Austrian Convention Bureau

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Austrian Convention Bureau
(ACB)
legal form society
Seat Vienna
founding 1992

president Gerhard Stübe
Manager Michaela Schedlbauer-Zippusch
Website www.acb.at

The Austrian Convention Bureau  ( ACB ) is the interest and lobby organization of the Austrian congress and conference industry . As an umbrella organization and professional association, it represents the most important participants in the congress and conference system in Austria .

history

In 1992, the Austrian Congress Association (  ÖKV  ) decided to found the Austrian Convention Bureau (ACB) in order to better support the development of the Austrian conference industry. The ACB is the successor organization of the Austrian Congress Association ÖKV, whereby the association's obligations have been taken over into the new organization. The statutes of the ACB were formulated on the basis of the ÖKV and adapted to the new challenges. The members of the ÖKV were taken over into the new organization. In 1993 the organization was renamed - since then the association has been called the Austrian Congress Association, the Austrian Convention Bureau .

Presidents:

  • since 2019 Gerhard Stübe
  • 2009–2019 Christian Mutschlechner
  • 2001-2008 Rudolf Kadanka
  • 1998-2001 Georg Lamp
  • 1993–1998 Walter Straub

organization structure

financing

The ACB is financed through annual membership fees and grants from Österreich Werbung .

Member categories

Tasks and activities

The Austrian Convention Bureau represents the Austrian congress and conference industry at home and abroad, deals with topics relevant to congresses vis-à-vis authorities and other public bodies, and takes care of industry-internal communication, training and further education as well as basic research within the congress industry.

Meeting Industry Report Austria (mira)

In 2008 the ACB, Österreich Werbung and the Convention Bureaus of the federal states decided to tackle the congress statistics project . A database was created at the ACB and provided with access for the convention bureaus of the federal states. Organizers have been able to enter events in the database since June 2009. In April 2010 the first Austrian congress statistics for 2009 were presented for the first time. Since then, a Meeting Industry Report Austria has been published every year.

ACB Convention4u

The Convention4u is the annual congress of the ACB. The training and networking platform was first organized in 2010. The target group are providers and customers of the conference industry. The "conference laboratory" is aimed at all those who work in the conference industry, are interested in future developments or are looking for tips and tricks for their events.

With Convention4u, the ACB has set itself the goal of increasing the quality of the congresses in Austria. The focus is on the concept of meeting architecture , which is intended to give event organizers the opportunity to optimally realize the core goals of learning, networking and motivation through a structured and creative approach. The Convention4u sees itself as a test laboratory in which trends in congress organization are picked up and tested. The ACB attaches great importance to an optimal balance between wellbeing, knowledge transfer, learning and communication.

ACB magazine

The austrian convention business magazine is the trade journal of the Austrian conference industry. It is aimed at all representatives of the congress industry as well as decision-makers in medical and scientific societies, universities, interest groups and other organizers in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

In addition to current industry events and personal statements on controversial topics, the providers and offers of the conference industry are presented. Annual main topics are the Meeting Industry Report Austria (mira), Convention4u, Green Meetings and Meeting Architecture. The magazine is free and appears four times a year (March, June, September, December) with a circulation of 5000. In addition to sending the print editions, the magazine is also available online.

Category meetings

The five ACB member categories continuously exchange ideas within category meetings on current topics that specifically affect the category. The meetings are organized exclusively for ACB members who can actively participate in the meetings and benefit from the output.

Eco-label for "Green Meetings"

In 2009, the ACB started the Green Meetings initiative in cooperation with the VKI (Association for Consumer Information) , the Ministry of Life (Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management) and the Austrian Ecology Institute . A catalog of criteria for sustainable events was developed with special consideration of the requirements of the conference industry. In 2010 the ACB organized the first Green Meeting, the Convention4u.

"Green" events are certified with the Green Meetings eco-label . Congresses, company meetings and seminars can be held according to the criteria catalog , which comprises seven sub-areas: mobility and CO 2 compensation , accommodation, event location, type of procurement, material and waste management , the way the exhibitors and stand builders work , catering and gastronomy as well as communication and social Aspects. As a licensee, companies can independently certify Green Meetings.

Austrian Congress Award

Since 1997, the Austrian Congress Award has been presented annually to people who have distinguished themselves through many years of commitment and exceptional service in the conference industry. The award is given in the categories of industry representatives and organizers .

Best Meeting Thesis Austria

The Best Meeting Thesis Austria Award offers students from technical colleges and universities in Austria, Germany and Switzerland the opportunity to submit and present their bachelor, master and diploma theses relevant to the conference industry. The work will be assessed by a specialist jury consisting of representatives from the Austrian conference industry. The students can present their work in front of a specialist audience and have the chance to be awarded the Best Meeting Thesis Austria.

The award ceremony takes place in three categories:

  • pure literature work (bachelor theses and seminar papers)
  • scientific work with an empirical part (bachelor theses)
  • Master and diploma theses

Initial and continuing education

Since 2007, the Vienna University of Applied Sciences has offered the in-depth course Congress and Conference Management as part of the Bachelor's degree in Tourism Management . The curriculum for the course was developed by Petra Bauer-Zwinz, former managing director of the ACB. The focus was on a combination of theoretical principles and practical examples. Industry representatives are employed as lecturers who impart basic technical knowledge about the organization of the congress.

Since 2010, around 15 trained conference organizers have completed their tourism studies every year.

Know-how

The ACB organizes the Know.how - a training initiative for the Austrian conference industry. The training courses are aimed at all representatives of the conference industry.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d About ACB ; acb.at
    ACB office: Austrian Congress Association Austrian Convention Bureau - statutes . ZVR number: 816108674, June 2009 ( pdf , acb.at)
  2. ↑ Catalog of criteria for the eco-label for Green Meetings ( memento of the original from September 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.umweltzeichen-meetings.at archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (pdf, acb.at9)
  3. ↑ Specialization in congress and event management , bachelor's degree in tourism at the Vienna University of Applied Sciences