ECM Summer School: another international success for the Meetings Industry’s career Launchpad
At the ECM Summer School 2017 in Dresden, sixteen motivated ECM members and other associated Industry Partners acted as faculty to broadcast each of their own particular skill set, leading students through courses and workshops with topics including city marketing & promotion, attracting clients, social media as a communication tool, press relations, client database, RFP and decision-making, PCOs and Intermediaries, meetings statistics data collection, mining and interpretation.
The Summer School was held at the Westin Bellevue Hotel, Dresden, and attracted fifty six eager young meeting professionals.
Ongoing education and professional training are crucial to face the continuing changes of the Meetings Industry. Since 1987, i.e. 30 years, the ECM Summer School has become a well-known program that sets out the background and context of the Meetings Industry with a focus on European and international best practices.
“This school has always been the bridge to a successful career in the Meetings Industry, and has graduated more than 1,800 students – many of whom have gone on to become industry leaders” said Bettina Bunge, ECM Vice-President for the Meetings Industry and Managing Director at Dresden Marketing Board, host of ECM Summer School 2017.
“Despite tackling up-to-date issues like new technology, hybrid meetings and green meetings, the winning formula has remained the same: a unique opportunity for young professionals just entering the Meetings Industry to spend three days with some of the biggest names in our business.” continued Pier Paolo Mariotti, course leader and Meeting Manager at Eurac Research.
ECM has recently joined forces with Destinations International. Both ECM and Destinations International offer opportunities centered on education and research that can serve each other’s organizations well and deliver exciting new value to each organisation. The goal of this partnership is to develop joint opportunities to promote and deliver key research and educational resources to respective members, while building the value of each organization through a financially sustainable model.
As a result of this partnership, ECM’s 2017 Summer School welcomed 4 students from its American counterpart along with a faculty member, Mrs. Colleen Phalen.
“I was thrilled to take part in ECM’s Summer School for the very first time. The content is truly an asset for professionals starting out in the Meetings Industry. I must say that I was impressed with the energy portrayed by the participants. As a faculty member, I not only shared the American perspective of working with RFPs, but also enjoyed the strong discussions and look forward to the fresh ideas to help enhance our industry in the future.” said Colleen Phallen, Executive Vice-President, Program Development & Meetings, Destinations International.
A full list of the sixteen speaking faculty with details of their background is at the end of this press release.
Mariotti concluded: “I am looking forward to the next edition which will be held in Thessaloniki (Greece) from August 25-29, 2018 where we will try even harder to raise the already very high quality standard and keep the legacy of the ECM Summer School!”
The ECM Summer School qualifies for CMP certification: every student getting a ECM Summer School diploma also gets 17.75 Clock Hours for their overall CMP certification.
For more information on the event go to https://www.europeancitiesmarketing.com/event/32nd-ecm-summer-school-thessaloniki/?instance_id=559
Faculty List ECM Summer School 2017, Dresden, Germany
Mrs. Lone Alletorp Callard – Wonderful Copenhagen
Mrs. Nalan Emre – IMEX Group
Mr. Luca Favetta – Regional Business Director EMEA, PCMA
Mr. Cain Leathem – GB Fitness
Mrs. Heike Mahmoud – visitBerlin, Berlin Convention Office
Mr. Pier Paolo Mariotti – EURAC Research – Bolzano
Mrs. Nicola McGrane – Conference Partners Ltd.
Mr. Christian Mutschlechner – Vienna Convention Bureau
Mr. Miguel Neves – IMEX Group
Mrs. Colleen Phalen – Destinations International
Mrs. Julia Schellong – University Hospital Dresden
Mr. Dennis Speet – International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA)
Mrs. Anja Stas – FMCCA
Mr. Daniel Waigl – Cardiovascular & Interventional Radiological Society of Europe
Mrs. Anne Wallin-Rødven – InspirAR
Mrs. Kerstin Wünsch – tw tagungswirtschaft