The legacy of your colleagues in other associations

Local expertise
Pamela Mortimer, Chief Executive Officer, The Society for Experimental Biology 

“We chose Flanders because this region excels in our area of expertise. Local experts, who work in experimental biology, helped prepare our conference and that was evident in the  quality of the programme.”

Plenty of support
Wiebke Schmidt-Reyer, Operations Manager, European College of Veterinary Surgeons  

“Flanders has an excellent reputation when it comes to veterinary science, with members also playing an active role in our organisation and field of expertise. This generates plenty of local support, which is a crucial factor for a successful conference.”

Support
Professor Philip Meuleman, Laboratory of Liver Infectious Diseases (LLID), International Symposium on Hepatitis C Virus and Related Viruses  

“We already had plans to organise the conference in Flanders for several years. But associations know all too well that this involves a lot of planning and work. We owe the fact that we ultimately pulled it off to the support of the experts at the VISITFLANDERS Convention Bureau”.

Heritage
Margit Bal, General Director, Herita  

“We focus on offering people a heritage experience in the great outdoors and in urban environments. So you can see why Flanders was the logical choice for our conference. There are very few places in the world where heritage is such a priority, both for policy-makers and society as a whole.”

Innovation
Eija Salmi, Secretary General, Cumulus 

“Cumulus is the only global association to serve art, design education, and research. We are working on the future, which is why we find innovation so crucial. The Flemish bid stood out for this aspect, which is why we decided to organise our conference here.”

Delicious food
Thomas Gugler, President, World Associations of Chefs Society  

“Perhaps Flemish cuisine is not as well-known as Italian or French cuisine, but it easily rivals them in terms of quality. After our World Chefs European Congress in Flanders, everyone agreed that this was the best food that we’d ever been served at one of our conferences.”

Cycling
Timo Perala, President, Winter Cycling Organisation  

“I’m going to very honest with you. I had no idea that Flanders was such a cycling destination. I only realised it after an inspirational visit, during which I was able to cycle through water and trees. I immediately knew that this was the right place to host our Winter Cycling Congress.”

Vision
Karl Woeber, President, International Academy for the Study of Tourism  

“As an association you hope to leave a legacy with your conference. That is also the objective of the VISITFLANDERS Convention Bureau. Their mission “Travel to Tomorrow” is entirely geared towards creating a legacy and our conference reaped the fruits of this.”

Flanders Heritage Venues
Damian Hutt, Executive Director, Associations World Congress  

“Flanders has a number of venues that are utterly unique in the world. We even inaugurated one of them with our conference. The Associations World Congress was the first conference to be organised in the FMCCA, which was truly an honour.”

Commitment
Anna Maria Darmanin, Secretary-General, European Tugowners Association  

“Our members’ activities take place in and around the port. That is why we like to organise our conferences in port cities. Choosing Antwerp made all the difference because of the amazing network of entrepreneurs that was involved in the organisation of our conference.”

Societal support
Bas Van Looy, President, World Resources Forum  

“The circular economy can only be achieved if you have the support of society as a whole. A conference on this subject is, in this respect, no different. That is why we opted to organise it in Flanders, which plays a pioneering role when it comes to the circular economy, right up to the highest policy level.”

Do you also want to create a legacy with your conference in Flanders?

Our expert in your field will gladly provide you with all the information that you need.