BestCities Global Alliance are proud to unveil the outcome of an in-depth global study into legacy impact measurement in the business events sector. The report delves into establishing a vocabulary and measurement toolkit for international associations to quantify impact through events.
Whilst it is recognised that legacy impact has a broad-reaching narrative on the true value of business events, there are few established indicators and measurement tools in place. BestCities, having identified this gap, undertook the study to help associations and destinations create a more strategic approach to legacy – thereby enhancing the value of meetings as agents of change.
This highly ambitious and innovative project involved an extensive study with over 50 interviews and surveys conducted with destinations from across the world and associations from a broad spectrum of sectors and disciplines. The report refers to findings from MeetDenmark’s 2018/2019 studies into meeting legacies as a framework for the current practises in place.
Lesley Williams, Managing Director at BestCities, said: “For a long time in our industry, we’ve been looking for a way to quantify the long-lasting legacies that business events can have, and support our associations demonstrate their huge worth. This research, in collaboration with many of our partners & stakeholders, begins to carve out a ‘legacy language’, and helps us measure that rich value.
“We hope that by sharing the outcomes of this study, it will strengthen the ability of destinations and associations to measure meeting legacies – ultimately for the greater good of society overall.
Sarash De Wilde, Executive Director of the International Society for Microbial Egology (ISME) and contributor to the report, said: “This report will be an extremely useful tool for members of our industry to apply to their everyday thinking and approach to planning events.
“It uniquely allows us to put in place meaningful indicators that demonstrate the positive societal impact of international association meetings – and in turn, will hugely benefit those who may struggling to articulate clearly their true worth. We’re very proud to have been a part of its creation and look forward to seeing it in practise amongst our fellow meeting planners.”
The learnings from this study, conducted with global consultants, GainingEdge, will be used as the building blocks for future research into legacy impact. The alliance is now advancing the findings by conducting a feasibility analysis on the development of a legacy impact framework that can be widely adopted by associations and destinations.
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