IT&CM India’s inaugural effort to reach out to local association professionals and executives through its curated Association Day programme on 20 August, paid off with attendees giving top marks to its knowledge platforms.
Launched in collaboration with KW Conferences, the Association Day forums received high scores on all aspects of Content, Delivery, Interaction and Relevance to Job. Madhumita Dobe, IPHA, Organising Secretary, 14th World Congress on Public Health said, “The topic on Best Practices – Developing Middle Level Association Professionals, was so impactful that it inspired me to change the style of management for my association.”
Monimita Sarkar, Managing Director, KW Conferences attributed the event’s success to the right mix of speakers whose credibility, experience and astute understanding of the field struck a chord with the delegates.
“We developed topics like, The Third Wave’ of Destination Marketing Competitiveness, Benefits of Attracting International Meetings to India and Managing Sessions and Speakers for Higher Delegate and Association ROI, that would resonate with today’s Association market, and the sessions had seven renowned personalities such as ICCA’s CEO Martin Sirk, Starwood Asia Pacific MD, India and Regional VP South Asia’s Dilip Puri, SICOT India’s President and Indian Orthopaedic Association’s Past President Dr Ashok Johari, Association Networks’ Executive Director Damian Hutt, AROI’s President and Healthcare Global Enterprise’s Medical Director Prof Ramesh S. Bilimagga, as well as Event ROI Institute’s Managing Partner Dr Elling Hamso, helm them. The fit was perfect.” elaborated Sakar, who was also a moderator of the forum.
IT&CM India’s first Association Day drew over 30 participants from across India, hailing from Ahmedabad, Chennai, Cochin, Dharwad, Gujarat, Hyderabad, Karnataka, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Telangana, and Tripunithura. Participants are responsible for organising close to 40 conferences throughout the year, attracting more than 27,000 delegates. Some of the associations represented include All India Officer’s Association, Association of Medical Physicists of India, Association of Radiation Oncologist of India, Computer Society of India, Indian Academy of Cytologists, Indian Academy of Pediatrics, Indian Endodontic Society, Indian Medical Association, Indian Printed Circuit Association, Luminescence Society of India, and Society For Biotechnologists of India (SBTI).
In addition to education forums, Association Day’s one-day programme included business appointments, destination presentations by CVBs and NTOs, as well as invitation to hosted networking events.
The next upcoming Association Day will be held in conjunction with IT&CMA in Bangkok, Thailand over 2 days on 1 and 2 October 2014. TTG Events, organiser of the IT&CM event series has also confirmed the 2015 dates of its Association Days series at IT&CM China in Shanghai (15 April), IT&CM India in Delhi (19 August), IT&CMA (30 September and 1 October), as well as a brand new edition in Singapore.
