The annual gathering of professionals from the association sector, the European Association Summit (EAS) will be held in Brussels on 30 and 31 May 2017 at SQUARE-BRUSSELS MEETING CENTRE.
For the fifth consecutive year, visit.brussels is organising the European Association Summit together with its partners from the association world. Over the years, the event has become an important opportunity to share information and knowledge, and network with other international associations. As the headquarters of many European and of international organisations, Brussels is a fitting place to host such an event with particular focus on associations and the issues and challenges they are facing.
The summit is designed by international association executives for international association executives. The idea is to offer them the chance to put their success stories and innovative ideas under the spotlight, and so boost the number of people involved.
This year, the programme is spread over two days in total and the content has been enhanced with the addition of new topics, featuring a range of subjects and speakers who will share their experience with an audience on the lookout for new knowledge. The summit will kick off with a speech by Jean-Paul Philippot, President of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and CEO of the RTBF, the French-Speaking Belgian TV and radio broadcaster, on innovation, big data issues and the latest advances in communications.
A new session involving destination partners from the Global Association Hubs Partnership (GAHP) will ensure that delegates can learn about the challenges and opportunities for associations to grow internationally. Moderated by Terrance Barkan and Hervé Bosquet, the session will involve representatives from different continents, delivering their experience on working at global or regional level, from the Middle East to Singapore, from Washington D.C. to Dubai.
Distributed in breakout sessions, speakers representing a wide range of sectors (e.g. heritage, wine, education, health, process safety) will also tackle good practice trends in event organisation, the management of members and campaigns, communication, and representation and lobbying techniques. Professionals from human resources, legal or European affairs will also speak to the audience at thematic workshops, prior to the closing session.
The EAS is organised in collaboration with leading partners in the sector: ESAE (European Society of Association Executives), FAIB (Federation of European & International Associations Based in Belgium) and UIA (Union of International Associations).