Inaugural ICCA Masterclass out to empower 24 association leaders
KUCHING: The inaugural ‘Association Impact Masterclass’ presented by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) has kicked off here, with 24 Malaysian and international association leaders in line to be awarded with the ‘Association Impact Leadership’ certificate.
“They will become the first cohort to be recognised as ‘Association Impact Leaders’, awarded by the ICCA in collaboration with their cocreators Meet4Impact and GainingEdge,” said the organiser in a statement yesterday.
The two-day specialised training course, which concludes today, takes place at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK).
It is facilitated by Meet4Impact co-founder and chief executive officer Genevieve Leclerc, and GainingEdge executive chairman Gary Grimmer, who are also cocreators of this unique education programme.
The course offers insights, practical tools and hands-on learning to the participants, for them to effectively communicate their impact mission, scale up partnerships, and create an effective approach to impact planning, management, and measurements.
“The Association Impact Masterclass highlights Sarawak’s proactive steps to establish itself as the Legacy Capital of Business Events in Malaysia and Borneo, in tandem with the Legacy Impact Master Action Plan 2023–2025 to prepare Sarawak’s business events industry towards impactdriven meetings,” said the organiser.
In her remarks, Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) chief executive officer Amelia Roziman said the sponsoring and hosting of the first Association Impact Masterclass signified the commitment in enabling local and international associations to be proficient and powerful at creating change through their events.
“We hope participants would feel empowered and confident to apply the Masterclass lessons when hosting a business event in Sarawak, Malaysia, or beyond. We want associations to become more powerful and appreciate and respect the support from our international partners for putting this course together and developing a legacy for everyone,” said Amelia.
In addition, ICCA chief executive officer Senthil Gopinath hailed the Masterclass as ‘an incredible opportunity’ for association professionals to hone their skills in legacybuilding, measuring impacts, and cultivating the activities of their organisations in order to achieve sustained growth and development.
Meanwhile, Leclerc said for several years, Meet4Impact had been actively involved in discussions with associations regarding legacy and impact with a primary emphasis on assisting them in optimising the influence of their events.
“We are delighted to introduce this new educational initiative that will be beneficial to the growth of Sarawak-based associations whose contributions are already recognised and strategically leveraged by the government here,” she added.
BESarawak is the exclusive seed grant contributor to the running of the Association Impact Masterclass, with the intent of growing the human capital with qualified association members who specialise in legacy impact, thus positioning Sarawak as the Legacy Capital of Business Events in Borneo and Malaysia.
Destinations worldwide are welcome to host the next Association Impact Masterclass.