SUMMER CONVETA WEEK CAME TO A SUCCESSFUL CLOSE

The last week of August was marked by Conventa and Conventa Crossover

Conventa was the last major international B2B event before the coronacrisis, and the first to really happen after a year of hibernation of the meetings industry. We had moved Conventa 2021 from January to August and combined it with the Conventa Crossover conference. Both events were half the size of the pre-crisis period and were hybrid events. Nevertheless, 77 exhibitors, 113 international and 33 Slovenian hosted buyers conducted more than 2.000 business meetings over the two-day trade show. Both events are proof that large business events can be safely executed even in times of great uncertainty.

Conventa started on Monday, 23 August, with familiarisation trips (FAMS) to Ljubljana, Bled and Styria. The visits continued after the event, when guests visited Istria, Kranjska Gora, Portorož, Zagreb and Salzburg. Hosted buyers met the exhibitors for the first time at the welcome reception in Grand Hotel Union. The programme continued with One2One meetings that are at the heart of the event. The exhibitors, most of them from hotels, convention centres and bureaus, joined the event from 13 countries of New Europe.

Miha Kovačič, co-founder of Conventa, said: “Thirteen is my lucky number. It has been with me all my life and it brings me happiness. I hope the 13th Conventa Experience also brought happiness to all the participants who celebrated the meetings industry in Slovenia last week.”

One of the highlights of Conventa Week was also the selection of the best events in New Europe. A renowned international jury chose 18 finalists who competed for the prestigious Conventa Best Event Award on Thursday evening. Attendees were able to support their favourite event agency by joining the live voting session and contributing 20% to the final score. The grand finale, where the winner was chosen, took place on Friday, 27 August 2021 in the Švicarija Creative Centre in Ljubljana’s Tivoli Park.

We closed off the week with the Conventa Crossover conference, which maintained its position as the central THINK TANK of the meetings industry in New Europe, creating a space to test innovations and respond to industry challenges for the sixth year running. Top speakers, master marketers and experienced event organisers each presented their views and confronted opinions.

We took special precautions to prevent the spread of Sars-Cov-2 strictly following the guidelines of the “Safe and Healthy Meetings & Events” certificate. This ensured that the event was safe for all participants and support staff.

Conventa Crossover’s founder, Gorazd Čad said, “We are very proud that we have been able to bring Conventa and Conventa Crossover to fruition in the midst of the pandemic. Our aim was to prove that events can take place even in complex situations. We have successfully proven it and participants were able to experience it. Hybrid solutions have made it possible to carry out events regardless of the situation. Conventa brings optimism and points to the future direction of the industry. Many say that Conventa was the light at the end of the tunnel.”