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Newsline Research 6 MAR-APR 2019 MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS MCMAG-ASIA.COM T he German Convention Bureau (GCB) is out to uncover what makes for the perfect meeting, which was the objective of the second phase of its Future Meeting Space initiative. Published in January at Convening Leaders, the annual meeting of the Professional Convention Management Association, the research is based on a survey conducted for the GCB last year by the European Association of Event Centres and the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO, a research organisation in Europe. Together, they and other research partners sought to answer the question, "How to create successful events?" The result of the study is a recipe with two principal ingredients: knowledge transfer and surprising or disruptive elements. "Attendees are happy with events if they learnt something new that they can apply in their everyday work, and if events surprised them or triggered changes," the GCB stated in a press release. "Networking, interaction and use of digital technologies are further success factors." Given attendees' penchant for learning and surprise, the GCB's report recommends "the use of new and innovative formats and technologies, as well as visualisation aids and interactive formats to foster knowledge transfer." Of course, not all attendees learn the same way. Researchers therefore concluded that successful events also require meeting planners to create individualised elements that are tailored to attendees' unique requirements. Specifically, they identified six attendee "types" that vary in age, gender, tech- savviness, communication behaviour and career ambitions. One attendee type, for example, German Convention Bureau releases new 'Future Meeting Space' report The research attempts to crack the code of what makes a successful meeting. WORDS MATT ALDERTON PHOTO CREDIT: TOXAWWW/GETTY IMAGES "The study highlights the most relevant success factors and reviews some common assumptions about [successful meetings]." — DR STEFAN RIEF, HEAD OF ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND WORK DESIGN RESEARCH UNIT, FRAUNHOFER IAO