Paul Kennedy MBE, Director of Kennedy Consulting, has been appointed Strategic Advisor to the Slovenian Convention Bureau and its flagship – the Conventa trade show. Miha Kovacic, Director of the Slovenian Convention Bureau commented: ‘Having Paul Kennedy aboard brings international expertise and knowledge to Slovenia. With his support we expect to raise the level of professionalism within the industry and visibility of Slovenia in the market as well”.

The Slovenian Convention Bureau aims to promote Slovenia as a meetings industry jewel only now being discovered by meeting, incentive and event planners. Its largest project in bringing Slovenia to the meetings industry map has been the creation of a meetings and incentive travel trade show specifically designed to showcase South East Europe - Conventa. links together the countries of Southeast Europe in presenting their impressive meetings industry offer to the global market.

Kennedy said ,’ like many in the global industry I knew little about Slovenia and more widely what this wonderful region has to offer planners. The quality of facilities, of service, real price competitiveness , safety and ease of travel is enhanced by the wide choice in the region and the sheer beauty of the countries themselves. Conventa offers the opportunity for the destinations in the region to act boldly and aggressively, to work both independently and in collaboration to make a significant impact on the market share in the meetings industry”.

The second edition of Conventa will take place from 21 to 22 January 2010 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. For more information please visit www.conventa.info or contact us under info@slovenia-convention.com

The Slovenian Convention Bureau is one of the twenty-five recipients of grants from the Invitation to Tender for Obtaining Grants from the European Regional Development Fund – ERDF for the Additional Promotion of Slovenia’s Tourist Offer in 2009.
Partners cooperating within the Push up Slovenia project that was outlined in the tender were: Monsadria d.o.o. (Hotel Mons), Hotel Management d.o.o. (Austria Trend Hotel Ljubljana), Grand hotel Union d.d., Krajc hoteli d.o.o. (City hotel Ljubljana), Hotel Lev d.d., Hotel Slon d.d., Tabor Ljubljana d.d. (Hotel Park) and the Ljubljana Tourist Board. The project also included other members of the Slovenian Convention Bureau. The entire value of the project is estimated at 172,000 euros, while the Slovenian Convention Bureau will have the opportunity to obtain grants in the amount of 100,000 euros from the ERDF tender.
As part of the Push up Slovenia campaign, the Slovenian Convention Bureau implemented the Push up 1.0 project, which included the biggest promotion of Slovenia’s meetings and incentive offer on key international markets: Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Serbia and Belgium.

Feel the People. Taste Fresh Ideas.
Within the framework of the national I feel Slovenia brand, the meetings product presented itself with a new advertisement that drew attention to Slovenia in an original manner. The idea for the new advertisement is the result of the brainstorming of Slovenian meetings professionals, who ascertained and agreed regarding Slovenia’s advantages as a meetings and incentive destination at the Annual Meeting of the Slovenian Convention Bureau. These ideas were considered by the AV Studio from Velenje, which designed an energy drink can emphasising the key advantages of Slovenia as a meetings destination (Slovenian energy, team flexibility, 24h smile, personal touch and natural charm). The slogan presenting Slovenia as a meetings destination and which is part of the national I feel Slovenia brand is: Feel the People. Taste Fresh Ideas.
Slovenia as a meetings and incentive destination will be presented on eight pages in the Meet in Southeast Europe meeting guide.

Push up 2.0
In addition to the Push up 1.0 project, the tender also included the Push up 2.0 project, which includes the promotion of Slovenia’s meetings offer with online videos and animations and the modernisation of the Convention Bureau’s website. Additionally, workshops are planned for September and October: two in Frankfurt (October 7th) and one in Belgrade (September 25th). The activities of the Push up 2.0 project are directed towards innovative online marketing and the strengthening of Slovenia’s image as a friendly and dynamic meetings destination. The name of the campaign is also symbolic, as it positions the marketing campaign in the second generation of interactive online service. This will make the Convention Bureau’s website more user friendly and upgrade it with new content. Videocast will enable periodic publication of articles and greater interactivity of the website. With the development of online video services (YouTube, Metacafe, WEB TV), online video marketing has become one of the strongest tools for the promotion and greater exposure of the offer. Video presentations enable a quality and comprehensive presentation, thus increasing the recognition of a company’s/destination’s offer.
All activities that are part of the tender for the additional promotion of Slovenia will have concluded by October 15th.

From September 11th to September 13th, the Slovenian Convention Bureau, in cooperation with the Slovenian Tourist Board, the British Moulden Marketing agency and the Ljubljana Tourist Board, organised a study trip with a workshop for 26 British event organisers.
During the two-and-a-half-day programme, British event organisers visited Bled, Ljubljana, the Postojna Cave, Piran and Portorož. At the half-day workshop in Ljubljana, which was organised as part of the programme, thirteen members of the Convention Bureau met with the British event organisers in Ljubljana.
The implementation of the programme included the participation of individual members of the Convention Bureau at individual locations, for which we would like to thank them. In Bled, the guests visited the Bled castle, got acquainted with Bled's offer as a meetings destination and enjoyed the culinary treats of the Grand Hotel Toplice (Sava Hoteli Bled). In Ljubljana, they visited the Ljubljana castle and the old town and tried the culinary delights offered by the Vitez and Most restaurants. The culinary offer at the gala dinner at the Ljubljana City Museum was provided by Vivo catering, and the entertainment, by the Jararaja band. In the Postojna Cave, Turizem Kras presented its offer and, in the Littoral, Bernardin Groups and LifeClass Hotels & Spa did the same. The implementation of such a demanding study visit could not have been successful without the cooperation of the Slovenian Tourist Board, the local tourist organisations in Bled and Portorož, the Ljubljana Tourist Board and the Bled Culture Institute.
Here are a few comments that the Convention Bureau received after the event:

Dear Miha and Azra,
I would like to thank you for all the hard work that you put into organising our weekend. We now have much better insight into your offer. Please pass on my thanks to all who participated in the organisation of our visit. It was lovely to get to know so many new things!
Margaret Croxon, IHC Venues

Thank you for the very informative, and at the same time entertaining, trip. I am glad that we got the chance to visit some venues that might be interesting to our clients. I hope that I will soon be able to bring my guests here. Thank you for your hospitality and the time dedicated to us during this study trip.
Kind regards, Lynne K. Byrnes, Venues4u

Dear Miha and Azra,
It was wonderful spending the weekend with you. I now see Slovenia as an interesting new destination for the Japanese market within Great Britain. Thank you again for all your dedication and hospitality.
Take care, Tomomi Echigo, Euro Creative Tours (UK) Ltd, London

On August 27th and 28th, the Slovenian Convention Bureau implemented the first strategic meeting of the Council of the Slovenian Convention Bureau with a teambuilding programme organised for Council members and the chairman of the Council of Experts. The implementation and organisation of the two-day programme was entrusted to the Maya tourist agency (www.maya.si), whose owner and director is Borut Nikolaš from Tolmin. All Council members were delighted with the professionalism and the diversity of the Team Spirit programme. In the implementation of individual activities, we witnessed the personal approach and dedication of Mr. Nikolaš and his team, who have, more than evidently, shown all that we can offer in the field of teambuilding programmes in the wonderful environment of the Soča River. In addition to the teambuilding programme, which was ranged with medium difficulty, members of the Council of the Slovenian Convention Bureau had the opportunity to enjoy the culinary treats offered by Tolmin and its surroundings. The importance of cooperation on the local level has again become evident along with the role that the human factor plays in incentive and teambuilding programmes of individual providers.
The positive atmosphere among Council members contributed to a productive and creative preparation of the main strategies for the development of Slovenia’s meeting and incentives product. The strategies were prepared on the basis of defining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of developing Slovenia as a meetings and incentive destination. All members of the Council actively participated in a workshop that helped define strategic development and activities for the future operation of the Convention Bureau. It again became evident what an important role each member of the Convention Bureau plays. On the basis of these developmental strategies, the autumn months will see the prepared implementation plan for strategic development of the meetings and incentive product and the Slovenian Convention Bureau. The implementation plan will present the activities that need to be conducted in order to achieve our aims, the responsibilities and the schedule for 2010 in detail.
The Slovenian Convention Bureau would like to take this opportunity to thank all members of the Council for their active and productive cooperation in designing these strategies. Only the cooperation of all meeting professionals can contribute to the positive promotion of Slovenia on international markets and to an increased awareness of the local/regional/national community about the importance of the meetings industry for tourism as a whole.

According to Article 30 of its Articles of Association, the Slovenian Convention Bureau had to begin the process of appointing its director at least 90 days prior to the current director, Miha Kovačič's end of term. The four-year term of the present director ended on September 1st, 2009.
This is why the Slovenian Convention Bureau, in accordance with Resolution 3 of the Assembly of the Council of the Slovenian Bureau held on June 9th, 2009 and on the basis of Article 32 of the Articles of Association, announced a public tender for the director of the Slovenian Convention Bureau. Among seven candidates, the Council of the Slovenian Convention Bureau chose four candidates who fulfilled the required basic criteria and who had the experience or the knowledge needed to cover the field of event organisation. Among them, the Council of the Slovenian Convention Bureau unanimously chose and confirmed the present director Miha Kovačič. Miha Kovačič was chosen on the basis of previous work, experience and extensive insight into the meetings industry both on the Slovenian and international markets.
Upon taking on the new four-year term, Mr. Kovačič gave a brief review of his previous term along with his views on future development of the Slovenian Convention Bureau and the meetings and incentive industry in Slovenia.

In light of the numerous open subjects – the tender for the four-year director term of the Slovenian Convention Bureau, the work programme for 2010, the current operation of the Slovenian Convention Bureau, the ERDF invitation to tender for additional promotion of Slovenia’s tourist offer – the Slovenian Convention Bureau convened two assemblies of the Council of the Slovenian Convention Bureau in July. They took place on July 2nd and July 16th. At the Assembly, the present director, Miha Kovačič, was confirmed director for the new 2009 – 2012 term. It was also unanimously decided that the Convention Bureau must update its rules of procedure and articles of association by November.
At the Assembly held on September 16th, a list of measures proposed by the Council and the Chairman of the Council of Experts was prepared in light of basic directions of the Operational Plan of the Slovenian Tourist Board for 2010 (item: Promoting the Development of Slovenia’s Potential as a Nearby Destination for the Organisation of Meetings and Incentive Trips). The fundamental measures that are to be considered in the preparation of the Operational Plan of the Slovenian Tourist Board for 2010 are as follows: to increase activities of international advertising and public relations in the field of the meetings and incentive industry, to promote greater interactivity at the international Conventa exhibition, to increase research of international meetings markets, help in implementing the ambassador programme and help in upgrading the valid congress standards for the field of ecology and corporate social responsibility and to promote certification of employees of providers of congress services.

The 23rd ECM (European Cities Marketing) Summer School was hosted by the city of Bolzano in Italy from August 29th to September 2nd, 2009. This event was attended by 55 key young professionals from the meetings industry from various European countries. This year's summer school was dedicated to an environmentally conscious meetings industry. Young professionals from the meetings and incentive industry were given bicycles for transportation or buses running on renewable sources provided transportation, while lectures and study visits took place in environmentally friendly facilities.
This year, there were five representatives of the Slovenian meetings industry present at the summer school. These representatives were able to obtain new practical knowledge from the meetings and incentive industry and to establish new contacts with their fellow colleagues from Europe. The three-day seminar, which focused on key issues in the meetings activity, enabled the participants to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the international meetings and incentive industry and its marketing techniques by providing theoretical and practical content.
European Cities Marketing is a European network of city tourist offices and convention bureaus. It unites the interests of 134 major cities from 31 countries.

www.europeancitiesmarketing.com.

The Business Tourism Department of the Ljubljana Tourist Board and the Slovenian Convention Bureau attended the Full Contact International Venues workshop organised this July in Treviso by the leading Italian media house from the meetings industry, Ediman. Ediman not only publishes three professional magazines, but also organises specialised Full Contact workshops for seven specific segments of clients and the meeting, incentive and business travel demand.
Attendance of the Ljubljana Tourist Board at this year's Full Contact workshop was co-financed by the European Union by means of grants within the framework of the Invitation to Tender for Obtaining Grants from the European Regional Development Fund – ERDF for the Additional Promotion of Slovenia’s Tourist Offer in 2009 issued by the Ministry of the Economy.
Full Contact International Venues hosts a limited number of exhibitors (foreign congress centres or hotels, convention bureaus and DMCs) who can present their offer to a minimum number of 20 different Italian-hosted buyers who deal with organising events abroad. At the workshop, the Ljubljana Tourist Board and the Slovenian Convention Bureau held 22 meetings with potential event organisers from Italy. They also received a database of 30 contacts of clients interested in Ljubljana and Slovenia who were unable to attend the actual event. The majority of MICE organisers were not familiar with Ljubljana and Slovenia as a meetings and incentive destination. They expressed great interest in choosing Ljubljana as a potential destination for their upcoming events, as the country’s vicinity and the quality offer of the destination and its providers represent great potential for the underutilised Italian market.

The second Conventa show will take place at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre from January 22nd to January 23rd, 2010 as part of the Tourism and Leisure Fair. In addition to the Slovenian Convention Bureau, the organisation committee will include the Slovenian Tourist Board, the Ljubljana Tourist Board, the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, Kongres magazine and three distinguished international associations: MPI, SITE and HelmsBriscoe. Another important international partner is EIBTM – Reed Travel Exhibitions. The technical organiser of the event is Go®mice from Ljubljana.
Preparations for the 2nd Conventa exhibition are in full swing. At the moment, about 40 exhibitors from across Southeast Europe have applied to partake in the exhibition and there is great interest from potential European and international event organisers who are interested in Southeast Europe. All who are interested in participating should apply as soon as possible, as the pre-application period ends on September 30th.
This will be the second year that Southeast Europe presents itself to meeting, event and incentive organisers. Southeast Europe has not yet achieved proper recognition on the international MICE market. The successful implementation of the first international exhibition, organised in Ljubljana in January 2009, confirmed that event organisers find this region to be very interesting. A joint presence of providers enables better marketing recognition on the European/international market while at the same time reducing costs of promotions on foreign markets. Event organisers from Europe and beyond still have little or no knowledge of this region. At the same time, Southeast Europe is extremely interesting to foreign event organisers, who call it 'exotic Europe'. This region covers ten very diverse countries that nevertheless share a common trait – a friendliness lost in many parts of Europe.