Think MICE magazine let`s get to know each other

MICE industry media Poland Polish market

I would like to thank Miguel Neves for his recommendation and Michał Kalarus for the invitation to co-create the blogger section on THINK MICE magazine! Yes, I am officially a THINK MICE journalist from now on. Great news.

THINK MICE is a magazine dedicated to the Polish and international meetings industry (MICE – meetings, incentives, conferences, events) and its scope encompasses all of the segments in question: meetings, incentive trips, congresses and conferences. You can find out more about the magazine (printed and online version) at the bottom of this article.

First of all, call me Jaro

My name is Jaroslaw Marciuk, but I know it is hard to say my first name and surname, not even mentioning to remember it. Please, call me Jaro and everything will be way simpler. Just a few words about me for my new readers.

I started my adventure with tourism and marketing 20 years ago in the Mercure Posejdon Hotel in Gdansk. I have always liked working in the hotel industry for the direct contact with guests – individual, group and corporate. Thanks to this particular hotel I not only left my heart for tourism, but I also met my wife, Alicja. It was the time of transformation of Orbis hotels after establishing cooperation with Accor Hotels, during which subsequent years I worked as a key account manager in the new sales structure for the corporate and MICE segments. Our office was based in Novotel Gdańsk Marina Hotel just by the sandy beach of the Baltic Sea. Then we moved to Hotel Mercure Stare Miasto Gdańsk, with a panoramic view of 1000 years old Gdansk. Orbis Hotel Group and Accor Hotels.

I said goodbye to working for over 50 hotels of the Orbis hotel chain (Accor Hotels in Poland)  after setting up my own consulting and training business – Inspiros Consulting Group. It was a time of intensive travelling, training and marketing projects for tourism organisations, convention bureaux, cities, hotels and other entities, mainly from the tourism industry.

However, this was not enough. After 7 years of running the company, my wife and I decided to move to the UK – first to London, then to Cambridge. Working for Travel Weekly at Connections Events, I was in charge of sales, organising and then promoting events and creating communities through new media. At the same time, I took the opportunity to promote Poland – at industry meetings, marketing initiatives and trade shows. I often met you at during WTM in London, IBTM World in Barcelona, IMEX in Frankfurt, and Connections events (Beijing, London, Abu Dhabi, Slovenia). Connections Events and Jacobs Media Group (Travel Weekly, Caterer, and more magazines).

While working in international teams, I became convinced how much effort and creativity is required to promote a destination (MICE, leisure) or event. Especially considering the scale of global competition.

New roles in a professional career

Before I tell you what I would like to write about in my monthly column in Think MICE, let me offer a personal reflection. It is common knowledge that working in the MICE industry is one of the most stressful and requires adapting to sudden changes. My wife’s serious illness has meant that we have experienced many moments of uncertainty together over the past few years. Paradoxically, this has immunized me and in a way prepared me for the current pandemic situation.

I started transitioning to remote working even before COVID-19 came along, and I became interested in new media over a decade ago, at a time when the first social media platforms were emerging. We were all learning to use them, and some of us saw marketing potential in the digital world. Some did better, others worse, remaining sceptical about this form of communication. However, the pandemic changed habits, as did many areas of the economy. In the MICE sector, some events were cancelled and postponed, others transformed into virtual or hybrid events. Many of us expected a quick return to normality. Unfortunately, it turned out that the virus is not going away any time soon. Just as my wife’s health did not return.

This experience has taught me that you simply have to adapt to a new situation. Let us hope for the best. Pandemic time is a time of constraints and threats, but also of new opportunities and business transformations. I keep my fingers crossed for you!

Last year I joined the Word of MICE team in the Netherlands, led by Mariska Kesteloo. We do influencer marketing in B2B, and in the MICE industry, mainly for hotels, destinations and others.

In my monthly column, I will write about digital marketing and new technologies.

Articles in Think MICE magazine

I would like to invite you to my monthly column in THINK MICE magazine. I want to share examples of good practices. We have many great specialists, we offer world-class service and facilities in the Polish MICE and tourism industry. However, years of emigration and working in a global environment have made me realise that we sometimes miss the proverbial “dot over the i”. There is a need to strengthen activities in online marketing – to show the full potential and reach the image (personal or whole destinations) to the awareness of professionals.

Follow me on social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram) and see you very soon!

MICE media in Poland press magazine ThinkMICE jaroslaw marciuk

Think MICE magazine and articles

Read also on my blog: 

What is Think MICE?

The topics tackled by THINK MICE are described in depth and in a multifaceted way, thanks to which we show the role and importance of the industry in widely understood marketing communication, employer branding and place marketing.

In THINK MICE we talk to the most prominent representatives of the meetings industry, present their profiles and achievements, and present the most interesting case studies. The strong point of the newspaper is the blogger section presenting the point of view of foreign practitioners of the industry.

Think MICE media events meetings Poland

The magazine reports on current events from the world of MICE but places the main emphasis on analytical materials, where industry experts share their expertise and opinions with the readers.

The newspaper and the online version of the publication are aimed at corporate and company event planners – directors and employees of HR, PR and marketing departments responsible for broadly defined marketing communication. We also write for representatives of agencies organising events, conferences, congresses and incentive travel. We reach out to employees of city and regional convention bureaux, as well as venue representatives, including hotels, training and conference centres and trade fair and exhibition venues.

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