As part of AIPC’s staff internship initiative, I recently spent time at Prague Congress Centre and met with the Prague Convention Bureau to better understand how our members operate on a day-to-day basis, beyond the data, beyond the reports.
One thing became immediately clear: our industry is becoming more complex, faster than we sometimes realise.
Delivering large-scale international events today requires constant coordination between teams, often under tight timelines and with evolving client expectations. Last-minute changes are no longer the exception: they are part of the reality. At the same time, organisers are looking for greater clarity in pricing, smoother processes, and stronger participant experiences. Simplicity, flexibility and efficiency are becoming key decision factors.
We also see convention centres adapting — whether through new pricing models such as DDR packages, or through the adoption of more integrated, data-driven systems like Momentus. These shifts are necessary, but they come with their own challenges: implementation complexity, internal adaptation, and resource pressure.
A key insight from discussions with both the venue and destination stakeholders is the importance of alignment across the ecosystem. Collaboration between convention centres, convention bureaux, city authorities and industry partners is becoming essential to attract and deliver international association events. The strongest destinations are those that operate as integrated systems rather than isolated actors.
But beyond operations and strategy, what stood out the most during this experience was the human side of our industry.
Production teams operate under intense pressure, with long hours and high expectations. While engagement remains strong, questions around long-term sustainability and talent retention are becoming increasingly relevant across the industry.
These observations highlight clear opportunities for AIPC to support its members:
- facilitating peer exchanges on operational challenges and event delivery
- creating knowledge-sharing platforms on technology transitions
- opening discussions around workforce sustainability and talent retention
- strengthening benchmarking and strategic insight sharing across the network
Beyond the operational insights, the internship also offered a powerful leadership perspective through discussions with Lenka Žlebková,, CEO of the Prague Congress Centre.
Her experience is a striking illustration of what leadership truly means in today’s environment. From managing a major power outage, to facing a water outage during a live congress of more than 2,000 delegates, her reality reflects the level of unpredictability venues must be prepared for.
One can only imagine the operational pressure of such a situation : hosting a large-scale international congress while suddenly facing a critical infrastructure failure. And yet, through rapid decision-making, coordination and composure, the situation was handled with remarkable professionalism, ensuring continuity of the event experience.
Beyond that, the venue has also been transformed into a COVID centre, later into a refugee centre, and has navigated multiple event cancellations. These experiences highlight a level of resilience, adaptability and readiness that goes far beyond traditional venue management.
These conversations reinforced a key insight: we are operating in a VUCA world — Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. Technical excellence alone is no longer enough. Leadership today requires preparedness for the unexpected, the ability to remain calm under pressure, and the capacity to mobilise teams in real time.
They also underline an important reality: across the AIPC community, there is a wealth of experience in managing crises and navigating disruption but these lessons are not always sufficiently shared. This is where AIPC can play a key role, as a space for real, experience-based dialogue, where members can learn from each other’s challenges, resilience and leadership journeys.
So the question becomes: how do we prepare for what we cannot predict?
From what I have seen, the answer lies not only in systems or processes, but in people, mindset and shared experience. It is about building organisations that are not only efficient, but adaptable, capable of responding, not just reacting.
Preparation, in this context, is not about having a plan for every possible scenario. It is about developing the capacity to respond when plans no longer apply. This means empowering teams to make decisions, strengthening communication across departments, and creating a culture where agility is part of the day-to-day, not just a response to crisis.
It also requires investing in collective intelligence. The more we share experiences, the better equipped we become as an industry. What one centre goes through today may well become another centre’s reality tomorrow.
From what I have observed, resilience is not built in isolation. It is built through connection, exchange and continuous learning.
And this is where AIPC can make a real difference: by creating the conditions for those conversations to happen, and by turning individual experiences into shared knowledge.
