The 10th Anniversary of Conventa
Boldly onwards together
Anniversaries are an opportunity for a sober reflection of what they have achieved, where they have got to thus far, and/or whether changes have occurred due to Conventa
Conventa grew from the 2007/2008 financial crisis. Innovations, which are often born from difficult times, can also be the consequences of such tectonic changes. It seems that this is also the case with Conventa, which was a ‘child’ of the crisis, creating an excellent opportunity for testing new ideas and formatting events. The event had to be adapted to the needs of the attendees, taking account of the unfavorable financial climate that prevailed at that time. As organizers, they knew that relying on theory and practice from the past would not bring progress. The result is the unique format of the event, which, from its inception, they defined through the simple 7E model - EXPERIENCE, EMOTION, ENERGY, EDUCATION, ENGAGEMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, EMERGING DESTINATIONS.
Ten years later, the model has been proven to be correct, and today this is the central theme for event organizers. The model is used and has been copied by numerous event organizers – which pays honor to them and is very satisfying. The original concept has, however, been refined, resulting in the Conventa Crossover Conference, which dictates trends and provides direction to the region’s event organizers.
Over a period of 10 years, a human grows from a newborn to almost a teenager. After a decade of hard work, they are optimistic that a period of even faster growth is still ahead of them. Building and making Conventa a reality was a demanding and tiring project, and no-one can take away from them that challenging and stressful experience. Along the way they met a lot of good people. More than 40 exhibitors put their trust in Conventa from the very start. The support from partners was, and is, invaluable, and foremost amongst them is the visionary mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Jankovič. Without his support, the event would not have today’s reach.
The dynamic development of Conventa has had many positive and practical consequences. In addition to purely concrete business, it has connected the region, trained numerous young professionals, built ‘New’ Europe as a congress destination, and put it on the congress map. Today, the region is a hot congress destination, and this is central to today’s and future development.
What about the future for Conventa?
Nothing is guaranteed in advance. As they like to say, Conventa is only good as the successful execution of its last event. They will need to ensure that they maintain its quality through hard work, knowledge, innovation and creativity. Numerous ‘copies’ of our event have stumbled - mainly on these points. They will need more synergy and regional co-operation, which, despite the distances from Balkan events, still sounds quite abstract. If individual regional destinations will only work for themselves, it doesn’t bode well. This is the ultimate goal of the ‘big brothers’ who do not want to see enhanced co-operation in the region.
This, therefore, is the first task for the continuing development of Conventa. They believe that they have the will and plenty of energy for the further integration of ‘New’ Europe. They understand the development of events in the direction that they call ‘5.0 events’, and they are aware of the challenges of the digital revolution. In this way they will also strive to ensure that they do not end up on the outskirts of Europe, but rather at the heart of Europe’s new congress revolution. Conventa isn’t just one business event, instead, through the way in which is works it is trying to help the region on its way to breaking through into the competition of its considerably richer and better known neighbours.
This is also why they will continue to develop their best qualities, raise standards, and bravely forge ahead in opening new areas in the field of event organising.
What is Conventa Conference?
An explanation for those who are not familiar with the structure of the Conventa Conference. Conventa is a public-private project that began in partnership with the Slovenian Convention Bureau and the company Toleranca Marketing, together with 15 key partners from Ljubljana, Slovenia. Miha Kovačič and Gorazd Čad cannot agree who is the actual ‘mother’ and ‘father’ of Conventa, however, certainly without the third member of the team, Natalije Bah Čad, it would never have come to fruition.
