In motion. “It’s not that we are all here because we are happy, but it’s because we want to achieve more,” says Malgosia Bartosik, Deputy CEO of WindEurope. She has worked her way up at European Association Summit (EAS) “from attendee to speaker to moderator to chair for 2018.” With this summit Brussels offered all association professionals – from the executive to the secretary general – a dazzling event from 8 to 9 March. After all, more than 2,500 organisations are headquartered in the European capital. And with its own association bureau, one-stop services and the summit, Visit Brussels wants to increase that number.

For this purpose it cooperates closely with the association hubs Dubai, Singapore and Washington D.C. Ariane Deguelle welcomed over 200 attendees with a sparkling birthday cake and a new logo: The CEO and her team celebrated the 60th anniversary of Square Brussels Convention Centre, which – like the Atomium – was opened for the 1958 World Exhibition. On an area of 13,000 sqm it offers four large auditoriums as well as eight further rooms with fantastic views in the heart of the metropolis.

The programme was packed with non-stop workshops and discussions, interrupted by breaks for networking. “We took the risk of trying out new formats,” Elisabeth Van Ingelgem, Visit Brussels Director Conventions and Associations, describes the concept behind the sixth edition of EAS. President Ahmed Medhoune points out that there are 2,500 journalists in the Belgian capital, which is the most cosmopolitan after Dubai: two thirds of the population have foreign roots.

Hot debates arose on the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). “Hurry up,” warned legal expert Nicolas Hamblenne of Koan Law: “You need a Data Protection Officer, better yet a whole team made up of a lawyer, IT and marketing experts, none of whom may be board members.” His colleague Fabienne Raepsaet of Claeys & Engels explained the effects of the new law on human resources including its impact on job applications, employees, presence data, Internet photo galleries, control and monitoring measures, but also on contract partners. “E-mails are personal data; health data requires special protection,” warned Raepsaet. Because of the employee’s dependence on the employer, any consent that is given may lead to legal problems and should be avoided where possible, the expert advises.

Laska Nenova of the NowWeMove campaign, which is supported by over 250 associations and funded by the EU, motivated delegates to keep moving. The Bulgarian’s message: “Sitting kills more people than smoking. Inactivity costs Europe more money than cancer. All of you can be move agents!” No sooner said than done, Lenova swept the audience out of their chairs for some stretching exercises.

Daniel Dang, the youthful Head of Sales & Marketing Solar Power Europe, gave an enlightening presentation. At the height of the wave of bankruptcies in 2011 the former Photovoltaic Europe was losing 40 to 50 members a year. A new name, new structures, low membership fees and a team reshuffle brought a turnaround. “We discussed with our members how to create the services they need,” he reports.

Now Solar Power Europe covers the whole product chain: “Small companies are the core of our success because they stand for change. Big players are often too slow,” says Dang, explaining how the organisation went from a membership of 97 to 200 in 2015. For him non-profit does not mean free. He points out that Solar Power offers a real value for different segments and creates events.

Advocacy was the theme of a “Knowledge Café” with Tanguy van der Werve de Schilde. “Lobbying targets politics, and advocacy everyone in a two-way dialogue,” distinguished the Managing Director of the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME). According to this definition advocacy is about fast communication, digital storytelling, reliable facts and  transparency. She sees a need to integrate boards and their members, experts and ambassadors in this process and believes that the GDPR is a problem for advocacy.

Karl-Heinz Lambertz, long-term President of the Parliament of Belgium’s German-speaking Community and President of the EU Committee of the Regions, puts it more plainly: “More and more decisions are being made in Europe outside of representative democracy. Bars are important, you really get to know people. But beware the ‘Delirium Tremens’ Bar!” True to a good old Brussels tradition, cartoonist Aster captured the summit in images that kept the audience in good spirits. And Visit Brussels certainly got dinner moving at the visitors’ centre with mushroom risotto, waterzooi fish soup and turkey breast rolling on the conveyor belt.