Gaining Edge咨询顾问呼吁协会与会议局建立基于使命的战略伙伴关系

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Written by Steen Jakobsen + Thomas Reiser

Associations and destinations both face mounting pressure to deliver impact. Neither can do it alone, and both urgently need to change how they work together. Every convention bureau can describe its airlift, visa process, hotel inventory and venue capacity. Few understand what matters most to an association when it chooses a destination: its mission and strategy, the audiences it wants to reach, and the needs of its wider stakeholders. Even fewer use their bids to demonstrate how the destination will advance those goals and act as a trusted partner.

Between both authors of this call to action, we have led associations, run congresses, headed convention bureaux, and now advise destinations and associations on strategy. Having sat on both sides of the table, we keep reaching the same conclusion. The way associations and destinations work together has not kept pace with what the wider business events ecosystem now needs to stay relevant and successful. Our industry has become efficient, and maybe (too) comfortable, at the transaction (standard questions in, standard answers out). It is far less effective at the level of partnership that today’s challenges demand, one built on understanding each other’s goals and pressures. Only by working together can both sides succeed – closing the gap between them is a shared responsibility and is fast becoming a necessity for both.

The context: associations and destinations under pressure Running international associations and their meetings has never been more complex. Geopolitics and shifting regulations make it harder to operate across borders and bring a global community together. Costs are rising, traditional revenue streams are shrinking, and members, sponsors and other stakeholders expect more value. People now turn to AI for instant answers in fields where associations used to be the go-to resource.

Technology opens new ways to engage members and reach new audiences year-round, while raising the bar for what an in-person meeting must deliver. All of this makes agility in governance – the ability to decide and pivot quickly while standing up to closer scrutiny – essential, though it has traditionally not been part of association culture.

These pressures are changing what associations need from their congresses and from the destinations that host them. A congress has become a strategic asset that must generate revenue, create experiences, and deliver visible, lasting impact. What won a bid five years ago is probably not what a board needs today.

Destinations, meanwhile, face their own pressure to justify public funding and show returns beyond room nights. No destination can answer these challenges with a better brochure. It takes a true partnership, in which association and destination help each other achieve their respective objectives.

Raising the game: for associations and destinations alike Venue capacity, accessibility and cost are the entry fee; every shortlisted destination has cleared them. Transparency on costs, requirements and mandatory vendors is expected and usually provided.

These elements remain important but rarely decide the outcome on their own. Many associations now choose their congress destination on strategic grounds. Yet those considerations often do not appear in the RFP or are too vague for a destination to respond to.

The opportunity for destinations lies in understanding those considerations, even when unstated, by showing how they can support them. That might mean activating new markets or communities, addressing an unmet need in a particular region, creating a different experience or achieving a political or geopolitical objective.

Understanding an association’s environment allows a destination to make a stronger case for why the meeting belongs there. But destinations should not have to guess, and associations have an equal part to play.

The RFP: from procurement tool to strategic brief Too many associations still reduce their RFPs to rooms, square metres and dates. If that is all a destination receives, a standardised answer is all the association should expect. An RFP that states what the congress must achieve and how the board will judge success invites a different response. It should also open a dialogue – for example through a briefing call and a clear split between must-haves and nice-to-haves.

This is where the shift has to begin, ideally with the associations themselves. The RFP is the association’s own instrument and the clearest signal it sends about the relationship it wants. That is the premise of the white paper Reimagining RFP Processes for International Association Meetings, published by the World PCO Alliance (WPCOA) in collaboration with the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) in February 2026. It notes that many RFPs signal aspiration without defining priority, weighting or feasibility, leaving destinations to interpret what truly matters. Its central message is that RFP processes must evolve from procurement tools into strategic frameworks for mission-aligned, impact-driven partnerships.

Clearer RFPs give associations more tailored responses and better decisions, and let destinations bid more efficiently where they can add real value. This makes the document a true governance and strategic matter.

A clearer RFP also helps boards and staff resist comparing only what is easiest to count, such as rates, capacities, subventions and costs, and focus on which destination best supports an organisation’s wider impact. The cheapest option may not deliver the best value, strategically or even financially. Ultimately, an association is deciding whom to trust with its most visible event – often its main source of income – and who will work alongside it.

From sales pitch to partnership: The “Chamber of Commerce” problem Gaining Edge Founder and Chairman Gary Grimmer has a name for what still holds many bureaux back: the “Chamber of Commerce” model. Under it, a bureau primarily represents the local solution partners that fund it and is often measured on the room nights it delivers to them. There is nothing wrong with serving local partners, but an association quickly understands whose interests a bureau puts first. When the conversation is mostly about what the city has to sell, the bureau is a sales representative. Helpful, perhaps, but not an ally.

The alternative is a bureau that represents both the association in the destination and the local community it serves. It is not an easy role. Done well, it focuses on win–win outcomes: recommending the venue or solution partner that fits best rather than the biggest funder, being honest about limitations, and solving problems together. All of this rests on a thorough understanding of the association, and on the respect and trust that create a true partnership.

Why bureaux stay in broadcast mode They operate under real and growing constraints. Local hotels and bureau members want room nights and delegate numbers. Governments want immediate returns while trimming budgets. Teams are small, and most RFPs reward fast, standardised replies. So many bureaux stay in broadcast mode, sending lightly tailored proposals built around facilities and attractions every competing city can claim. Timing compounds the problem, and here associations share responsibility: they often set short deadlines, share little of the insight a bureau needs to tailor its bid, and rarely build in time for genuine dialogue. The bureaux most likely to succeed are those already in conversation with the association long before the RFP arrives.

What bureaux can do: from bid factory to trusted partner Closing the gap requires different incentives, mindsets, and habits, not just a bigger budget. Quality will beat quantity. Fewer, well-targeted bids for associations whose goals the destination can credibly advance will achieve more than a “bid factory” approach.

• Do your research: start with the association, not the RFP Learn its strategic plan and the board’s priorities before the first touchpoint.
• Build relationships and engage before and beyond the bid Talk less about why your city is a great destination and more about what is happening in the association’s world.
• Be curious, listen and seek to understand Ask open questions: What keeps the executive director awake at night? What would success look like to the board? What is on the horizon?
• Seek and invite dialogue Ask for, or offer, a briefing call with key staff, and make it easy for the association to tell you what it needs.
• Be a thought partner Share ideas and what you have seen work elsewhere and build connections in your destination that help the association, even with no bid at stake.
• Think about legacy and impact, not only economic impact Connect the association’s mission and congress to local universities, hospitals, industry and government priorities.
• Treat the signed contract as the beginning Stay engaged through planning and delivery, insist on an honest review afterwards, and keep the relationship going, for example, through a client advisory board.
• Measure what the client values, not only bids won As an industry, we should also revisit how we measure convention bureau performance. Should we measure success by bids submitted, or by congresses secured and the long-term value they create for the association and the destination?

What associations can do: make the RFP a strategic tool Association staff should review RFPs with their board regularly and keep evolving the document, the decision criteria, and the process. Involving the board also creates alignment and holds staff and board accountable to the selection priorities they set.

Partnership is a two-way street, and it does not end with the RFP. Be open about objectives, priorities and constraints, and keep the bureau informed as plans evolve. Give honest feedback to unsuccessful bidders and treat the selected destination as part of the team rather than a supplier to be managed.

Associations would also benefit from a keener interest in the pressures destinations and bureaux face, and in how they can be better partners in return. As destination budgets tighten, this partnership’s strength may well determine how long destinations can keep supporting associations at all.

More work, but more rewarding work Yes, this takes more preparation and follow-up on both sides. But the effort pays back. Teams, particularly younger professionals, find working as partners more satisfying and stimulating. A congress becomes more than several hundred delegates in town; it becomes a chance to leave a lasting legacy for the association and in the destination. A bureau known as a partner is invited into conversations earlier, trusted more and called first, and associations tell their peers. Such a bureau stops competing on facilities, price or destination appeal alone. Associations that brief openly and treat destinations as partners, in turn, get stronger proposals and destination partners invested in their success.

A call to action for each side Every bureau should ask itself: Do we care about understanding an association’s goals, matching them with how our destination can support them, and valuing what the association will bring to our destination, or do we simply respond to as many RFPs as possible? The place to start is your next bid.

Associations should in turn ask themselves: How well do we understand what our destination partners face, and does the way we brief, engage, evaluate and select destinations invite partnership and help them support us better, or does it just get us a quick response? The place to start is your next RFP.

Neither side can close the gap alone, and neither should wait for the other to move first. Associations need to ask for more than a proposal, and destinations need to offer more than a venue. When both do, a congress stops being a transaction and becomes a shared investment in the association’s mission and the legacy of the destination that hosts it – and that is partnership with impact.

Steen Jakobsen is CEO, and Thomas Reiser is Partner, Association Advisory at Gaining Edge. The firm is a global expert in convention bureau consulting, and advises destinations, convention bureaux, venues and associations on strategy, operations and growth.

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