Gillian is an ECM Board member, and for the last two years has been chairing the Meetings Committee. This committee determines the scope and content of the Spring, Summer and Autumn meetings and monitors member feedback formally and informally. In essence, it seeks to maintain the quality and relevance of the three annual meetings which are the basis of ECM networking activity.

The theme of ECM Spring meeting in St Petersburg (28th - 31st March 2012) is the future of Europe’s city tourist offices and convention bureaux. A substantial element of the seminar content relates specifically to business tourism and the meetings industry. In addition, on Wednesday afternoon a “Best practice session” has been arranged for ECM convention members to exchange their experience and ‘know-how’. Heike Mahmoud, ECM Vice-President for Conventions, has been the driving force behind these developments and spells out her thinking below.

115 delegates participated in ECM’s Autumn 2011 Meeting hosted by the Spanish city of Bilbao. The seminar topic focused on best practice in city marketing, highlighting leading edge methods, projects and processes that have proven themselves over time and can therefore serve as role models.

Garry White has been appointed as the new CEO of European Cities Marketing. He will take up office in March 2012 when Dr John Heeley will step down as the incumbent interim and part-time CEO. The ECM Spring Meeting in St. Petersburg (28th - 31st March 2012) will therefore be the first one that Garry will attend as the new and full-time CEO of the Association.

In 2012, IMEX celebrates 10 years of excellence in an ever-changing industry and a more challenging world. Among the key events, the IMEX Politicians Forum to be held on May 22 also celebrates 10 years of successfully uniting politicians and the business events industry for further understanding, co-operation and mutual benefits.

European City Tourism Monitor is an ECM-based survey project undertaken by the Research & Statistics Knowledge Group. Established three years ago, this forecasting tool delivers valuable data and over the years member city participation in the quarterly survey has steadily risen. In this piece, André Moura, a leading member of the Group, explains the background to the project and how the data are processed and used in ways which are relevant for operations and policy.

In June 2011 ECM published the seventh edition of its European Cities Marketing Benchmarking Report. Katrin Heintschel talks here about the benefits of using the results from the report, explaining how data are collected and discussing the current tourism situation in European city destinations.

51 delegates participated in the silver anniversary of ECM’s annual Summer School. The venue for this uniquely challenging and rewarding educational event was the Polish city of Cracow from 27th to 31st August 2011. Two participants were asked to give their opinion on the training programme: Malena Rendahl (Project Manager, Hotel & Conference Booking, Destination Jönköping) and Lauri Kurs (Sales Manager, Nordic Hotels OU/Tallinn CVB).

Vienna’s MODUL University this year hosted two major events on September 15 and 16: the 7th TourMIS Users’ Workshop (day 1) and the International Seminar on New Media Analysis and Strategies for Tourism Marketing Organiations (day 2).