIPC), whose

members include 173 International convention

centres in 54 countries worldwide and Manager

of the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), an

organization consisting of 15 major international

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that in our promotional activities – will ultimately reduce the aggregate amount of global travel, and impact not only the revenues associated with meetings and conventions them-selves but also the associated travel and even incremental investment in hospitality infrastructure and services that this sector supports. The losers will be both those providing travel products and services as well as the broader economy that depends on business event-related interactions to advance their economic, professional and academic objectives. That tourism is a beneficiary of the meetings industry is both inevitable and beyond dispute, but so is the fact that both we and they are damaged by the association when it results in less support for participation in business events. In other words, we risk shooting ourselves in both feet at the same time.

Few possibilitiesWhy, then, are we not addressing the problem? A few possibilities suggest themselves;First, there is a large part of our industry and that of our sometimes partners in the tourism sector that simply don’t seem to see it as a problem. For those that have always

regarded leisure-related qualities as the best possible way to promote a destination there appears to be a real difficulty in understanding that a very different audience requires a very dif-ferent message. Secondly, we have fallen into the trap of measuring industry value primarily on the basis of spending, and particu-larly spending related to hospitality revenues. Again, this creates the strong impression that it’s the hotel stays and restaurant meals that really count rather than the values inherent in holding the meetings in the first place. This approach not only vastly undervalues what this industry really achieves but also has the unfortunate effect of antagonizing our clients who would much prefer to have the value of their events seen as the profes-sional and business outcomes rather than the money left behind by their members in somebody else’s destina-tion.Third, the primary sources of funding for destination promotion are in many areas controlled for historic rea-sons by those with more of a tourism than business events orientation – and it has been a tough sell to make the case that ours is a business rather than a tourism sell, if only because the relative size of the tourism lobby

in many countries or communities is usually much more heavily weighted toward the leisure side. To the extent that we have what are essentially third parties marketing on our behalf

– and potentially putting the emphasis in the wrong place – we will continue to suffer the consequences.

Beyond turf discussionsBut if the name of the game is extrac-ting the optimal benefit out of the investments made in the meetings sector – as it surely must be if anyone is really paying attention – we need to get beyond turf discussions and into a recognition of the fundamentally different ways in which the markets associated with these two very dif-ferent sectors must be addressed. In short, by failing to make a clear distinction between leisure and mee-tings-related travel, we are trivializing our real role in global economic and professional development, threate-ning our individual competitiveness in the market and offending some of our most important clients, and that just doesn’t make sense for any destination that wants to achieve the diverse benefits associated with success in the meetings sector. The sooner we put some distance between these two areas the better all around, but that will only happen when we as an industry take some action toward re-aligning ourselves with the sectors that really count in today’s economy and achieving a better understanding with our tourism partners that clarifying the difference between our respective audiences and their travel motivations will benefit everyone in the end.Given what’s at stake, that objective should be getting a lot more atten-tion. ≈

‘ We have Fallen into the trap oF measuring industry value primarily on the basis oF spending’

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dAAn roosegAArde is A guide in the new world

‘A HiPPiE wiTH A BuSiNESS PlAN’

Daan Roosegaarde (34) is an artist, innovator, entrepreneur, inventor. With his “techno poetry”, where idealism and technology blend together, he stimulates an international public: “I teach people to look at and think about the world differently.”

By DAAN ANDREA vERA BORREl , CONTRiBuTiNG EDiTOR

How did you become a speaker?“The first time I gave a lecture was in 2002, at the art academy. I could hardly hold my glass of water. Because I was so ner-vous. Of course afterwards I got an enor-mous kick out of it. My lectures always result from my designs. Because they are interactive, examine the relationship between man, technology and space. An example is the Intimacy project – dresses that become transparent upon physical arousal. They teach people to look at their fellow human beings again, rather than at a screen. Still, technology is the means. Under the flag of Studio Roosegaarde, I set up two design, labs in Rotterdam and Shanghai. Before long, I was also filled with the need - in addition to creating – to tell the world stories surrounding such a design. Like the story surrounding the dresses. Speaking is an exceptionally good way to do this. Particularly inter-national conferences give my message something tangible. The audience is grateful and responsive. This curious attitude towards innovation is now also taking root in the Netherlands.”

Who taught you the ropes?“My parents are teachers; perhaps I inherited the drive to tell stories from them. But it mainly took lots of practice. My ideas are radical, so there’s plenty

– the story of my life – to explain. This goes intuitively. And with much pleasure. For example, my Smart Highway project now calls for an explanation in the Netherlands. Think of motorways with glow-in-the-dark markings. Or road signs

– embedded in the asphalt – that only appear when necessary. Or wind-opera-ted lampposts. During lectures, I started to tell my audience more and more about the vision behind a design. That is why my lectures never become repetitive. I tailor the story, my message, to a particular audience.”

Do you ever convey something like a general message?

“That we don’t live in a static world, but a fluid one. The things we are doing today, in terms of the economy and energy, are no longer effective. For instance, the government aims to cut down on the

number of lampposts. To save money. However, we shouldn’t do less but more! My lectures are about creative and in-novative ideas. About a new world. Don’t create a comfort zone for yourself. Don’t be afraid to dream, to move away from your intimate circle of friends and enter into relationships that may feel a little

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FATHER OF CRySTAl

Artist Daan Roosegaarde calls them

“lego from Mars”. CRySTAl are

hundreds of crystals of light which

brighten when you touch them.

Each Crystal contains lEDs that are

wirelessly charged via a magnetic

floor. People can play with them and

share their stories of light. CRySTAl

has been previously exhibited in

Amsterdam, Paris, Moscow and

is now permanent in Eindhoven,

The Netherlands.

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awkward. Only then will unique things start to happen. I teach people to look at the world differently. That is important for me.When people thank me afterwards, I ask them if a particular project touched them. That is almost never the case. “It’s your way of thinking, the way you see things,” they tell me. I hope they do something with it. I also include people’s responses in my own thought processes. I regard my lectures as a kind of laboratory, where new ideas are born. For example, there once was a director of a road construc-tion company in the audience. Studio Roosegaarde now works with his firm on the future of the motorway.”

What is your worst experience as a speaker?

“I’m a technology buff, so I find it very frustrating when failing technology draws attention away from what’s being said. A beamer that falls onto the ground, a defective sound system. But you should always carry on. It makes you improvise.There once was a crying woman in the

audience. She was genuinely moved by my projects. The auditorium fell silent, and the 250-odd audience members turned to look at her. I let her speak, but at a certain point, things became too awkward. Two years ago, I was a guest on Zomergasten (Summer Guests). I’m not easily thrown off balance ever since. That programme is so intense! You step into an intimate setting and, at the same time, have an enormous reach. Whether I’m still nervous before I take the stage? For a minute. I just think to myself: I’m going home. The moment I’m on stage, it’s gone, and I enjoy myself.”

What is your speciality?“Stimulating others. Trying to enter into an honest dialogue. If I want to be right, I’ll surround myself with like-minded people. Also, I will never accept an invi-tation for a lecture where I can’t provide this added value. Recently, former prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende – a very good speaker, by the way – and I were both going to give a lecture for the same organization. Jan Peter suggested we

turn it into a double presentation. A peculiar cocktail. A Zomergasten-like atmopshere was created on stage. In an open dialogue, a new story emerged; we helped each other evolve.”

Have you been surprised lately?“People’s enthusiasm surprises me. About my ideas and designs. That is a strange thing to experience. After all, I’m used to the fruits of my art. For example, Studio Roosegaarde receives a large number of hand-written letters. From people who value our outlook for the future. Which is always based on idealism combined with technology. I sometimes call myself a hippie with a business plan. I don’t have a crystal ball, and I don’t have all the answers, but I like to make suggestions. Preferably radical ones. I will shortly speak for half an hour in the Catshuis (the official residence of the prime minister), before our Dutch ministers. Let’s see if I can stimulate them, if I can tickle prime minister Mark Rutte with ideas.” ≈

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DAAN ROOSEGAARDE: i REGARD My lECTuRES AS A kiND OF lABORATORy, wHERE NEw iDEAS ARE BORN.

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‘THe Space TO Be’NOORDwiJk

Noordwijk offers astounding diversity for each square mile. This exclusive seaside resort is situated in the Dutch Dune and Flowerbulb Region and is, with its numerous international space agencies, the epicentre of the European aerospace industry.

The inhabitants sometimes jokingly say: ‘Noordwijk is the space to be’. Joke or not, this expression is

spot-on. Noordwijk is not only the flower seaside resort of Europe, but it is also the place where many Dutch and European aerospace activities take place.Internationally, the Netherlands is one of the most developed countries in the field of space travel. The Dutch contribution to the development of the aerospace indus-try is substantial: fundamental scientific research, education and training, data processing and application, and hardware

design and production for the industry.Like the European Union, which invested 10 billion Euros last year in the European Space Agency (ESA) in Noordwijk, the Dutch Government also spends huge amounts of money here on the Research & Development of space projects. Toge-ther with the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), located in Noordwijk, the Dutch government funds the Space Business Park, where advanced technological companies in the field of aviation and space travel are located.

Space TechnologyThe technological discoveries made in Noordwijk are not only used in the aerospace and aviation industry, but also in, for instance, the communication, navigation, meteorology, astronomy and physics industry.The Space Technology industry organizes numerous large and small conferences each year, many of which are held in Noordwijk. Those who want a place in the sun can go to Space Expo. About 15 years ago, this centre was set up as a visitor centre of ESTEC and has, since then, already welcomed millions of visitors. The permanent exhibition gives an idea of the development of the aerospace industry and the exploration of the universe.

Flowerbulb FieldsNoordwijk is in the heart of the Dutch Dune and Flowerbulb Region. This so-called ‘Greenport’ is an economic area of world stature. Businesses in this region account for almost two thirds of the global trade and export of flower bulbs. The development of horticulture and the respective knowledge institutes, logistic and service activities provide for a strong international competitive position. Noordwijk also hosts one of the most famous attractions of the Netherlands: the flowerbulb fields. In spring, the route between Amsterdam and Noordwijk leads through a colourful ‘sea’ of flowering tulips and other bulbous flowers. The flower sea-side resort also features numerous unique flower events such as the Bloemencorso, the most beautiful traffic jam of the Netherlands, and the Flower Parade. The highlight of all these spectacular flower displays is Keukenhof, located ten minutes away from Noordwijk. Keukenhof is a unique flower park that is open only a few months each year: from around the end of March to the end of May. Each year, an area 79 acres is turned into gardens and parks, using over 7 million crocuses, narcissuses, tulips, hyacinths, lilies and other bulbous plants. This wonderful ‘colour explosion’ attracts around 800,000 visitors each year from all over the world.

Noordwijk-LeidenNoordwijk is 15 miles from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and 6 miles from the ancient city of Leiden, which boasts the largest and oldest university of

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The Hague

Rotterdam

largest conference venues (seats)

NH Conference Centre

Leeuwenhorst 2,000 Hotels van Oranje 1,750 Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin 1,050 radisson Blu Palace Hotel 750 number of hotelrooms

5* rooms 5424* rooms 1,1043* rooms 494distance to amsterdam

schiphol (km) 25

FACTS & FiGuRES

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the Netherlands. While Noordwijk offers numerous hotels and accommodations of various star ratings in the middle of nature, Leiden boasts an ancient city centre with 3,000 monuments. If only because of this, both cities complement each other and work together.The special thing about Noordwijk is that it has conferencing facilities worthy of a big city while it has, at the same time, been able to preserve the charm of a small seaside resort: numerous four- and five-star conferencing hotels are close to each other and work together intimately. Most hotels are within half a mile of each other and the shopping centre and enter-tainment district are right in between. A more than eight miles long sandy beach is within a stone’s throw, making sure that the sound of the sea can be heard anywhere in Noordwijk.

AccommodationNoordwijk has a wide range of hotel and conferencing accommodations. The me-dieval Oude Jeroenskerk has recently be-come available as a meeting venue. With a floor surface of 937 square yards, this picturesque church building can host up

to 800 people. The large square in front of the building and the garden at the rear are also available if needed.The Hotels van Oranje, one of the best-known locations for large-scale internati-onal conferences in the Netherlands, has recently modernized its rooms. The hotel also has far-reaching development plans. It will, for example, add 100 five-star hotel rooms and 24 apartments to its existing accommodations. It will also add a number of multifunctional conference rooms to its current 50 rooms.In February, the Palace Hotel became a member of the international hotel chain of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. The hotel has 11 conference rooms, 7 of which can be turned into ‘Great Ball-rooms’ comprising 1,100 square yards.Those who are looking for a location in the middle of nature can go to St(r)and-plaats Nederzandt. This accommodation is situated by the sea between Noordwijk and Zandvoort, at 100 yards from the beach, and can host up to 1,000 people.

International ConferencesThe past years, Noordwijk has provided accommodation for a large number of

leading conferences and international delegations. The two largest delegations of last March’s Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), America and China found accom-modations respectively in Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin and Hotels van Oranje. The Dutch national football team also often stays in Noordwijk, preparing for important matches and tournaments. Other achievements include the NATO Summit, the yearly Shell Congress Inter-national, the International Symposium on Traffic and Transportation, the 1st European Space Technology Harmonisa-tion Conference and the 5th Electronic Materials, Processes and Packaging for Space (EMPPS) Workshop. In total, Noordwijk hosts some 250 international conferences and over 1,000 meetings.

Noordwijk MarketingThe Meetings & Events Department of Noordwijk Marketing is a collective of conference-related organizations in Noordwijk. This agency provides conference organizers with advice and information about all the facilities in Noordwijk. ≈

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1. A small seaside resort with conferencing

facilities worthy of a big city.

2. Noordwijk is the place where many Dutch

and European aerospace activities take place.

3. The highlight of all the spectacular flower

displays is keukenhof.

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cenTRe OF THe neTWORk ecOnOMy

AMERSFOORT

The historic city of Amersfoort has developed into a vibrant network economy. Many knowledge institutes, industry associations and NGOs have settled here in recent years. This development makes the city an increasingly important meeting destination.

Amersfoort is the only city that can actually invoke the fact that it is centrally located. The historic

medieval “Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren” – at 98 meters, the third highest church tower in the Netherlands – is the geographical centre of the country.Anyone who loves history, feels perfectly at home in Amersfoort. The city received city rights in the year 1259 and has a beautifully preserved historic centre with no fewer than 650 monuments. The medieval streets, canals, bridges and city

gates are remarkably well preserved and give the city a special atmosphere; as if time has stood still. Nature lovers will also find what they are looking for here. Amersfoort is bordered by three unique Dutch landscape areas: the Utrecht Ridge [Utrechtse Heuvelrug], the polders of Arkemheen-Eemland and the Veluwe.

Network EconomyAmersfoort has developed a vibrant network economy. From the centre of the Netherlands, the established organi-sations and businesses serve the entire country and they often also operate worldwide. For example, Amersfoort has the most German subsidiaries and sister companies in the Netherlands. Areas in which the region excels are: business services, ICT, architectural and technical design, management consulting, health-care and sustainability. The common thread is the network economy. Nume-rous national and international know-ledge institutes, industry associations and NGOs have established themselves in the region in recent years. Examples include the Dutch Traffic Safety Asso-ciation, travellers association, ROVER, political parties such as the Christian

Union and the SP [socialist party] and the Home-owners Association [Vereniging Eigen Huis]. Also, such medical organi-sations as the Lung Fund, the Gastro-intestinal Foundation, Alzheimer’s Netherlands, the Diabetes Foundation, the CliniClowns and Ronald McDonald Foundation have found their home base in Amersfoort. National and internatio-nal companies, such as FrieslandCampina dairy and Royal Haskoning / DHV (engi-neering and project management consul-tancy) have their headquarters here.

A growing and vibrant cityThe city is home to thousands of freelan-cers who work for all these organisations, institutions and companies. The economy of Amersfoort anno 2014 is also typical of the current network generation. Since 1970, the population has doubled from 75,000 to 150,000. Among them are many highly-educated young people. They are attracted to Amersfoort be-cause of the dynamics of this growing city combined with the pleasant living environment. In addition to employment growth, the companies and institutions in the Amersfoort region ensure a strong growth in the number of professional knowledge and networking events in the region. Take, for example, the IT Innova-tion Day (600 participants), the National Heritage Symposium (250 guests), the presentation of the Care Award Achmea (250 guests), the Symposium of the

largest auditorium (seats)

rijtuigenloods 1,200 number of hotel rooms

(total) 1,244largest hotel (rooms)

Van der Valk Hotel

Leusden Amersfoort 174distance to amsterdam

schiphol (km) 63

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Dutch Patients Association (350 guests), the Relationship Concert for Health Care 3.0 (750 guests) and the Relationship concert celebrating 10 years for the Hospice Dome (750 guests).

Industrial venuesIn Amersfoort, in recent years, several meeting venues have been added. These often authentic buildings are currently available for a wide variety of business events. That is certainly not an un-necessary luxury now that more and more organisations and residents now know about the city. Thus, right next to the train station in the city centre, the characteristic coach workshop [Wagen-werkplaats] has been preserved. This was the place where, historically, trains were built and maintained. Other examples of industrial sites are the Rijtuigenloods, the Veerensmederij and the newly ope-ned Centraal Ketelhuis. Another special feature is Hotel Het Klooster, located in a former monastery, now equipped with fantastic rooms for business meetings. Soestdijk Palace, the royal residence of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard until 2004, is also currently available as an event venue.The number of hotel beds in the region has been greatly increased in recent years. Several new hotels have been built, such as the modern Van der Valk Hotel Amersfoort on the A1 motorway, the NH Hotel Amersfoort and the Mercure Hotel Amersfoort Centre in the city centre. Many existing hotels have significantly increased their capacity. Examples in-clude the Conference Hotel Kontakt der Kontinenten and the ISVW Estate. The acronym ISVW stands for International School of Philosophy. This estate, situ-ated on six acres of private woodland, celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2016.

Number 5This year, Amersfoort has risen to fifth place in the Top 10 most attractive cities in the Netherlands for business meetings,

according to a recent study by Dutch Board of Tourism and Conventions. Busi-ness travellers especially appreciate the easy accessibility, the central location and the range of original and quality venues. Amersfoort is also directly connected by rail to Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Groningen and Berlin. Also, the city is easy to reach by car, thanks to the nearby A1, A28 and A12 motorways.The province of Utrecht, in which Amers-foort is located, does much to attract international conventions. In the manual “Conferences in Utrecht” PCOs find a chapter on the financing of a conference, including information about registration, taxes, insurance, budgets, grants and the Pre-financing and Guarantee Fund.

In addition, the province has created the “Bidding Fund Utrecht” and the temporary “Incentive Fund for Business Tourism.” This fund supports organisers who organise international, multi-day knowledge events that fit the economic spearheads of the province.

City HostsUnique in Amersfoort is the City Host concept, by which local entrepreneurs make “city hosts” available free of charge. These are the ambassadors for the city of Amersfoort. They give groups, among other things, a warm welcome, tell something about the city, arrange arrival and departure points, share information about Amersfoort and act as resource persons. ≈

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current network generation with thousands

of freelancers.

2. The Rijtuigenloods, one of the many authentic

industrial sites.

3. The City Hosts are available free of charge.

They give delegates a warm welcome and tell

them something about the city.

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MeeTIng DeSTInaTIOn THaT WORkS

THE HAGuE

The Hague is the international centre of Peace, Justice and Security. The city is, therefore, committed in terms of knowledge-based economy to these top sectors. Other spearheads are ICT Telecom, energy & sustainability and the creative industries.

A good example of where successful collaboration can lead is The Hague Security Delta (HSD). This

is the largest security cluster in Europe that focuses on National Security, Cyber Security, Critical Infrastructure, Urban Security, Forensics and Education. The international reputation of HSD is expan-ding rapidly and the Hague as a know-ledge region – and the city of The Hague as an international centre for Peace and Justice – is following in its wake.

HSD is an economic engine and a nati-onal platform for innovation and safety. The cluster currently brings together four hundred companies with a total turnover of 1.7 billion Euros and employ-ment for 13,400 people. HSD runs on an intensive cooperation between industry, knowledge institutes and local government; the so-called Triple Helix model. Participants include Capgemini, KPN, Bosch, Siemens, 3M, Atos Netherlands (companies), TU Delft, The Hague University, Leiden University (education) and the Ministry of Security and Justice, the Dutch Forensic Institute, TNO and the Ministry of Defense (research and knowledge institutes).

Technical VisitsThe focus of The Hague Convention Bureau will increasingly be on conferen-ces and meetings that contribute to the development of the above sectors. For example, the security cluster, in cooperation with the Convention Bureau, recently brought the International Euro-pean Security Conference and Exhibition to the Netherlands and also various other security-related conferences are already on the agenda.

In addition, more and more medical and scientific societies choose The Hague. In their choice of this city, it appears, remarkably enough, that the absence of a local cluster plays a role. It is precisely because the Hague does not have spe-cialised research or medical faculty that they choose this destination. In fact, one then chooses the Netherlands: from various research centres and universities, local players can then meet on “neutral” ground. The fact that The Hague is a few minutes away from the universities in Leiden, Delft and Rotterdam, means that technical visits are easy to organise.

World ForumRecently, the city of The Hague bought back the World Forum, where last March, in the presence of 58 world leaders, the Nuclear Security Summit took place. Thus, the path is now free to invest in the building and to expand its capacity.Also, within the hotel sector a number of initiatives are on the agenda. These plans depend, in part, on the Hague’s intention to inject new life into certain areas, such as the Scheveningen Harbour. The fact is that the city now harbours more than 25 four and five star hotels and more than thirty smaller hotels. That brings the cur-rent total to nearly 10,000 hotel rooms. Of these, 700 rooms are within walking distance of the World Forum Convention Center, right in the ‘International Zone’ of the city, where many ambassadors and expatriates live and work.

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150 international organisationsThe Hague is home to 150 international organisations. That means that the city offers many opportunities in economic terms. Partly for this reason, the muni-cipality, in its latest economic steering vision, said that conventions make an essential contribution to the Hague economy. This policy of encouragement, according to the Convention Bureau - which was recently chosen by British meeting planners as the “Best Overseas Convention Bureau” – enables them step more and more into the role of partner and increasingly less into the role of provider. One of the resources that The Hague Convention Bureau now already

has is the Congress Incentive Fund. This fund offers support to multi-day interna-tional congress organisers, which inclu-des financial and administrative support.

Safe and reliableThe Hague is a “meeting destination that works,” as a conference organiser noted recently. He meant that The Hague is a safe, reliable city with a dedicated confe-rence centre, a wide range of hotels and a high-quality infrastructure. In addition, the city is geographically well situated between two international airports

– Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Rotter-dam Airport – and with direct rail links to the rest of the country and abroad.

Another statement about The Hague is “Big city with a small town feel.” This makes clear that it is good to be in The Hague. The city has a rich and varied selection of art, culture and his-tory. Some examples are the Gemeente-museum in The Hague, the Mauritshuis, Panorama Mesdag and the Escher Museum. A visit to the beach in Scheveningen (ten minutes away) or to the nearby historic cities of Leiden and Delft (fifteen minutes by train) is possible, as well as a visit to the Peace Palace, the Grote Kerk, the Nieuwe Kerk and the “100 courtyards” in The Hague itself. ≈

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150 international organizations in The Hague.

2. The city injects new life into certain areas,

such as the Scheveningen Harbour.

3. People walking through the gates of

The Binnenhof, the inner court area adjacent

to the Dutch Parliament.

4. The Peace Palace.

5. visitors enjoying Panorama Mesdag, the oldest

19th century panorama in the world in its

original site and a unique cultural heritage.

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SMaRTeST RegIOn OF THe neTHeRlanDS

REGiON OF BRABANT

Enterprise, know-how and innovation flourish in Brabant. The European Committee of Regions recently elected this province as the most enterprising region of Europe.

Of the twelve Dutch provinces Brabant is perhaps the most easy-going. This province is known for

its friendly people, enjoyable local dishes, pleasant landscapes and charming cities.It is also more and more regarded as the smartest of them all. The region has lots to offer with regard to knowledge development with many developments going on such as activities by Brainport Development, the development company BOM (Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maat-

schappij) and AgriFood Capital. Coopera-tion between business sector, knowledge institutions and government is key to all these initiatives. Similar projects include Top Sector Policy (national and regional government) en European Community initiatives with regard to Biobased Eco-nomy, Maintenance and Logistics.Brabant is looking forward to a number of important theme years with regard to Art and Culture. The theme for 2015 will be ‘125 years of Van Gogh’. In 2016 various celebrations will be organised surrounding the artist Hieronymus Bosch (1450 – 1516). And 2017 will be the year of the Style group, with works from, amongst others, Piet Mondriaan and Gerrit Rietveld.

Top technology regionAs a top technology region in the Nether-lands, Brabant is an important pillar of the Dutch economy with cutting-edge sectors such as High Tech Systems & Ma-terials, Food & Technology, Automotive, Lifetec & Health and Design. Brainport Development, for example, is a develop-ment company that works together with representatives from the business sector, knowledge institutions and government to improve Brainport Region Eindhoven. Companies and institutions working

closely together for this include the tech-nology university (Technische Universi-teit Eindhoven), the higher agricultural college (Hogere Agrarische School), the agricultural and horticultural organisa-tion (Zuid Nederlandse Land- en Tuin-bouw Organisatie), the Tilburg university (Universiteit van Tilburg) and technology companies such as Philips, ASML (the world's leading provider of lithography systems for the semiconductor industry) and Tesla (manufacturer of electric cars).The variety in knowledge areas in Brabant is matched by the variety in facilities for conferences and meetings. Planned events in 2014 include the international flowers and plants exhibition Floraliën Nederland, PhotoFood Festival, Energy Days of the technology university in Eindhoven, Nation Branding & Invest-ment Expo, Tax Treaty Case Law around the Globe and the National Sustainability Congress.

Plenty of scenic beautyBrabant is a place of scenic beauty such as the national park De Bieschbosch, the dunes landscape (Loonse en Drunense Duinen) and the forest rich area around Breda. The area south of Eindhoven, de Kempen, is a beautiful area with farm-land and forests. Brabant is also a province full of history and culture, as is evident from the many museums, age-old city centres, historic buildings and modern architecture. Those

largest conference venues (seats)

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’s-Hertogenbosch; km) 95distance to regional airport

eindhoven airport

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who are interested in art and design can indulge themselves in cities such as Breda, Eindhoven and Den Bosch. Last year the new museum area Museum-kwartier was opened in Den Bosch, a unique connection of old and new build, whereby the Noordbrabants Museum and the Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogen-bosch are literally connected by a glass gallery. Other places of interest include the Moti Museum in Breda, the war museum ‘Liberty Park’ and the recently renovated cathedral St. Jans Kathedraal in Den Bosch.

Conference centre ‘1931’A few years ago the new conference cen-tre ‘1931’ in Den Bosch was opened. The complex, which borders on the exhibition and convention centre ‘De Brabanthallen’, has a capacity of 2,000 conference visi-tors and is the largest conference centre in Brabant. In addition to the main hall of 2,743 square metres that can easily be divided into three areas, the centre contains 18 meeting rooms that can be linked to each other. For those who are looking for more futu-ristic surroundings, the Evoluon in Eind-hoven is the place to go. Its dome, which looks like a space ship, has an open area of 460 square metres and the auditorium provides 440 seats. The Evoluon also has various other rooms and meeting halls. Brabant has hotels in all price catego-ries. Recent hotel developments include the new Fitland Hotels in Helmond and Uden, the completely renovated Van der Valk Hotel and Conference Centre in Eindhoven and the Art Hotel Eindhoven. A large part of the Art Hotel rooms are si-tuated in the historic Philips factory 'De Lichttoren' dating from 1909, where the first light bulbs used to be manufactured and tested.The development of the ‘Hof van Cranen-donck’ will include a hotel, conference centre, museum, wellness resort and

restaurant, in an area of seven hectares around castle Cranendonck. Breda will have the first five star hotel in Brabant: Designhotel Nieuwstraat. This hotel with conference facilities will be built in a former monastery, also a listed building, and will open at the end of 2015.

Own Convention OfficeBrabant measures up to the large cities in the Netherlands regarding accessibility. For example, the province has its own airport: Eindhoven Airport. There are also five international airports nearby: Amsterdam Schiphol, Rotterdam Airport and the Maastricht, Brussels and Düs-seldorf airports which are an hour away from Brabant. All cities and towns in the region are also easily accessible by rail and motorways.Since 2011 Brabant has its own regional convention office. Convention Bureau

Brabant is the start point for anyone wanting to organise a (international) conference in Brabant. This autonomous and independent organisation gives free advice about all possibilities in the region. For example, looking for locations, mar-keting and promotion of the conference, arranging accommodation, setting up side events and social programmes and applying for subsidies. ≈

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St. Jans kathedraal in Den Bosch.

2. High-tech companies and institutions

work closely together in Brainport

Region Eindhoven.

3. MetaForum at the Eindhoven university

of Technology received a Special Mention

in the Architizer A+ Awards.

4. The restaurant of conference centre ‘1931’.

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2014: aRcHITecTuRe In THe SpOTlIgHTS

ROTTERDAM

The New York Times, Rough Guides and CNN all proclaimed Rotterdam to be a Must-See City in 2014. The primary reason for being awarded this honour is that this year will see the opening of three new architectural icons, including the building De Rotterdam, home to a design hotel fully equipped with all business meeting amenities.

Rotterdam is often considered the gateway to Europe and a famous World Port. The city owes

this distinction to its four centuries of flourishing through shipping and trade. Rotterdam’s port is the largest in Europe and is currently one of the world’s five foremost ports.

In addition, Rotterdam is a leading city in the medical/scientific, creative and food sectors. Rotterdam universities, educational institutes and knowledge centres, first among them Erasmus University Rotterdam, are internationally renowned for their high-quality research and education. What’s more, Rotterdam is a young, dynamic and energetic city, unafraid of meeting any challenge head-on. Rotterdam is a cultural melting pot, home to people of some 170 nationalities, all contributing to an open, cosmopolitan atmosphere. Rotterdam’s residents are keen on getting things done, on em-bracing progress and renewal. One very visible result is the steady expansion of the city’s skyline. Along the banks of the river Meuse, Rotterdam has ultramodern skyscrapers stand shoulder to shoulder with historic buildings.

Vertical CityRotterdam was recently embellished by the completion of two architectural icons: the new Centraal Station train station and the De Rotterdam building. Their addition to the city skyline helped drive Rough Guides to award Rotterdam 8th place in its ‘Top 10 Cities of 2014’ list.

The New York Times was equally im-pressed, listing Rotterdam in 10th place in its ‘52 Places to Go in 2014’. The building De Rotterdam – designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and com-pleted in late 2013 – is also referred to as ‘the Vertical City’: with its Floor Space Index of 32, De Rotterdam is the most densely built-up area of the Netherlands. The lower floors of one of the three to-wers are occupied by Nhow, a new design hotel with 278 rooms and 9 meeting and event spaces, all with a spectacular view over Rotterdam.

Largest Work of ArtThe Markthal Rotterdam, the Nether-lands’ first indoor food market, is set for completion in October 2014. The building, erected as a horseshoe-shaped arch, will hold 100 market places, 15 food shops, 8 restaurants, 228 resi-dential apartments, an underground supermarket, and 1,200 underground parking spots. The inside face of the arch will feature the largest work of art in the world: 4,000 aluminium panels covering almost 12,000 square metres will picture enormous, lifelike foods and delicacies.Occupying the very heart of the city, the new Centraal Station train station, with its ultramodern and futuristic architec-ture, has become an eye-catcher as well. From here it is a five minute walk to De Doelen International Congress Centre and the connected Manhattan hotel. King Willem-Alexander of the Nether-

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(total) > 9,000number of hotelrooms

5* rooms 6994* rooms 3,303distance to amsterdam

schiphol (km) 60distance to regional airport

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lands on 13 March 2014 officially opened the building, which is one of the largest train stations in the country: the station welcomes some 110,000 passengers each day – as many as Schiphol Airport. Direct public transport connections exist to the international airports Rotterdam The Hague Airport (10 minutes) and Schiphol Airport (26 minutes). In addition, direct trains run from the station to all major cities in the Netherlands and internati-onal destinations like Antwerp, Brussels and Paris.

ErasmusErasmus University Rotterdam has bund-led its education and research efforts in the ‘Economy & Management’, ‘Medi-cine and Health’ and ‘Law, Culture and Society’ fields of expertise. The university is a recognised national and internatio-nal leader in its chosen fields. Erasmus Medical Centre in particular is internati-onally very well regarded for its scien-tific research into genetic, cell biology, neuroscience, health science, cardiovas-cular diseases, and molecular medicine. Its research and academic output has resulted in a wide variety of conferences and business meetings held in Rotterdam. A few 2014 examples: ICEA -3rd Interna-tional Conference on Esophageal Atresia

(250 attendees), 30th EGOS Colloquium – European Group for Organizational Studies (1,700 attendees) en XVI FUR – Conference on the Foundations of Utility and Risk (300 attendees).

Compact CentreA variety of reasons make Rotterdam an attractive host city for international association conferences. The city is well accessible from all over the world and features a compact city centre with all conference centres, hotels, restaurants and the main train station at an easy walk’s remove from each other. The city is home to modern conference halls which can welcome well over 11,000 attendees. Rotterdam hotels run the gamut from the simple to the highly luxurious, and in total have over 6,500 rooms on offer – a number that will increase in the years to come. Hotels are available in every price category: from those for the budget traveller (e.g., the new Easyhotel) to luxury five-star hotels (e.g., the new Mainport Hotel), and everything in between (e.g., CitizenM, the Room Mate Hotel and Ibis Hotel Wijnhaven). The Municipality is set to pour large investments into the area surrounding Rotterdams largest event venue Ahoy, turning it into the beating heart of

Rotterdam-Zuid. Ahoy Rotterdam itself will be considerably enlarged and will come to feature an international confe-rence centre, a music hall, a cinema and a hotel.

Encouragement FundThe City of Rotterdam has for a number of years now been investing in bids to host and facilitate international conferences. As part of this drive, The Subvention International Associations Congresses was established. Initiators of international conferences in the medical, creative, port and food sectors all can receive support from the fund. Rotterdam Partners is responsible for managing the encouragement fund. In addition, Rotterdam Partners has a variety of other tools at its disposal to support conference initiators. ≈

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1. Spectacular, ultramodern high-rises such

as De Rotterdam and historic port buildings

– transformed into hotspots – stand side by side.

2. The new Centraal Station train station with

its ultramodern and futuristic architecture.

3. The Markthal Rotterdam, the Netherlands’

first indoor food market, is set for completion

in October 2014.

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lanD OF WInD anD WaTeRNORTH HOllAND, NORTH OF AMSTERDAM

He who says North Holland, says water. The province is, in fact, one large peninsula between the North Sea, the Wadden Sea and the IJsselmeer (the former Zuiderzee). The island of Texel is also part of the province.

He who says North Holland, says water. The province is, in fact, one large peninsula between

the North Sea, the Wadden Sea and the IJsselmeer (the former Zuiderzee). The island of Texel is also part of the province.The part of the province north of Amster-dam is known for its coastline with its miles of beaches, vast tulip fields, the flat fields interspersed with canals and lakes and, above all, what is internationally known as the Dutch heritage: nume-rous old Dutch cities such as Alkmaar and Haarlem, authentic polder villages such as De Rijp and Broek in Waterland and a dozen ancient harbour towns. In

particular, the Zaanse Schans, Volendam, Marken and Edam are known as tourist attractions, where you can get acquainted with the wooden shoes, traditional costu-mes, cheese makers and windmills.

Water managementIn terms of knowledge development, the focus in North Holland is on water management, renewable energy and agriculture. “Fighting against the water” is, as it were, typical of the Netherlands. More than 25 percent of the country lies below sea level. Therefore, there is a lot of expertise in the field of water management. Everywhere in the world where water disasters occur – as in New Orleans in 2005, New York in 2012 and early this year in the English Somerset where whole areas were flooded due to persistent rainfall – Dutch water experts are called in.In North Holland itself, the large-scale water projects like the Afsluitdijk, which connects the provinces of North Holland and Friesland with each other, the Hout-ribdijk, which connects North Holland with the province of Flevoland, demon-strate how one tames the water here. Water also plays a major role in North Holland in many other economic areas: tourism and water sports, transport over water, fishing and other water-related activities.

Sustainable energyNorth Holland has a sustainable energy programme. The province focuses it on policies to be less dependent on fossil fuels and to stimulate innovation and business in the renewable energy sector. Here, four priority areas have been iden-tified: biomass gasification, wind at sea (offshore wind), sustainable construction and solar energy. The province works closely with the Energy Board. This is a collaboration between industry, govern-ment, research and educational institu-tions. The objective of the Energy Board is to accelerate the developments in the field of renewable energy in North-Hol-land and strengthen the economy. One of the achievements of the Energy Board is the new Dutch Offshore Academy. It is an initiative of the Port and Shipping Association in Den Helder, the Regional Training Centre (ROC) of Noord Hol-land and various companies. The goal is to make Den Helder the student city for anyone who wants to work in the off-shore oil and gas or wind energy sector. The Academy collaborates with educatio-nal institutions like Tetrix and DHTC and with research institutes such as TNO and Imares.

AgricultureThe agricultural sector is united in Greenport North-Holland North; one of the six greenports in the Netherlands. The region has a production value of ap-proximately 3 to 3.5 billion Euros. North Holland North is, in particular, interna-tionally prominent in the field of seed

largest auditorium (seats)

AFAS Stadium Alkmaar 1,000 number of hotels

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Hotel Zuiderduin,

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improvement. The Netherlands exports about 16 billion Euros in horticultural and agricultural products annually. The starting material (seeds, cuttings, bulbs and tubers) comes from Dutch breeding stations and propagation companies. World trade in vegetables and seeds is 80 percent owned by nine multinationals. Five of these have their headquarters, lo-gistics centre, and/or research facilities in Seed Valley, the area between Enkhuizen and Warmenhuizen.

Agriport A7Agriport A7 is located approximately in the middle of Seed Valley. Agriport A7 is a modern horticultural and logistics project in the Wieringermeerpolder, 40 kilometers from Amsterdam. Hundreds of hectares of arable land have become the centre for modern, large-scale greenhouse farming and open field crops. Central to Agriport is a new business terrain where construction will soon begin on the European Data Center belonging to the U.S. software giant, Microsoft. Through the clustering of large-scale production of fresh vegetables, processing and logistics, and because of the optimum use of waste products

(heat, water and CO2 surpluses from one company to are used by another company), Agriport A7 seen as the most Modern Agricultural Park in the world.

Variety offeredNorth Holland offers a wide and varied range of hotel and conference accommo-dations, from football stadium to theatre and from beach to industrial monument. Just take the Kees Kist Lounge at the AFAS stadium in Alkmaar: this measures 1,120 square meters and can accommo-date meetings from 15 to 1,000 people.In Hoorn, currently, the new Van der Valk Hotel Hoorn is being built with 157 rooms, 11 conference rooms, a casino and 5 cinema halls which are also suitable as conference halls. The opening is scheduled for July 1, 2014. In Egmond aan Zee, right on the North Sea beach, you can find the Hotel Zuiderduin. This hotel offers 550 rooms and over 30 meeting and conference rooms with areas ranging from 30 to 1,000 . Here, conferences can be held for up to 1,500 people.Anyone who wants to make use of the trendy charm that industrial sites offer, can, for example, come to Taets Art

Gallery in Zaanstad. In total, the complex covers more than 30,000 square meters. There are several halls and rooms, a state of the art Meeting Area (10 to 500 peo-ple) and an outdoor area. The complex is suitable for meetings from 10 to 7,000 people.

Sea ResearchThe Royal Dutch Institute for Sea Research, NIOZ, on the Wadden Island of Texel has a conference hall for 200 people. The institute was founded in 1876 and is part of the Dutch Organisa-tion for Scientific Research (NWO). There is no shortage of accommodation on the tourist island of Texel. There are over a hundred hotels on the island, including the four-star Grand Hotel Opduin with 96 rooms and conference facilities for up to 156 people.

New convention bureauConvention Bureau Holland (CBH) has only recently been established and represents the North Holland region north of Amsterdam. CBH is an auto-nomous and independent foundation that has set for itself the goal of brin-ging more national and international conferences to the region. Organisers of multi-day (association) conferences can go there for free advice and information about all the possibilities that the region has to offer in the conference sector. The agency also organises any desired location viewings and provides obliga-tion-free quotations. ≈

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Utrecht has the most highly educated workforce in the Netherlands. That is due to the many important knowledge and educational institutions and NGOs that can be found there.

Thanks to the help of a young, talented workforce and a citywide scheme to create a sustainable

society, Utrecht recently been voted the most competitive region in Europe.Utrecht has a string of high education institutions, including the University of Utrecht, University Medical Centre, University of Applied Sciences and Utrecht School of the Arts. National and international research institutes are also well represented, with organisations such as RIVM [National Institute of Public

Health and Environmental Protection], TNO [Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research] and KNMI [Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute]. Utrecht thus has the highest density of information services in the Netherlands and the highest percentage of highly educated people.

Science ParkUtrecht is proud of its Utrecht Science Park (USP). USP argues that progress be-gins where scientists and entrepreneurs join forces. With Utrecht University as the best university in the Netherlands, the University Medical Centre Utrecht as one of the largest public institutions in the Netherlands and, with dozens of innovative companies and research insti-tutions, the Utrecht Science Park is the heart of the knowledge economy. Natio-nal and international conferences provide a platform for the specialist knowledge that is available in Utrecht and for which there is a need throughout the world.The diversity of knowledge and educa-tional institutions and NGOs result in an equally diverse range of knowledge events. The program includes, for example: EVDI Congress 2014 (European Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging), EBJIS

2014 (European Bone and Joint Infection Society), 2014 AESOP (Congress / Asso-ciation of European Schools of Planning), EBHA 2014 (European Business History Association), HEUG EMEA Conference 2014 and Pediatric Work Physiology (PWP) 2015.

Central locationBecause of its central location in the Netherlands, Utrecht is a major hub of highways, waterways and railways. Travellers arriving from Schiphol Airport can travel by train to the heart of the city in 30 minutes. Every location in the city is accessible by public transport. The city alone has seven train stations. Because Utrecht is so centrally located, it is also the perfect base of operations for other cities and regions in the Netherlands. Almost all major cities, attractions and nature reserves are less than an hour away by car or train.The history of Utrecht goes back to the year 47 AD, when the Romans built a fort on the site of the current cathedral squa-re, the "Castellum Trajectum”. Through this 2000-year old history, Utrecht is rich in history and culture. Due to the largely retained distinctive décor, you can taste the cosy, intimate atmosphere that Utrecht is known for.The city has plenty to offer in the way of social programs: the medieval Old Town, the characteristic canals with their docks and terraces, the Dom Tower (the tallest

largest auditorium (seats)

TivoliVredenburg 1,717 Jaarbeurs Utrecht 1,533 Spoorwegmuseum 1,000 number of hotel rooms

5* rooms 1214* rooms 8743* rooms 338distance to amsterdam

schiphol (km) 40

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church tower in the Netherlands) and a variety of museums, shops, restaurants, cafés, theatres, festivals and events.

TivoliVredenburgIn this setting, you can find the most di-verse meeting locations. One of the latest additions is TivoliVredenburg, which will open on June 21, 2014. This architect- designed multi-purpose property is in walking distance from the Central Station, in the centre of the city, and is well-suited for both intimate settings and large gatherings. TivoliVredenburg offers over 30,000 square metres of space, five halls and several other multi-purpose spaces. For a conference, the main hall offers capacity for up to 1,717 people. The other spaces can be used as breakout rooms.Recently, the historic Mint building (formerly Money Museum) also became available as a location. The 11 rooms can accommodate meetings for 50 to 300 people.Recently, Jaarbeurs Utrecht transfor-med part of its convention centre into Supernova, a conference area with an almost otherworldly atmosphere. Royal conference classics, such as the Irene Conference Hall and the Maxima Foyer have received an unrecognisable facelift.

The halls “Quest” and “Expedition” are reminiscent of space capsules; here, knowledge is literally launched. The largest conference hall, Progress, with a capacity for 440 people, is designed such that the ceiling is a bit like a spaceship. The lines of this form draw one's atten-tion to the front of the hall: the central point where knowledge is shared and vistas become new insights.

Spending the night Utrecht offers approximately 1,550 rooms, of which 55 percent is found in the heart of the city. Within a radius of 20 kilometres, a further 1,800 rooms are available. Apart from the major hotels chains, a good number of small hotels

have appeared in the centre of the city in recent years. Thus, recently the new two-star hotel, the Star Lodge, opened with 80 double rooms and 5 singles. A few meters from the Dom Cathedral is the 18th-century Beaufort house, which is now Hotel Dom with 11 suites. In the Courthouse building, located in the museum district, you can find the Court Hotel City Centre Utrecht (27 rooms). The building dates back to the year 1054 when the Roman Paulus Abbey was founded here. Also special is the sustainable Boutique Hotel Mary K in an 18th century canal house.

Free adviceFor those planning to organise a conference in Utrecht, the Utrecht Convention Bureau (UCB) is a neutral and competent partner. The UCB provides free and independent advice and support. In the handbook “Congres-ses in Utrecht”, you can find information about all aspects involved in the orga-nisation of an international conference, from planning to pre and post conference tours. Moreover, the UCB also provides advice about various financial funds for which organisers of international, multi-day conferences may qualify. ≈

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3. The old town with its characteristic canals with

their docks and terraces.

4. Casa Confetti – a tower with student residences –

on the utrecht Science Park, the heart of the

knowledge economy.

5. The Pandhof garden of the Dom Church is one

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Leiden, with its university and Bio Science Park, is among the leading scientific centres of excellence in Europe. The University has a worldwide leading position in such research areas as science, medicine, social sciences, law and humanities.

Leiden occupies a prestigious place in the scientific community: Invariably, Leiden University is on the list of

the hundred best universities in the world. From the moment, in 1575, the univer-sity was founded, to the present day, it has been at the forefront of science; both fundamental and application-oriented.Leiden University has many scientific breakthroughs to its name, including the Superconductivity by Heike Kamerling Onnes. In addition to Kamerling Onnes, another 12 Nobel Prize winners have studied and worked in Leiden, including

Albert Einstein, Paul Ehrenfest, Chris-tiaan Snouck Hurgronje and Cornelis van Vollenhoven. Leiden has also been awarded 16 of the total of 66 the Spinoza Prizes, the highest Dutch science award.

Collaboration Together with eleven other European universities, the University of Leiden was, in 2002, one of the founders of the Le-ague of European Research Universities (LERU). By now, there are many more. The aim is to convince governments of the importance of basic research and the mutual exchange of expertise. LDE is a strategic alliance of Leiden Uni-versity, TU Delft and Erasmus University Rotterdam. This collaboration covers a combination of educational and scientific domains: social sciences, humanities, economics, law, (life) sciences, medicine and engineering science. It provides a stronger point of departure for perma-nently collaborating with the best in the world. In the Noordwijk-Leiden-Delft axis, there has long been talk of a clustering of Space activities. Alongside of ESTEC, the University of Leiden, TU Delft, TNO and various companies give these internati-onally oriented developments a highly personal interpretation. The Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC) (centre for multidisci-

plinary research on cognition and brains) stems from a collaboration between the Leiden University Medical Centre and the faculties of humanities, social sciences, mathematics and natural sciences of the university.The Bio Science Park in Leiden forms the heart of the life science research in Northwest Europe. In addition to public funded research institutions, there are also many small, medium-sized and large life science companies located here. Toge-ther, they also develop and produce drugs and vaccines. The proximity of a medical faculty and a science faculty contribu-tes greatly to their success, as does the strict sectoring, which has been used for several decades.

A true museum cityInternationally renowned painters, such as Rembrandt and Jan Steen lived and worked in Leiden. Rembrandt was even born, raised and received his education there. Anyone walking through the well-preserved city, with its canals, the maze of streets, alleys, courtyards and 3,000 monumental buildings, imagines himself in one of Rembrandt paintings. Leiden can rightfully be called a museum city. With Naturalis, the National Mu-seum of Antiquities, the Rembrandt walk, the National Museum of Ethnology, the Cloth Hall [Lakenhal], the SieboldHuis, the Pilgrim Museum, Museum Boerhaave, the Hortus Botanicus and CORPUS ‘jour-ney through the human body,’ Leiden has the highest museum density in our coun-try. Thanks, in part, to the museums, but also thanks to the range of performing

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arts, literature, film and cultural heritage, Leiden is the fourth cultural city in the Netherlands.

Wide range of locationsLeiden offers a wide range of conference venues and hotels, from monumental to ultra modern. A famous historical site is the Stadsgehoorzaal situated in the historic city centre with a wide range of restaurants and cafés within walking dis-tance. Recently, the building underwent a major renovation, which makes the location even more suitable for multi-day international conferences for up to 1,000 people. Recently, the International Con-gress of The European Thyroid Associa-tion (900 participants) was held here.Hotel and Convention Centre Holiday Inn Leiden has recently been expanded considerably. Through the sacrifice of the former tennis hall, a professional confe-rence centre of 3,000 square meters has been realised. In combination with the existing break-out rooms, a conference facility has been created with a capacity for 2,000 participants.CORPUS ‘journey through the human body’ is more than an attraction. The location offers scientists the chance to hold a conference in an extraordinary

setting, with, as part of the programme, the ‘journey through the human body.’ This location is especially popular with the medical and paramedical professions. Medium-sized conferences up to 540 people can be easily accommodated here. As a bonus, the penthouse offers breatht-aking views of the Dutch countryside right up to the coast of the North Sea. In addition, Leiden offers a multitude of extraordinary locations. Thus, the two impressive churches in the centre of Lei-den, The Pieterskerk and the Hooglandse Kerk, are infinitely suitable for holding a conference or, for example, a (gala) dinner.

Well-oiled machineLast year, the International Conference Alliance was founded by some initiators. Here, Leiden University, Leiden Univer-sity Medical Centre, the municipality, Leiden Convention Bureau and marke-ting parties from the conference industry work closely with each other. After the official formation, of the next step followed: the recruiting of ambas-sadors for Leiden among leading scholars and influential Leiden residents with an attractive international network. The ambitions were high, but the response was overwhelming. The number of

ambassadors who volunteered was so large that the planned initial installation could not take place during the meeting surrounding the “Christmas Oratorio”; there was simply not enough time. On March 10, 2014, the installation of more than 40 of the 70 ambassadors by the Mayor took place in the Stadsgehoorzaal, in the presence of the Rector Magnificus and the Chairman of the Board of the LUMC. The other ambassadors will soon be installed. Due to the close cooperation and involvement of all parties, the lines are short and issues are quickly and ef-ficiently dealt with. Leiden Convention Bureau acts as the ‘spider in the web’ and ensures that the convention city runs like a well-oiled machine.

Conference ProgramA city in which renowned scientists and innovative and creative minds have been gathering for hundreds of years has much to offer conference organisers This is evident from the extensive conference programme of 2014 and 2015, which includes: 21st EARMA Conference, 14th International SCOPE Meeting, IACM Conference, Neuro Informatics Conferen-ce, CINETS Conference, Asiascap: Digital Asia, Africa Works and STI 2014. ≈

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In terms of knowledge development. Maastricht is placing the focus in the coming years on Life and Science, whereby the focus on ‘Life’ lies in the Cardiovascular field and on Science in Biomaterials. Cooperation between the government, education, knowledge institutes and NGOs is of vital importance.

Maastricht is an international city, with numerous international institutions such as the Euro-

pean Institute of Public Administration, the European Fair Trade Association and the European Journalism Centre.For several years, governmental and knowledge organisations in the field of Life and Science have been working closely with each other, with a view to

deepening the present knowledge and placing Maastricht explicitly on the international map as the centre of these knowledge fields. Parties which have pooled their expertise and networks in-clude Maastricht University, Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC), Maastricht Health Campus, Chemelot Campus, Province of Limburg, The Muni-cipality of Maastricht, MECC Maastricht and Maastricht Convention Bureau.

Maastricht Health CampusSince 2008, the University Hospital Maastricht (AZM) and the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences at Maastricht University (UM) together form the eighth university medical centre in the Netherlands. Maastricht UMC + is the only UMC in the Netherlands that combines the functions of an academic institution and regional hospital. With 6,000 employees, it is also one of the largest employers in the region. Every year, the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Science educates more than 4,000 students.The fact that the CEO of the Maastricht Health Campus is also on the Board of

the Maastricht Convention Bureau and that Congress Centre Maastricht is part of the campus, shows that intensive cooperation is of paramount importance. The Maastricht Health Campus provides many opportunities for the city as a des-tination for scientific meetings, focusing on the issues of mental health and brain research, cardiovascular diseases, chronic diseases and cancer, public health and primary care. The campus has unique facilities such as Tesla scanners and the Clinical Trial Centre Maastricht. The ambition of Maastricht Health Campus is to become an internationally respected specialist valorisation campus where activities are being developed based on medical and health research. On campus, there are currently 23 life science companies, such Xilloc and PathoFinder.

Chemelot CampusChemelot Campus is an important location for research, development and education in the fields of chemistry and materials and related life sciences. The focus is on high-quality materials, biome-dical materials and bio-based chemicals and materials. In addition, research and development of Enabling Technologies is an important focus.The ambition is to develop the Chemelot Campus into the Euro-regional base for companies and educational and research organisations in the field of chemistry

largest conference centre

MECC Maastricht 5,000 number of hotelrooms

5* rooms 6164* rooms 3,1073* rooms 297distance to main airports (km)

Aachen Airport 9Amsterdam Schiphol Airport 195Brussels Airport 100Düsseldorf Airport 100

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and materials. Companies that already have the Campus as a home base include the chemicals group DSM, the Basic Pharma Group, the Saudi Arabian pe-trochemical specialist Sabic and Sekisui S-Lec, a division of Sekisui Chemical Co.Through all the developments, Maas-tricht has been able to bring in increa-singly more international medical and chemical conferences. Examples are the European Vascular Cours, World Insti-tute of Pain and The European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain. Optional conferences relating to cooperation with the Chemelot Campus include Interna-tional Mass Spectrometry and European Society of Biomaterials.

Eight airportsMaastricht is centrally located in the heart of the European region Meuse-Rhine and is accessible in many ways. There are eight nearby airports and good international rail and road connections.Maastricht is one of the oldest Dutch cities. Ever since the Romans crossed the River Meuse, cultures and trade routes

have come together here. Viewed in this way, Maastricht boasts thousands of years of experience in hosting inter-national companies.To this very day, the city with only 120,000 people remains compact and safe. The advantage of this is that con-ference participants meet up with each other as they move into the historic down-town area after the meetings.The landscape around Maastricht is characterised by green hills and historic accommodations, a great base for social programmes. The same goes for exclusive Belgian locations that are within a few minutes drive from Maastricht.

Special locationsMaastricht and surroundings is next to the large exhibition & conference centre, MECC Maastricht, six party locations of 1,000 guests or more. Among them are for, example, La Caverne de Geulhem: an ancient cave complex with three halls, suitable for meetings of up to 1,200 people. Château Neercanne on the edge of Maastricht is the only “terraced castle”

of the Netherlands and is therefore also called “the balcony of the Netherlands”. The castle offers panoramic views of the valley. Conferences are given here in unique cave rooms that are carved out of the marl. In total there are, in Maastricht and surroundings, more than 4,000 hotel rooms available. The diversity in the supply and types of hotels is also striking. Besides the large, major chain hotels, there are hotels located in a former cinema, castles and monasteries, abbeys and churches and in an old museum.

Subsidy schemesThe province of Limburg, the city of Maastricht and Maastricht University have various subsidy schemes for con-ference organisers. Thus, there is, for example, the Limburg University Fund and the Pre-financing and Guarantee Fund. Maastricht Convention Bureau provides free and independent advice, mediation and support for associations and companies that want to organise a meeting or conference in the region. ≈

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RCongress CAre Your Medical Specialist in Congresses & Fundraising

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Alexander Battalaan 76221 CA MaastrichtThe Netherlands

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Congress CAlendArSelection of international congresses and conferences that will be held in The Netherlands. For the complete list visit http://bit.ly/CH0000

Congress Date venue City website

2014

International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Flight Compet (IMAV) 12 - 15 August Aula Congress Centre Delft http://bit.ly/CH1114

9th International Conference on Forensic Inference and Statistics (ICFIS) 19 - 22 August Kamerlingh Onnes Building Leiden http://bit.ly/CH1170

8th International Conference on the Dialogical Self (ICDS) 19 - 22 August The Hague University of Applied Sciences

The Hague http://bit.ly/CH1120

18th Conference of the European Business History Association (EBHA) 21 - 23 August University Hall Utrecht http://bit.ly/CH1215

IEEE Sections Congress 22 - 25 August RAI Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1116

5th International Conference on Information Systems, Logistics and Supply Chain (ILS) 24 - 27 August Castle of Breda Breda (Brabant) http://bit.ly/CH1145

33th General Conference of the International Association for Research in Income and Wealth (IARIW)

24 - 28 August De Doelen Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1163

6th Annual Neurobiology of Language Meeting 27 - 29 August Beurs van Berlage Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1119

5th International Conference on Sustainability Transitions (IST) 27 - 29 August Copernicus Institute Utrecht http://bit.ly/CH1205

4th International Conference on Logistics and Maritime Systems (LOGMS 2014) 27 - 29 August Erasmus Expo and Conference Centre

Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1122

21th European Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging congress (EVDI) 27 - 30 August TivoliVredenburg Utrecht http://bit.ly/CH1165

#ethnography: Trends, Traverses and Traditions 27 - 29 August University of Amsterdam Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1158

37th Congress of the International Office of Allotment and Leisure Garden Societies 28 - 30 August Jaarbeurs Utrecht http://bit.ly/CH1206

53th Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) 2 - 4 September MECC Maastricht http://bit.ly/CH1202

22th International Conference on Water Jetting 3 - 5 September n/a Haarlem (North-Holland)

http://bit.ly/CH1142

19th International Science and Technology Indicators Conference (STI) 3 - 5 September n/a Leiden http://bit.ly/CH1143

7th International Whey Conference (IWC) 7 - 9 September Beurs-WTC Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1169

3rd International Symposium on Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (PIBD) 10 - 13 September De Doelen Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1171

Annual Congress of the European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies (EABCT) 10 - 13 September World Forum The Hague http://bit.ly/CH1177

18th European Society of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition (ESVCN) 11 - 13 September Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Utrecht http://bit.ly/CH1203

33th Annual Meeting of the European Bone and Joint Infection Society (EBJIS) 11 - 14 September Jaarbeurs Utrecht http://bit.ly/CH1212

International Broadcasting Conference (IBC) 12 - 16 September Amsterdam RAI Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1123

14th European Doctoral Conference in Nursing Science (EDCNS) 12 - 13 September Maastricht University Maastricht http://bit.ly/CH1172

10th Congress of the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society (EUGMS) 17 - 19 September De Doelen Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1204

21st Annual Congress European Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (ESSFN) 17 - 20 September MECC Maastricht http://bit.ly/CH1111

6th ASEM Culture Ministers' Meeting 19 - 21 October n/a Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1173

European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (EU PVSEC) 22 - 26 September Amsterdam RAI Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1124

SPIE Security + Defence 22 - 25 September Amsterdam RAI Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1126

21th International Conference on Chemical Reactors (CHEMREACTOR) 22 - 25 September Aula Congress Centre Delft http://bit.ly/CH1136

Social Media Week 22 - 26 September nhow Rotterdam Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1196

European Attractions Show (EAS - IAAPA) 23 - 25 September Amsterdam RAI Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1127

International Conference Deltas in Times of Climate Change II 24 - 26 September Beurs-WTC Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1211

IADC Drilling HSE&T Europe Conference & Exhibition 24 - 25 September Mövenpick Hotel Amsterdam City Centre

Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1128

2nd European Social Marketing Conference (ESMA) 25 - 26 September Novotel Brainpark Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1178

8th European Congress on Emergency Medicine (EuSEM) 27 September - 2 October Westergasfabriek Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1129

7th EACH International conference on communication in healthcare 28 September - 1 October Amsterdam RAI Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1130

28th World Congress on Project Management (IPMA) 29 September - 1 October Beurs-WTC Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1168

5th International Symposium on Folate Receptors and Transporters 30 September - 4 October n/a Heemskerk (North-Holland)

http://bit.ly/CH1207

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2014

4th biannual International Multidisciplinary Pain Congress 1 - 4 October Van der Valk Hotel Eindhoven (Brabant) http://bit.ly/CH1140

23rd International Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) 9 - 12 October Amsterdam RAI Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1176

WAN-IFRA World Publishing Expo 13 - 15 October Amsterdam RAI Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1131

Helitech International Helicopter Expo & Conference 14 - 16 October Amsterdam RAI Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1133

Higher Education User Group: Europa, Middle East, Africa Conference (HEUG EMEA) 14 - 16 October various locations Utrecht http://bit.ly/CH1179

20th Annual Meeting of the European Network of Occupational Therapy in Higher Education (ENOTHE)

23 - 25 October HAN University of Applied Sciences

Nijmegen (Brabant) http://bit.ly/CH1185

22th Meeting of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT) 23 - 26 October World Forum The Hague http://bit.ly/CH1186

The Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) 27 - 29 October Amsterdam RAI Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1134

Diagnosing, analyzing and treating Robin sequence conference 31 October - 1 November In de Driehoek Utrecht http://bit.ly/CH1187

European Utility Week 4 - 6 November Amsterdam RAI Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1135

Nationaal Deltacongres 6 - 7 November De Rijtuigenloods Amersfoort http://bit.ly/CH1121

International Joint Conferences on Ambient Intelligence (AmI) 11 - 13 November MetaForum building Eindhoven (Brabant) http://bit.ly/CH1180

Conference of the Society of Incentive Travel Executives (SITE) 14 - 17 November Inntel Hotels Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1181

7th Working Groups Meeting on Ethical Legal and Psychosocial Aspects of Organ Transplantation (ELPAT)

22 - 23 November n/a The Hague http://bit.ly/CH1190

7th European Multidisciplinary Colorectal Cancer Congress 23 - 25 November Amsterdam RAI Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1138

2015

3rd International One Health Congress (IOHC) 15 - 18 March Amsterdam RAI Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1194

UTECH Conference and Exhibition 14 - 16 April MECC Maastricht http://bit.ly/CH1201

31th Congress of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) 22 - 25 April n/a The Hague http://bit.ly/CH1195

21th Conference of the International Bone and Mineral Society (IBMS) 25 - 28 April n/a Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1161

42th European Symposium on Calcified Tissues 25 - 28 April n/a Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1213

10th World Symposium on Congenital Malformations of the Hand and Upper Limb 7 - 9 May The New Luxor Theatre Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1174

17th European Textile Network Conference 13 - 16 May Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde (etnographic museum)

Leiden http://bit.ly/CH1144

10th European Conference on Noise Control (EURONOISE) 31 May - 3 June MECC Maastricht http://bit.ly/CH1183

Meeting of the International Cancer Screening Network (ICSN) 2 - 4 June De Doelen Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1191

6th FEMS Congress of European Microbiologists 7 - 11 June MECC Maastricht http://bit.ly/CH1192

European Congress of Epidemiology (EUROEPI) - Healthy Living 25 - 27 June MECC Maastricht http://bit.ly/CH1175

ICCA Sector Destination Marketing European Client/Supplier Business Workshop 25 - 27 June The Manhattan Hotel & Ahoy Rotterdam

Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1198

36th Congress of the International Association for Hydro- Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR)

28 June - 3 July World Forum The Hague http://bit.ly/CH1182

14th Meeting of the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ISECS) 26 - 31 July Campus Woudestein Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1199

34th International Conference on Cosmic Ray (ICRC) 30 July - 6 August World Forum The Hague http://bit.ly/CH1193

European Underwater and Baromedical Society (EUBS) 19 - 23 August Academic Medical Center (AMC) Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1210

14th International Conference on Modern Trends in Activation Analysis (MTAA) 23 - 28 August Aula Congress Centre Delft http://bit.ly/CH1137

36th Meeting of the International Society for Clinical Biostatistics (ISCB) 23 - 27 August n/a Utrecht http://bit.ly/CH1184

ISSSR 2015 Symposium 27 - 29 August n/a Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1197

28th Congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) 29 August - 2 September Amsterdam RAI Amsterdam http://bit.ly/CH1166

45th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR) 9 - 12 September Beurs-WTC Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1200

14th International Congress of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Toxicology (TDM-TOX) 11 - 15 October De Doelen Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1164

5th International Symposium on Geotechnical Safety and Risk (ISGSR) 13 - 16 October n/a Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1189

Conference of the European Aquaculture Society (Aquaculture Europe) 20 - 23 October n/a Rotterdam http://bit.ly/CH1159

Understanding Small Enterprises Conference (USE) 21 - 23 October Hanze University of Applied Science

Groningen http://bit.ly/CH1141

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