EFAPCO visits PCOs in the Netherlands

On Tuesday March 11th, a delegation of BAPCO members visited about 16 PCO's in the Netherlands in order to inform them on the opportunities of an EFAPCO-membership. The RAI-Amsterdam was our kind host and offered meeting infrastructure and a delicious lunch.

During the last EFAPCO congress in Warsaw, it was quite striking to discover that the Netherlands were not represented on the EFAPCO-map. Although the Netherlands have a firm PCO tradition and count some excellent PCOs, it is true that there's no national PCO association (comparable to f.i. BAPCO in Belgium) . Full EFAPCO-members are exactly national associations of PCOs in European Union member-states (apart from Associate Members and Supporting Members).
During this meeting in Amsterdam, the role of CLC , the Centre for Live Communication, was discussed. CLC is an organisation in the Netherlands for everybody who is professionally involved in the organisation, the accommodation and the facilitation of exhibitions, congresses and events. It was debated whether this organisation - or a subgroup within CLC - could or should become a member of EFAPCO. A number of Dutch PCOs present at the meeting felt more for the founding of a new national association of PCOs. The meeting was concluded with the promise to investigate the matter further within the Netherlands. BAPCO and EFAPCO are eagerly waiting for the Dutch actions and decision as we think they should be part of the EFAPCO family! To learn more please contact Belgium@efapco.eu.