IACC North America Changes Name to IACC Americas in Effort to Expand in Central and South America

The Global Board of Directors and the Board of Directors of the North American Chapter of the International Association of Conference Centers (IACC) both agreed to change the name of IACC North America to IACC Americas to reflect the association’s goals to consolidate chapters around the world, and to expand in Central and South America.

At the recent meeting of the Board of Directors, Tom Cappucci, President of the newly-named IACC Americas (General Manager, University Place Hotel & Conference Center) said, “this is a significant step in our initiative to expand and grow the chapter and to continue to promote the message about the value of conference centers. The timing is right to lay the foundation for a strong and vibrant future for IACC in the Americas.”

“Many people don’t think of Central America — or even Mexico — as part of North America so ‘IACC Americas’ resonates more clearly and at the same time, brings South America into the fold,” observed Tom Bolman, CAE, Executive Vice President of IACC Global and IACC Americas. “There is substantial demand for productive meeting environments in all these regions and while the reservoir of bona fide conference centers is still quite low, we believe that we can help shape the industry by encouraging developers to align future projects and retrofitted facilities with IACC’s Universal Criteria.”

According to Neil Pompan, IACC Global President (Vice President, Thayer Lodging Group), “The repositioning of IACC North America is in keeping with the primary mission of IACC: to expand awareness of the conference center concept. It is critical, as we expand globally, to build an organization that is inclusive of all countries and cultures. This is the first step in a worldwide restructuring of IACC that will include a consolidation of all members and chapters in continental Europe and then in Asia Pacific. Consolidation will help us grow membership throughout the world, improve communications among members, build greater member value and, significantly increase awareness among meeting decision makers.”