AMI senior journalist, Holly Patrick attended the inaugural Brussels International Association Forum (BIAF) at the newly renovated Maison de la Poste on 14-15 March. Here are her takeaways...
“Holy moly, we’re finally here,” the opening remarks from Kai Troll, president of the ASSOCIATIONWORLD, the organisation behind BIAF.
The forum was finally able to get underway after an Omicron-enforced postponement pushed the event from December 2021 to March 2022.
Proving popular from the outset, 89, mostly Brussels-based international associations, non-profits, federations, societies and NGOs attended the forum in person, all of whom were eager to exchange knowledge, share best practice, and design joint initiatives to tackle common challenges.
Author and chemical engineer, Paul Rulken’s masterclass on ‘How the best get better', kicked off the forum with practical advice on switching off autopilot thinking, a state we’re reported to be in 95 per cent of the time, and begin consciously thinking, leading to better results. He also introduced the concept of 'strategic quitting' which would allow us to ‘let go and reach out’. In other words, take risks, do things differently and see results.
Aurion Law founder and partner, Sarah Verschaeve, MCI Group Singapore CSO, Oscar Cerezales and European Federation for Intercultural Learning secretary-general David Capecchi, took to the #BIAF stage to discuss good governance, a panel hosted by Filipe Machado, association coordinator at Dentons Global Advisors Interel. “Good governance is about finding harmony with board members, members and stakeholders. This makes the machine work, but it takes time.”
Workshop highlights
Peppered around panel sessions and keynotes in the main room, a roster of workshops were available to attendees throughout the venue, covering topics from member engagement models and certification to developing diversity and inclusion strategies and crafting compelling content.
Benita Lipps, head of DGA Europe Association Management and founder of Women Advance Associations, chaired the ‘Diversity in action: meaningful strategies for inclusive associations’ workshop and fielded audience questions to the panellists: Kat Ven Nuffel, founder of Legal Diversity & Inclusion Alliance, Julie Nazerali, founder of INSEAD’s Global Women in Business Club and Chloe Menhinick, strategy and association development expert.
Sharing personal experiences and advice, Nuffel explained associations need to foster of a culture of calling out lack of diversity. “It’s important to speak up and ask ‘where is this lack of inclusivity coming from?’”
The audience recognised the need for diversity and inclusion strategies in associations, with a real-time poll revealing 63 per cent agreed the main intention for DEI is to create a better place to work, while 37 per cent want to lead the sector by example. Yet, 71 per cent of the same audience are yet to implement a strategy because they ‘don’t know where to start.’
An issue, panellist Chloe Menenhick explained could be solved by “picking up the phone and starting to have conversations and asking the right questions with organisations which have successful strategies.”
Group discussion
An audience participation session on answering the 'Big Qs' galvanised the audience to share their challenges and professional struggles throughout the pandemic and hear from industry peers on how to overcome them.
During the session, the topic of hybrid events reared its head as an extra cost and complication, but it provides a way to include more people in events. Yet is it worth it?
BIAF attendee and consultant at Exempla Management and Consulting, Colm Clarke, answered: “We need to decouple the in-person and online event formats, known as hybrid. They’re expensive and hard to execute. The in-person event needs to be something really worth attending because we’re all so used to working from home, the ROI for attending a live event needs to be much higher now. We do not want to compromise the on-site experience by asking the in-person audience to wait for the response of the online audience. Online events have their place and they’re important, but in-person and online events don’t have to happen at the same time.”
Ultimately, the purpose of BIAF is to bring together to share knowledge and find solutions to challenges troubling the association industry, and that was achieved. While virtual events have allowed us to stay in contact throughout the pandemic, the meaningful connections made at BIAF, are only achievable when we’re all in the same room.
A desire to travel led Holly Patrick to the business meetings and events world and she’s never looked back. Holly takes a particular interest in event sustainability and creating a diverse and inclusive industry. When she’s not working, she can be found rolling skating along Brighton seafront listening to an eclectic playlist, featuring the likes of Patti Smith, Sean Paul, and Arooj Aftab.
