September made me think a lot about ambassadors. Not diplomatic ones. I mean the people who can help bring an international congress to a city, recommend a destination to meeting planners or use their professional networks to open doors that no advertising campaign can open on its own.
In the meetings industry, an ambassador is often the human link between a destination and an international community. It may be a professor active in a scientific association, a young researcher building a global network, an event professional recommending a city, or someone prepared to put their own reputation behind a place. And sometimes a venue itself can become an ambassador for a destination.
I had several reasons to think about this in September 2026.
On 17 September, the Polish Congress Ambassadors Gala took place at the Lublin Conference Centre. I was not able to attend this year, which I genuinely regret. I have followed and supported the programme professionally for years and would have liked to see this particular edition first-hand.
Six days later, the word “ambassador” became much more personal.
On 23 September, during Silesia Meeting Day in Koszęcin, I received the title of Ambassador of the “Śląskie. MICE is nice” brand.
I have written about ambassadors, met them and worked with them. But it feels slightly different when someone suddenly calls you one.
So what does being an ambassador actually mean?
What does a congress ambassador do?
The Polish Congress Ambassadors Programme has been operating since 1998. It is run by the Polish Tourism Organisation – Poland Convention Bureau together with the Polish Conference and Congress Association.
In 2026, 23 new ambassadors were selected from 40 nominations. They represent universities, medicine, science, business and professional organisations. Following this edition, 366 people have received the title of Polish Congress Ambassador.
The number is interesting. The work behind it is more important. In the international association meetings market, there is often one person at the beginning of a successful congress bid.
A professor knows that an international society will soon select its next host. A doctor serves on an association committee. A researcher has spent years developing relationships with colleagues in Europe, Asia or North America.
At some point, somebody asks a very simple question:
Why not Poland?
That can be the beginning of an international congress bringing delegates, hotel room nights and expenditure to a destination. It can also lead to research cooperation, knowledge exchange and relationships that continue long after the delegates have gone home.
Only then does the machinery of a bid begin.
A convention bureau can assess the opportunity. A PCO may join the process. Venues check dates, hotels provide capacity and rates, transport is analysed, partners are identified and a bid is prepared.
But somebody has to open the first door.
That, for me, is where a congress ambassador becomes important.
Can a conference venue be a destination ambassador?
This year’s Polish Congress Ambassadors Gala took place in Lublin, and the choice of venue made me think about another form of ambassador.
Can a building represent a region? The Lublin Conference Centre makes a convincing case.
In February 2026, Lublin hosted the CONNECT Route Development Forum, bringing together more than 800 airline, airport, tourism and aviation industry representatives from nearly 60 countries.
At the Meetings Star Awards 2025/2026 in Ljubljana, Lublin Conference Centre ranked second in the Small Convention Centres category, with a score of 4.965 out of 5. And in
Those facts tell a meeting planner far more than another paragraph about “modern facilities”.
A venue builds its reputation through the events it hosts, the organisers who choose it and the experience it delivers.
In that sense, a venue can indeed become an ambassador for its city or region.
Why local Congress Ambassador Clubs matter
Shortly before the gala, the Lubelskie Congress Ambassadors Club was established. It became the eighth local club connected with the Polish programme.
I find this local layer particularly interesting.
A scientist may have excellent international contacts but know little about an RFP, congress bidding procedures, destination support, hotel capacity or venue contracting.
Nor should they have to.
That is where a convention bureau comes in.
The ambassador brings relationships, credibility and knowledge of the association. The convention bureau brings destination knowledge, bidding experience and a local network of venues, hotels, PCOs, universities and public partners.
When those two worlds meet early enough, an interesting conversation can become a real congress bid.
This is also why the programme should not stop with people who are already established professors or association presidents.
Why Poland is investing in Young Congress Ambassadors
The pilot Young Polish Congress Ambassador Programme is therefore worth watching. Its first group consists of 12 people from universities, academia and organisations across Poland. Eight were nominated by Silesia Convention Bureau. Their first working meeting took place in Lublin on 18 September, one day after the gala.
I was not able to be there either. Afterwards, however, I spoke with people who attended, and one word kept returning: energy.
There were ideas and a willingness to build international relationships and use them, one day, to bring events to Poland. That matters.
International association networks do not suddenly appear when somebody becomes a professor or joins a global board. They are built years earlier.
If Poland wants to host more international congresses in five or ten years, it makes sense to start talking today to researchers who are only beginning their international careers.
Some will join working groups. Some will become committee members. Some will eventually sit on international boards.
And some may one day be able to say: Why not Poland?
Destination ambassadors do not always need a title
There is another kind of ambassador in the meetings industry. No formal programme. No jury. No certificate. Just credibility.
One example I have followed for several years is Sabrina Meyers.
In 2022, she began a year-long partnership with Copenhagen Convention Bureau under the #meetCopenhagen campaign. She explored Copenhagen from an event professional’s point of view: hotels, meeting venues, neighbourhoods, gastronomy and experiences that could work for groups.
Her cooperation with Copenhagen has continued beyond that original campaign. What interests me is the way the destination is communicated. She is not simply repeating a convention bureau message. She visits places, experiences them and explains why something may – or may not – work for an organiser.
There is a considerable difference between a destination saying:
we are a great place for meetings
and a professional whose judgement people know saying:
I have been there, and this is what I found.
One is promotion. The other is recommendation.
For destinations, both have a role. But in an industry built on relationships, the second can be particularly powerful.
Becoming an ambassador of “Śląskie. MICE is nice”
Which brings me back to Koszęcin. Silesia Convention Bureau has been developing its own community around the “Śląskie. MICE is nice” brand.
Izabela Pałdyna of SHO GROUP became its first ambassador. Magdalena Rembek of Bespoke Agency Poland followed.
On 23 September 2026, I became the third.
I hesitated before accepting.
Working at Poland Convention Bureau means cooperating with destinations across Poland. Remaining impartial towards city and regional convention bureaux matters to me.
What persuaded me was not the title.
It was what I had watched happen since Silesia Convention Bureau was established in January 2023.
Over three and a half years, the team has developed projects including Silesia Meeting Day, Silesia Ambassador Day and Silesia Ambassador Club, alongside study visits, activity in incentive travel, cooperation with academia and direct meetings with event agencies.
In September 2026, it also launched the MICEisNICE.pl campaign aimed at people organising business events.
None of these projects alone explains my decision. The consistency does.
Śląskie is not necessarily an easy destination to communicate internationally. Katowice and the Upper Silesian-Zagłębie Metropolis are one part of the story. Industrial heritage is another. Then come the Beskids, the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, castles, mines, concert halls, congress venues, hotels and incentive experiences.
That diversity is a strength, but it also creates a destination marketing challenge. You need to find your own story. And keep telling it.
Internationally, Śląskie cannot yet rely on the immediate name recognition enjoyed by Warsaw or Kraków. It has to work harder for attention, experiment and find its own niche.
I respect that.
And if I was going to accept the title, Koszęcin felt like a particularly appropriate place to do it: a palace surrounded by parkland and home to the “Śląsk” Song and Dance Ensemble.
Sometimes a place does the talking for you.
So, what makes a real ambassador?
After September, my definition has become simpler.
An ambassador is someone willing to put some of their own reputation behind a place.
It can be a professor encouraging an international association to consider Poland. A young researcher developing relationships that may result in a congress years later. An event professional sharing their experience of Copenhagen. Someone from the meetings industry recommending Śląskie.
Or perhaps even a conference centre that becomes known internationally through the events taking place inside it.
The common element is not the title. It is trust.
A good ambassador knows the place they talk about. They have experienced it. They have enough knowledge to say what works – and ideally enough independence to say what does not.
They do not become credible because somebody gives them a certificate. If anything, it should work the other way around.
The title should recognise a relationship that already exists.
Because ambassadors are not created on stage. They are created much earlier – through experience, relationships and the decision to tell someone else:
you should take a closer look at this place.
Who, for you, is a true ambassador of a congress, city or region?
