More than 240 associations were represented among the 500 attendees at the Associations World Congress, which took place in Antwerp, 12–14 March.
The Congress offered sessions on best practice, benchmarking, governance and many other business-critical topics, specifically tailored for international and European associations.
The Congress, managed and organised by the Association of Association Executives (AAE), was held at the Flanders Meeting & Convention Center Antwerp’s (FMCCA) ‘a room with a zoo’.
Speakers came from as far afield as Australia and South Africa.
AAE executive director Damian Hutt said he was “very pleased” with the outcome of the 2018 Congress, adding: “We had higher numbers of senior association executives attend this year”.
Koen Kennis, vice-mayor, of the City of Antwerp, said: “We are happy that AAE chose Antwerp for its World Congress. Our city has the potential to be the ideal backdrop for conventions and meetings, thanks to its excellent MICE infrastructure, the presence of a world port, a distinguished logistics, maritime and chemicals cluster and a developing healthcare cluster.”
Anja Stas, chief commercial officer of FMCCA, who opened the Congress, noted the venue was the only convention centre in the world with a zoo on site. “That,” she said, “guarantees an immediate CSR solution through animal conservation.”
During the Congress Dinner, the International & European Association Awards were presented at the Grand Café Horta in the Art Nouveau Hall.
Elke Dens, marketing director at VisitFlanders added: “We took the opportunity to transform the audience into real Flemish Masters at our themed event. An introduction to our painters Rubens, Brueghel and Van Eyck, showed the delegates that artistry and craftsmanship are in the DNA of Flanders. We wanted to inspire them to see Flanders’ potential as a destination for their own conferences.”
AAE is an active community of over 16,000 employees of associations, societies, federations and other membership organisations in professional, trade, scientific and medical sectors. The AAE manages the Association Congresses, the Association Leaders’ Forums, Association Events Strategy and Member Engagement Conferences.
