ECM Summer School – diversity, expertise and highest standard in Istanbul, August 2013
Istanbul, the City that bridges East and West has always thrived on ideas and new knowledge to host the 27th edition of ECM Summer School on August 24-28, 2013.
This time, the Summer School enlarged our horizons: from the far Thailand in South East Asia, to Finland and South Africa, the validity of the educational formula of the Summer School also relies in the diversity of participants. The 27th edition continued to inspire 54 students from 20 different countries lead by 15 Faculty members, a ratio of 1 member of the European gotha of the meeting industry for 4 participants.
“An ascending concentration could be experienced in the classrooms during the course, with tighten rhythms of hard study towards the most important processes in the meeting business, explained by experienced professionals.” relates Pier Paolo Mariotti, course leader.
The faculty are all members/partners of ECM and give their time on a voluntary basis – a way of giving back to the meetings industry : Andrea Bauer (Vereint), Rémy Cregut (Montreux Music & Convention Centre), Nalan Emre (IMEX), Luca Favetta (Hewlett Packard), Elisabeth Hansa (Austria Center Vienna), Cécile Koch (MIM Magazine), Cain Leathem (GB Fitness), Christian Mutschlechner (Vienna Convention Bureau), Michel Neijmann (IAPCO), Miguel Neves (IMEX), Olivier Ponti (Amsterdam Marketing), Denis Speet (ICCA), Anne Wallin Rodven (Oslo Convention Bureau), Tina Walspurger, (USI), led by the course leader Pier Paolo Mariotti, CMP CMM.
Pier Paolo continued : “Istanbul is a major meeting destination, mature, which offered to both faculty and students the opportunity to experience a best practice for our business: a sort of “Meeting Lab” where everything could be studied, researched and tested if valid.”
Making continuous reference to historical, cultural accumulation and modern infrastructure, Istanbul Convention & Visitors Bureau tailored the social programme of the event to demonstrate what was thought during faculty’s presentations.
Elif Balcı Fisunoğlu, general manager of Istanbul Convention & Visitors Bureau, added : “Istanbul has hosted many important international fairs and congresses in recent years due to its specific location as a central spot both geographically and also culturally functioning as a bridge between Asia and Europe. Similarly, I am thrilled to see that the ECM Summer School welcomed so many people from non-European destinations, and if our destination played a role in this, we are very honoured.”
The Summer School has now qualified for CMP certification and every student getting a Summer School diploma earns 7.5 points for their over-all CMP certification.
Pier Paolo concluded : “I am looking forward to the next summer school which will be held in Genoa from August 23-27, 2014. I have inspected the facilities and we are working already on the programme and the speakers. It is sure to be a big success and probably over-subscribed with the CMP credits! We are ready for applications……”
*European Cities Marketing improves the competitiveness and performance of leading cities of Europe by providing a platform for convention, leisure and city marketing professionals to exchange knowledge, best practice and widen their network to build new business. European Cities Marketing is promoting and linking the interests of 110 members from more than 100 major cities in 32 countries.
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