The fifth edition of CONVENE, which took place from 8-9 February at the LITEXPO Centre in Vilnius, proved to be the most successful one yet, living up to its growing reputation as the Baltic Sea Region’s premier meeting and event industry show.

CONVENE 2017 served to reflect the development of our region’s industry over the past few years. The event featured 170 eager Hosted Buyers from 32 countries and 86 Exhibitors representing the best of the Baltic Sea Region, as well as guest Exhibitors from the United Arab Emirates, Slovakia, Ukraine and Belarus. Together, these industry professionals took part in over 3600 pre-scheduled meetings, which provided unique starting points for exciting new business relationships.

The CONVENE Education Programme, a marketplace for fresh ideas and best practices, was also met with great enthusiasm. Following the two-day event, more than half of our Hosted Buyers took part in one of six FAM tours organised across Lithuania and in Latvia, Estonia and Finland.

Reflecting on the success of the show, Jolanta Beniulienė, Director of the Vilnius Convention Bureau, said: ‘Looking back at our event over a five-year period, we can see that CONVENE has contributed to the development of our region’s meeting industry, and in turn, a stronger regional industry brings greater expectations of our show. I think it’s safe to say that CONVENE 2017 lived up to these expectations.’

Many agree with this sentiment, including Dr Henri Roger Lijen, Executive Director of ISFB, who stated; ‘At CONVENE, you could feel that people are really motivated and enthusiastic about bringing others to their region. The high level of organisation made CONVENE one of the best events I’ve had the chance to attend in years.’

Lisa Exall of Capita Travel & Events also expressed positive feedback, saying: ‘It was great to find so many new locations and venues, which I look forward to dealing with in the future. From the meeting forum, to the guest speakers and event staff, CONVENE featured some of the best I’ve experienced at an event like this.’

With CONVENE 2017 in the books, work has already begun on the sixth edition of our event, which will take place on 14-15 February 2018.

Please find here the link to the picture gallery.

We from tmf also attended Convene – you can read our report by following this link.