The third AIPC Facility Operations Summit will be held on November 28 and 29, 2010 in cooperation with EIBTM in Barcelona. The object of this session is to create a forum in which key operational and event management issues can be identified and addressed from a global perspective.

The 2009 Summit picked up on many of the issues identified during the initial Summit as well as adding new topics that reflected the challenges which emerged during a year of economic concerns and, for many, reduced revenues.

Taking place at both the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya and the Fira Gran Via, with a visit to the Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB), the event combined site visits and presentations with workshops that collectively explored a wide range of key operational issues. Included in the program were;

• A session on the implications of current industry trends for centre operations, along with an update of issues that participating centres saw for their own facilities;

• A review of operating standards and best practices in use today, along with an up-to-date assessment of their importance and application in this rapidly evolving area, and including a practical guide to AIPC Quality Standards;

• A session on how safety management systems deliver value for money for clients and venues entitled Stress and Safety: Keeping Safety Simple;

• A workshop on case studies in operational and event management issues in which case problems were addressed by working groups who prepared solutions for the case problem as assigned;

• A review of current trends in sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR);

• A session entitled: The Sales / Operations Interface: Do They Communicate? which was a follow up to one of our more lively discussions of last year in which the all-important hand-over process was discussed at length;

• A presentation and workshop on "Meetings Technology in Troubled Times: How to Do More with Less" which addressed the need to identify and acquire the right resources in these financially challenging times.