On February 14, 2024, the Japan Convention Management Association (JCMA), the Japan Association for the Promotion of Creative Events (JACE), the Japan Exhibition Association, and the MPI Japan Chapter jointly organized a social sports event.
This marked the first joint collaboration between the 4 MICE industry organizations. During the event, HADO Arena Odaiba coordinated a “Techno Sports” tournament combining sports with cutting-edge augmented reality (AR) technology. 30 teams comprised of 3 individuals from different associations competed with the aim of encouraging networking through social interaction while enjoying competitive sports. The organizations hope to strengthen cooperation throughout the MICE industry, as well as increase awareness of the industry and its ability to circulate information throughout society.
The end goal of the collaboration between the 4 organizations is to even further promote information sharing, cooperation, and interaction within the MICE industry. In addition, the groups plan to increase their support of MICE, which have fully recovered with the resurgence of inbound tourism, as well as to improve the ability of the industry as a whole to spread information to the public.
Furthermore, by allowing employees in the younger demographic to network and interact with peers from other companies in the industry, the organizations plan to create opportunities for them to discover or reaffirm the appeal and potential of MICE jobs.