I recall back in the early 2000s the conference management business was in its nascent stage in India.
There were very few conference management companies, some pioneering event management companies that started early around the 1990s.
Since the concept of outsourcing events was new, we had to indulge in more concepts selling for outsourcing event management, than selling our secondary services.
We managed to sell this concept to one of our leading UN clients, back then which resulted in a long-term agreement. I still remember I was requested to prepare a concept note on why they should outsource and hire conference management companies.
My explanation was that you can consider an event manager or a professional conference organizer as an imaginary thread that holds all the elements of the conference together. The outward pressure of the changing requirements is controlled and the conference organizer ensures that the thread never breaks, which leads to a successful conference or event.
We were of course hired and have been in a long-term agreement for the past 20 years.
Over the years, we have followed this practice through Indiattitude and now IA-Meetings and developed conference management systems and processes, which ensure, every conference is a success and that thread never breaks.
Our clients focus on the real purpose of the conference, while we do the rest, thereby adding value to our client’s objectives.
The markets changed and outsourcing association meetings planner became a common practice, more so it led to specialization with wedding planners, birthday party planners, entertainment companies, and corporate event managers and we are called the Professional Conference Organizers.
The services have evolved over the years, from data management in Excel or Microsoft Access to online registration management systems with payment gateway integration.
We had to evolve from a generalist team doing everything to specialized resources for all aspects of professional conference management.
Starting from a specialized design team to backend software developers along with resources with specific roles for accommodation, venue management, registration management, transportation, exhibition management, sponsorships, event marketing, and tours.
The costs went up and so did the revenue as the market has been expanding with more outsourcing for event management services.
With the advent of technology, 70% of our business has transformed into backend cloud-based business and the balance is onsite. This gives a huge opportunity to all conference management companies to expand the market to any place in the world.
At IA Meetings, we are leveraging this change and presently serving our clients in three countries, India, Singapore, and Canada.
Covid gave acceptance to virtual conferences out of necessity, which has now transformed into Hybrid and streaming technologies for conference management.
We have been adapting to these changing scenarios and continuously strengthening ourselves, to offer the best while Adding Value to our clients, whether it is through our registration management systems or mobile technology, or onsite management services.
I go back 20 years, no matter how the markets evolve, we will remain that imaginary thread that will continue to hold all the elements of a conference together to deliver successful conferences. We are the imaginary thread that never breaks!
Author: Amit Saroj
