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International Congress & Convention Association
“Glorious Failure?” –
How to Profit from Lost Bids
47th ICCA Congress & Exhibition
Monday 3 November, 15.45-17.15
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
Some Specs & Facts
World Congress (Medical)
6.000 delegates + large exhibition
Open year: Bid for Madrid 2009
Frequency: Every 4 years
No rotation criteria
Bid presentation: November 2005 (Sydney)
Competing
cities:
Bangkok,
Florence,
Monterrey, Paris, Prague
 Previous editions to Sydney: London (2001),
Buenos Aires (1997), Vancouver (1993),
New Delhi (1989)
 Bangkok and Madrid lost in 2001
against Sydney
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International Congress and Convention Association
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Some Specs & Facts
Voting rights: One representative for each member
country
Area
Number of votes
Africa
Americas
Asia-Pacific
Eastern Europe
Western Europe
8
22
26
15
22
Total
93
Approx. 65 Delegates were attending the
Congress in Sydney
International Congress and Convention Association
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Project Managing the Bid
 First contact with National Association (NA) in
2003
 Bid Team Members: CVB, PCO & NA
 2 years of promotion & active lobbying (stand +
cocktail + personal presentation to voting
members):
 American Academy (San Francisco 2004 &
Miami 2005)
 European Conference (Paris 2004 & Athens
2005)
 Latin-American
Conference
(Guatemala
2004 & El Salvador 2005)
 Announcements in Federations’ World Magazine
International Congress and Convention Association
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Project Managing the Bid
 High quality bid book, including a DVD
introducing the city and the NA, was
produced and sent to the 90 voting members
by courier
 Continuing strategic promotion and lobbying
 A booth was contracted in Sydney to
promote the bid (obligatory for all bidders)
 A flash presentation was made to present the
bid to voting members as well as a DVD
 The NA delegates in Sydney were committed
to contact delegates with voting right
International Congress and Convention Association
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J
Project Managing the Bid
We did everything one could
possibly do to win the bid
The Madrid bid secured 22 votes before going to Sydney
and assured attendance of representatives of those
secured votes
We were absolutely sure to win!, but…
Madrid scored second best and
lost against Bangkok
International Congress and Convention Association
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A
The Bangkok approach
1. Letter of permanent Mission of Thailand
to the United Nations addressed to the
voting member of each country in
August 2005
International Congress and Convention Association
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International Congress and Convention Association
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The Bangkok approach
2. Mailings to voting member
of each country
International Congress and Convention Association
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The Bangkok approach: Mailing July 2005
International Congress and Convention Association
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International Congress and Convention Association
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The Bangkok approach: Mailing July 2005
International Congress and Convention Association
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International Congress and Convention Association
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International Congress and Convention Association
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Bangkok had a very strong on-site
presence (at least 30 staff)
Was the promotion strategy of Bangkok
enough to beat us?
The verdict of our first analysis was: NO
(we secured more than 1/3 of the votes
present)
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
A
What happened?
The unpredictable occurred:
The Europeans voted in block and in
favour of a Non-European destination
International Congress and Convention Association
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The lessons we learned
 Don’t take anything for granted
 Don’t celebrate before the end of the game
 Check on any possible conflict of interests
with regional society
 Be receptive to signals and listen carefully to
comments (self confidence blindness)
 Be prepared for strong on-site competition
(in particular from the Asian Region)
 Adapt
your
(if necessary)
strategy
International Congress and Convention Association
last
minute
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ROI of a lost bid
In spite of the bid loss, lots of fruitful contacts were
made during the bidding process and an unexpected
return of investment for Madrid was generated
through the confirmation of other events related to
the same medical field (International Conference on
Alzheimer Disease (ICAD) – 5.000 delegates &
Conference of the European Federation of
Neurological Societies (EFNS) – 5.500 delegates)
International Congress and Convention Association
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ROI of a lost bid
… and so did we!
Our excellent relationship
built with the Spanish
Society during the bid
process opened us the door
to their National Congress,
the International Alzheimer
Disease Conference in 2006,
Core PCO business of the
Iberoamerican Society of
Cerebrovascular Diseases, …
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
J
Conclusion
Do always make a post bid analysis (in particular
when you loose)
Do not underestimate new business opportunities
related to the bid
Do not judge a bid purely on the cost involved
Take some financial risk – it will pay back
Don’t get frustrated after a bid loss – present
again
Spend as much as you need in order to secure
the win
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
A
International Congress & Convention Association
Thank you!
47th ICCA Congress & Exhibition
Monday 3 November, 15.45-17.15
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com
International Congress and Convention Association
www.iccaworld.com