GainingEdge Unveils New Research Unit for the Meetings Industry

Global convention industry consulting firm, GainingEdge, has launched a new internal unit, GainingEdge Analysis & Research (GEAR), with a mission to expand and improve the quality of research available to international convention destinations.

GEAR will focus on issues of destination competitiveness, new forms of market intelligence and new insights into the dynamics of the global meetings industry. GainingEdge CEO, Jon Sivertson, said the vision for GEAR is to fill a research gap in relation to both the convention industry and the association community.  

“Our industry has never really had a dedicated research unit” Sivertson said. “We were struck by the lack of real quantitative analysis available to support quality decision-making processes. We want GEAR to make a real difference for both the meetings industry and associations. We want GEAR to be the go-to when people are focused on facts-based decision making.”

Long-time GainingEdge consultant, Milos Milovanovic, has been tapped to head-up GEAR. He said GEAR came out of a journey that began in 2018 with the publishing of the first annual International Convention Destination Competitive Index, the 3rd edition of which was released in December 2020. He said GEAR’s next contribution will be “cutting edge” research into the “intellectual capital” of convention destinations around the world.

“I think our next report will have a big impact on destinations and how they go about pursuing international conventions,” he said. “We’ve done a deep dive on the leadership of 3,500 international associations and developed a database of association board members and the cities where they live. From this research, we will be helping cities to understand how well they are doing in terms of the number of their local leaders who are active members in governing bodies of international associations. 

Milovanovic said the upcoming report would help cities understand how well they are leveraging their influencers to secure conventions.

“We want to help them in their recovery strategies as they pursue future growth” He said.  “Intellectual capital is a main driver of how conventions decide where to meet. We want to help destinations to understand how well they are harnessing that intellectual capital and to find quick pathways to the people they need to engage in the process of securing conventions.”

GainingEdge is a global specialist consulting firm advising the tourism and business events industry and associations since 2004. It provides a data-driven approach to market synthesis and on strategic recommendations that are specific, practical, and actionable.  

GainingEdge has offices in Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, Paris, The Hague, Johannesburg, Dubai, and Vancouver.