Doing business with other cultures

The Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (ABPCO) will focus on doing business with other cultures at a roundtable event on Thursday 22nd September.

The event will be held at One Wimpole St, the home of the Royal Society of Medicine and will be hosted by three guest presenters who will discuss doing business in the Middle East, China and the USA.

The target markets and subjects include:

• Doing Business in the Middle East – Cultural Do’s and Don’ts – led by Maris Kuklis, Senior Manager, MICE – UK & Europe, Dubai Business Events

• Encouraging more Chinese business to come to the UK, understanding the culture of China, ensuring a smooth event – what do we need to put in place to make this happen? – led by William Brogan, Catering and Conference Manager, St John’s College

• “Two different countries with a shared common language” or maybe not so common! – led by Sue Etherington, Head of International Sales and Industry Relations, QEII Centre

ABPCO roundtables are closed meetings subject to Chatham House Rules ensuring a high level of peer-to-peer interaction between members whilst maintaining a friendly and informal environment.

“The events industry is a global one so naturally there is real importance when understanding different cultures and how to develop those international partnerships,” said Caroline Windsor, joint-chair of ABPCO. “Maris, William and Sue will bring a huge amount of experience and know-how to the table making this an essential roundtable to attend. Britain’s decision to leave the EU only puts more emphasis on the importance of international business so I suspect this is going to be of real interest for many of our members. It’s also important to hear from those attending about the complexities, challenges and successes they have had whilst working internationally. ABPCO roundtables are becoming must-attend events and I look forward to seeing another full session once again in September!”

The latest roundtable event, ‘To Tweet or Not To Tweet’ was hosted at The Meetings Show earlier this month and proved so popular that only standing room was available during the session. The roundtable, hosted by London Metropolitan University lecturer Dr. Tom Lunt, had a focus on social media marketing and its impact on successful conferences.

ABPCO is the UK’s leading organisation for professional conference and event organisers, industry associates and those studying for, or seeking a career in the conference and meetings industry. For more information about ABPCO visit www.abpco.org