60th booking for Flanders Meeting & Convention Center Antwerp

Flanders Meeting & Convention Center Antwerp has now been operational for a full year and has just accepted its sixtieth confirmed convention booking. This is a particularly happy moment. FMCCA has proven to be a highly sought after venue for the organizers of international conventions and conferences. FMCCA has moreover received a number of acclaimed awards, including the industry’s highest honour, the ICCA’s Best Marketing Award for the Room with a ZOO campaign. Come and meet FMCCA at IMEX 2018 at stand E120 (Meet in Flanders).

Flanders Meeting & Convention Center Antwerp is part of the Queen Elisabeth Hall complex and is located in the celebrated Antwerp ZOO, just ten minutes walk from the historic city centre and next door to Central Station. The convention centre can receive up to 2,700 participants and offers over 25,000 m² of conference space, as well as a wonderful choice of highly desirable experiences. FMCCA itself hosts a number of prestige conventions such as IMEC 2017 & 2018, AWC 2018 and the AIPC Annual Conference 2019.

Prize Winner

FMCCA has been operational for just a year and has already won several prizes, including the ICCA’s Best Marketing Award for the “Room with a ZOO” campaign (the top award of the meeting industry), MIMA’s silver Award for the Best Print Advertising Campaign (MIMA = Meeting Industry Marketing Awards) and MIMA’s bronze award for the Best Brand Marketing Campaign, while our Chief Commercial Officer, Anja Stas, was nominated Marketing Manager of the Year by Trends, the Belgian business weekly.

Experiences

Convention Organizers are lavish with their praise of FMCCA:

Luc Niville, Executive Director of the Semico Group, "It promises to offer the wildest dreams of every PCO - a well situated high-end congress venue, in a class of its own; spacious well equipped rooms placed around a central atrium; a large number of breakout rooms and that so important extra element, the gardens of the ZOO."

Liz Jackson, FASAE, President Jackson Consulting Inc: "I have been to many client events over my years in the MICE industry and yours was one of the best organized and most carefully designed to draw buyers into an appreciation of A Room with a ZOO. I will recommend it with enthusiasm."

Instant CSR

The aces that convince organizers are highly diverse, and biodiverse! Not only does FMCCA offer state-of-the-art conference comfort in a wonderful historic setting in a unique location, but it also confers the cachet of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) because of its concern for nature conservation.

ZOO Foundation

Located in the heart of Antwerp ZOO, FMCCA is a part of the ZOO Foundation, a home for animal welfare, nature conservation and science. This gives FMCCA depth and widespread popular support. Anja Stas, FMCCA’s Chief Commercial Officer, explains, “Every eurocent spent in our convention centre is administered by the ZOO Foundation and directly supports our work on animal welfare, heritage, breeding programmes, research and nature conservation. All of this is done on behalf of the welfare and survival of our zoological friends”.

Events and conservation go hand in hand

“The protection of threatened species and research in fundamental aspects of nature conservation is for us, as cofounder of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) part of our DNA. Scientists are convinced of the role nature plays in making us feel happy. The natural world nourishes our sense of spirituality, inspires and unites us. This is what FMCCA brings you, a convention centre surrounded by nature, tropical animals and beautiful gardens. After an intensive meeting in FMCCA you can wander into the ZOO and revel in the sight of giraffes and lions. What could be more natural than a friendly chat under the watchful eyes of the flamingos? How refreshing to go for an early run among the trees and animals before a busy day in conference? Looking at the wonders of nature, animals, trees and plants gives you strength and connects you to others. A perfect venue to give your convention or meeting an unrivalled boost!”

The story of gorilla Matadi

Matadi the silverback gorilla with his impressive appearance has become the face of FMCCA. He is one of the darlings of the ZOO as well as the mascot of FMCCA. Handed out at conventions in FMCCA, our mascot travels the world. Matadi is ready to assume his role as a breeding male in Great Ape Valley in the Zoo. As gorillas in the wild are a seriously threatened species, we hope that he will soon be fathering little gorillas.

You’ll find FMCCA at IMEX 2018 at the Meet in Flanders stand number E120. Please contact Inge Janvier: +32 492 46 94 16, inge.janvier@fmcca.com

www.fmcca.com