A big anniversary year deserves just as big of a post soon after launching registration for this year’s SITE Global Conference!

We’re celebrating 50 years of incentive travel excellence in New York City this February, and hope you’ll join us for a packed and rewarding weekend.

It’s very much a go-big affair, so near the beginning of this year’s conference blog series: here are 50 reasons we hope you’ll join us at SITE Global Conference 2023 from February 17-20.

Connect with your SITE community

Networking opportunities and the chance to form lasting friendships, hear firsthand about new opportunities, and make other invaluable connections are a top priority for many Global Conference attendees.

Here are just some of the ways you can count on connecting with other incentive travel professionals:

1. Global Conference is open to everyone — buyers, suppliers, other awesome partners: all are warmly welcome and encouraged to #MakeItNYC with us in February. 
2. Attend as a hosted buyer — applications are open now, but spaces are filling fast!
3. Get to know the community as a first-timer — more than half of 2022 attendees were attending Global Conference for the first time, and we expect similar figures this year.
4. Celebrate with your chapter — be sure you’re in town by Friday, February 17 for our annual general meeting and the Chapter Excellence Awards.
5. A truly global gathering — nowhere else will you get as diverse of a mix of viewpoints from across the incentive travel industry, with colleagues from around the globe gathering with us this winter.
6. If you’re totally new to incentive travel — we’ll have plenty of sessions for you, too. More details are coming soon on our full conference program.
7. If you’re a student or recent grad — we offer special SITE membership rates to make it easier for you to #beinSITE and benefit from experiences like Global Conference.
8. If you’re a seasoned industry leader — you’ll be in good company at this year’s Conference, with many senior executives already confirming their attendance at this year’s event (including many past SITE presidents).
9. Challenge yourself — could this be the year you make 50 new industry friends?
10. SITE Young Leaders — we want to hear your voice, alongside our new CEO who’s especially passionate about championing the next generations of incentive professionals.
11. This is a great time to reconnect (and the perfect excuse to renew your membership now) if you’re a lapsed member.
12. NYC is home to some amazing incentive brands — that are eager to connect with you to help you finalize plans for 2023 programs and shape future years’ activities.
13. If you’re a brand that wants to connect — our Head of Business Development would love to hear from you!  
14. Avoid major FOMO — Global Conference is the most talked-about event within the SITE community each year.
15. We’ve got two excellent co-chairs — ready to welcome you and showcase all that’s on offer in the Big Apple.  

Learn from incentive experts

Global Conference is your one-stop-shop to learn the latest incentive trends and share your own bright ideas with your industry peers. This year’s program is teeming with incredible talent, but we need your voice to round out this year’s education agenda.

16. You’ll find a variety of breakout formats — from keynotes to learning labs to dialogue dens, and more.
17. Learn from the top of the field — as we celebrate incentive travel excellence during this year’s Crystal Awards Ceremony (generously supported by the IMEX Group).
18. New incentive travel research — is always a crucial part of our educational program, keeping you and your programs on trend and on track.
19. Get inspired by amazing keynotes — including talks this year from Amelia Rose Earhart and Andre Norman.
20. Discover new sustainability practices — learn together and alongside us, as we strive to collaboratively improve our sustainability practices at each year’s event.
21. This year’s education program will look back on 50 years of incentive travel excellence…
22. …and provide plenty of inspiration for the next 50 years of even better incentive travel practices, with plenty of innovative new trends shared by this year’s speakers.
23. Build an economic case for incentive travel — we’re in the home of Wall Street, after all. We’ll also be exploring dynamic pricing models, ways to mitigate costs, and discuss the realities of incentive budgets as some of the breakout topics on this year’s agenda.
24. Design more socially responsible incentives — other breakout sessions will invite us to examine issues like inclusion, belonging, and fair/equitable treatment in the incentive travel industry.
25. Education that’s incredibly relevant — navigate how to operate efficiently in the changed world we find ourselves in now, with more speakers touching on areas like personal safety and crisis planning.
26. Talent, talent, talent — from where to recruit to how retain your best performers, we’ve also got specific sessions focused on employee engagement + recruitment.
27. Learn from NYC itself — there’s SO MUCH to see, do, and learn from in New York. Take advantage of this year’s destination to explore other educational opportunities beyond the conference dates.

Discover New York City as a standout incentive destination

Our partners at NYC & Company are working hard to bring you the best of their city, no matter how long you plan to visit this February. Dive in and see what all there is to discover.

28. We’ll be in some incredible venues — you won’t just be staring at the same beige walls in a hotel ballroom for four days straight; we’ll be hitting the streets throughout this year’s program.
29. Stay wherever suits — we’ve got an excellent line-up of host + partner hotels and NYC is home to any and all major hotel brands, making it a snap to plan your conference accommodation. 
30. “LaGuardia’s super nice now” — as Saturday Night Live alum and current Late Night host Seth Meyers put it!  In all seriousness, New York City is an incredibly accessible destination, whether you’re coming and going by bus, train, plane, taxi, or looking to come and go by foot if you’re local (just bundle up since we’re meeting in February…).
31. We’ve got some great pre-con tours planned…
32. And fun post-con tours, too. More information to come on both pre- and post-conference opportunities.
33. Stay fit while on the go — notes one NYC expert, “Curious about reiki? Or infrared saunas? Or sensory deprivation floating? New York has all of those and more.” SITE’s CMO Pádraic Gilligan is also known to rouse those who are interested for early morning runs, and Events Director Jacqueline Acomb is an excellent gym buddy…
34. It’s got Broadway, Baby! — catch a show before or after the conference, or soak in the fantastic arts and culture scene New York City serves up. It’s definitely a work expense if it inspires your next incentive program entertainment theme, right?
35. Most of our conference will take place in Manhattan — but that’s just one of five distinct boroughs for you to explore. There’s also…
36. Brooklyn — residents and visitors recommend scoping out Nitehawk Cinema and the Williamsburg neighborhood.
37. Queens — home to the Museum of the Moving Image, and the biggest Chinatown in New York (and the best Chinese food, according to locals).
38. The Bronx — love ‘em or hate ‘em, this is where you’ll find the Yankees — as well as Little Italy, the home of hip hop/rap music, and plenty of quirky homes and historic museums (that can also double as unconventional event spaces).
39. Staten Island — did you know there’s a free ferry to Staten Island, that takes you right by the Statue of Liberty? Always nice to have a few budget-friendly options in the mix when exploring a destination! And for the die-hard SNL fans: there’s also an excellent parody song (albeit with a PG-13ish rating) about the borough…
40. A bonus Staten Island pick — maybe we can collectively give celebrities Colin Jost and Pete Davidson some ideas on transforming their Staten Island Ferry purchase into an A+ incentive venue? The New York Times reported in April that the pair are looking for somewhere to dock the boat and transform it into an entertainment venue.

Celebrate SITE’s incredible legacy

Most importantly, Global Conference 2023 is our chance to celebrate as a community during an incredibly special year for SITE, as we mark the association’s 50^th anniversary.

41. NYC is where it all began — we’ll be kicking off and ending our year in the City where SITE started back in 1973. There will be plenty of opportunities to delve into SITE’s rich history throughout the conference.
42. Honor and recognize past leadership — this is our collective chance to thank past SITE presidents and other leaders who have helped shape our association and the industry at large.
43. It’s the city that never sleeps — and we won’t either, with the evening activities we have planned!
44. It’s the “concrete jungle where dreams are made of” — so say JAY-Z and Alicia Keyes. What do you want to celebrate in six months, a year, or even a decade from now? Setting your intentions and celebrating your progress at SITE Global Conference will help you start your year off right toward chasing those goals. “There’s nothing you can’t do,” and “these lights will inspire you,” as the lyrics go…
45. There will be epic swag on offer — no need to don a Yankees hat or Nets jersey; we’ve got something(s) even better. We’ll be debuting exclusive Global Conference and 50^th anniversary SITE swag so you can celebrate and show your incentive association pride all year long.
46. Welcome new leaders — including new faces on the 2023 International Board of Directors and the SITE Foundation International Board of Trustees.
47. Meet SITE’s new CEO — Annette Gregg is looking forward to welcoming everyone to New York City, along with the rest of our senior leadership team.
48. Legacy is baked into this year’s event program — with a specific breakout examining some truly epic industry legends and those now carving next, new directions from the foundations their predecessors forged.
49. We’ll be crowning new chapters and individuals well-worth celebrating — including at this year’s Chapter Excellence Awards, the Crystal Awards, and throughout the conference program.
50. It’s up to all of us to shape what we’ll be celebrating for the next 50 years — as the MICE industry as a whole champions going deeper and examining the legacy and longer-lasting impacts of events, we need all of you to help us craft milestones worth remarking and celebrating for years to come!