Sharing in success
Putting a lock on business events was tough for Amsterdam, just like elsewhere, but it took any window of opportunity to keep going and is bouncing back quickly. Angela Antrobus reports
Amsterdam was desperate to get back to business during the pandemic and wasted no time to stage some significant events towards the end of last year - before suddenly having to go back into lockdown again.
In October, about 1,000 people attended the fifth World Summit AI in person in the historic Beurs van Berlage with thousands more joining in online. “Amsterdam’s a brilliant AI hub,” says Charlie Cracknell, managing director of InspiredMinds which organised the event. “We’ve been there for five years and have deep-rooted relationships with the city. It’s connected. People love being here. But the most important thing is it is a collaborative city.”
Amsterdam also hosted the seventh annual VRDays Europe at the Openbare Bibliotheek last November. Leading VR (virtual reality) and XR (extended reality) professionals took part in talks, workshops and creative experiences while participants from around the world joined via the Laval Virtual World. VRDays founder and director Benjamin de Wit says, “You see a lot of innovation with Smart Health Amsterdam with the start-up ecosystem so there’s a lot of activity.”
RAI Amsterdam Exhibition & Convention Centre has been a Covid vaccination site since February last year. It reopened for physical business events last September, organising large-scale events in full compliance with public health and safety measures. One of them was Money 20/20, an event for fintech communities, with 5,000 attendees. “Three days here at the RAI are worth three months of meetings outside,” said president Tracey Davies. It will be back there in June.
RAI COO Maurits van der Sluis admits it came as a surprise when the city went back into lockdown in December. “We were filling our halls with relevant events for a range of sectors including water technology, health and life sciences and creative industries. Temporarily putting a lock on business events had an enormous impact but it gave us the opportunity to evaluate the course of events in the last quarter of 2021 and make improvements where necessary.”
On 23 March all restrictive measures were removed in the Netherlands and the RAI saw out the month with Amsterdam Drone Week Hybrid and the EASA High Level Conference on Drones, with over 1,500 attendees, followed by Intertraffic, a trade exhibition for mobility professionals.
More major in-person events at the RAI this year include EAU22 (European Association of Urology) in July, when some 12,000 delegates are expected, SPRINT World Congress for Inspection & Maintenance Robotics in September and Sibos, the financial services event organised by SWIFT, in October.
The centre has recently introduced a new logistics system whereby suppliers register online for a time slot to unload or collect cargo for the build-up and breakdown of events, distributing transport better throughout the day.
“We were filling our halls with relevant events for a range of sectors including water technology, health and life sciences and creative industries."
Amsterdam has a thriving tech and start-up scene committed to a people-centred approach to technology and offering top-level digital connectivity for business events. Last year the city was crowned top European City for environmental policies and named one of the top emerging climate tech hubs and a world-leading centre for green finance.
Throughout the pandemic, Amsterdam Convention Bureau continually updated its website with the latest regulations, advice for future clients and news of its latest achievements and ambitions. Now the city has reopened fully it has added further advice on travelling to the Netherlands, getting around the city, choosing venues, group activities and organising hybrid meetings, all with safety and sustainability in mind.
“Following a major restructure last year, we now have a dedicated team ready to support international associations with their meetings,” says director Dennis Speet. “Amsterdam has changed, not only in terms of venues but also in attitude. Working closely with the Department of Economic Affairs, there’s a real hunger to share knowledge and new innovations and embed these in a sustainable meetings destination.”
Contact
Amsterdam Convention Bureau
T: +31 (0)682747079
E: [email protected]
www.iamsterdam.com
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