PARTNER WANTED

Magazine:
30th Nov, 2022
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It happens regularly that I start looking for the correct definition of concepts or people with the sole intention of getting a clear picture about something. What that means again, is then the question for myself.

For example, I recently read in a newspaper that the European Commissioner for Trade wants to focus on “friendshoring” with other countries. What could that possibly mean?

First there was off-shoring. Then there was re-shoring and the word that is only a year old is called “friendshoring” − we would rather get our stuff from friendly nations than from unreliable partners.

In the meetings industry, the term partnership emerged in the early 2000s. But do not think that the term was already clearly defined at that time. No, it was a first step towards “We can do better together”.

A word or a concept needs time to grow. And we are now at the point where partnership has to be redefined due to unexpected circumstances: pandemics, war and food shortages. We need to ask ourselves again who we can consider as potential partners.

This requires that each organisation or company redefine its values. The best partnerships will thrive in a climate where values meet and are given opportunities to grow.

The number of failures in building partnerships is uncountable, whatever one may say. The meetings industry still has to deal with fantasists who constantly repeat how well they are doing and how they are better than the others.

And we all know too that when a new buzzword comes along many of us like to join in and ride the wave. We want to belong and be heard. A slightly more critical view of things would not be a bad thing.


By Marcel A.M. Vissers, HQ's editor-in-chief
marcel@meetingmediagroup.com

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