{"id":6141,"date":"2025-11-03T16:20:48","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T16:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oic.it\/?post_type=news&p=6141"},"modified":"2025-11-03T16:30:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T16:30:09","slug":"partnerships-in-events","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.oic.it\/en\/news\/partnerships-in-events\/","title":{"rendered":"Partnerships in events: the difference between “saying” you create value and “actually creating it”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There\u2019s one word that echoes everywhere in the meetings industry. Partnership.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But how often do we use it without truly understanding what it means? Or worse: apply it to relationships that are more circumstantial than strategic.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly where the discussion started during the recent PCMA<\/a> Convening EMEA 2025 in Rotterdam,<\/strong> in a Microlab co-led by Ginevra De Bellis (Chief of Global Projects, OIC Group), Florian Fehringer (Director of International Projects, Mondial Congress) and opened by Sissi Lignou (IAPCO President). A thought-provoking, highly participatory session that brought together professionals from all over the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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From definitions to meaning: What do we actually mean by \u201cpartnership\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the events world, \u201cpartnership\u201d is used to describe a wide spectrum of relationships: from a simple commercial agreement to a long-term, evolving collaboration. But where does a tactical collaboration end and where does a strategic partnership begin?<\/p>\n

Participants of the Microlab explored this question through hands-on examples, from host city relations to sponsor engagement and collaborations with scientific societies, drawing on their own experiences.<\/p>\n

What emerged was a fragmented picture: conflicting expectations, unclear roles, and often a lack of shared language. But also, a growing awareness: we need a mindset shift. It\u2019s time to stop taking the word \u201cpartnership\u201d for granted and start building what it truly means.<\/p>\n

Strategic Partnership: from label to process<\/strong><\/p>\n

From the very beginning of the MicroLab, it became clear that the distinction between tactical and strategic is anything but binary. The true objective wasn\u2019t to explain what a strategic partnership is, but to deconstruct<\/strong> it to break down the elements we often take for granted, challenge assumptions, and examine them through fresh perspectives.<\/p>\n

To achieve this, the facilitators chose a deliberately provocative and participatory approach, turning the session into a genuine laboratory for deconstruction and reconstruction. Through a role play taken to the extreme<\/strong>, participants were invited to act out typical scenarios from the meetings industry, sparking discussion around the differences between tactical and strategic collaboration, without assigning value judgments.<\/p>\n

A key tool in this exploration was the Strategic Partnership Canvas<\/strong>, used to analyse both existing and potential partnerships from the perspective of different stakeholders, PCOs, CVBs, venues, hotels and to prompt fundamental questions: What are we not seeing? Are there untapped opportunities? How can we co-create more value?<\/em><\/p>\n

Strategy takes time, intention, and mutual trust. And it\u2019s built on a few key pillars that emerged powerfully during the session:<\/p>\n