In 2009, TMAB Business Events was contacted by Flagis, the Flemish association for professional users of geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial data. They were looking for a partner who could develop and design a concept to bring the GIS sector together in person on an annual basis. This led to the creation of GIS-o-TOPO-lis, a trade show and conference focused on GIS applications, which was later renamed BeGeo at the request of the National Geographic Institute.

Drawing on its many years of experience and in-depth industry and market knowledge, TMAB Business Events was asked by SIGGIS (now the Merkator Group) and ESRI to bring its comprehensive solutions closer to customers, based on the Dutch model. That is how ArcGIS came into being. Starting with its first edition in 2024, this event attracted more than 500 participants.

ArcGIS is an annual conference where GIS experts gather to review the latest software updates and share real-world examples. After a brief opening plenary session, all participants are divided among about 10 in-depth technical workshops and training sessions for software users. The goal of ArcGIS is to exchange knowledge on topics such as Digital Twins, 3D city models, map analysis, and cloud integrations.

To keep the costs of this free event for all participants low for the clients, and to ensure that ArcGIS would gain broader support within the GIS sector, TMAB also attracted other sponsoring companies. For example, during the most recent edition, nine partners presented their offerings in the catering area via personalized sponsor booths (which were sustainable because they were reusable, such as personalized standing tables made of reboard or cardboard), and in the conference program during a non-commercial vendor session. To ensure consistency and brand identity, TMAB handles the design, printing, and placement of the information signs, so that each sponsor can present itself in a clear and recognizable way.

TMAB is responsible for the entire organization of ArcGIS each year, on behalf of ESRI and SIGGIS/Merkator Group:

• Comprehensive approach: graphic design, scheduling, backward planning, creative concept, task allocation, budget management, reporting
• Sponsor Recruitment: compiling sponsor proposals, sending out mailings, cold calling, providing briefings and issuing invoices, and gathering promotional materials for branding and goodie bags
• Communication: copywriting, formatting, and distribution of multilingual participant recruitment materials to our own TMAB databases (GDPR-compliant)—via personalized email campaigns, social media, press releases, the website, and a secure online registration page (developed in-house) – Save the Date, registration and confirmation emails, program and practical information, speaker briefings and scripts, name badges, signage, thank-you messages, and evaluation, including a 24/7 help desk
• On-site supervision during setup, the event, and teardown
• Development of an event app to encourage networking, so that, for example, like-minded people can meet up in person at specially designated meeting points
• A contest designed to encourage all participants to visit all the sponsor booths
• Logistics organization: benchmarking of location, layout, furniture, branding, catering, AV support, wayfinding, branding, …
• Quality assurance: corporate identity, GDPR, speaker briefings, CSR, sustainability, contingency plan, program and time management, debriefing, statistics and analysis, …

Our client is solely responsible for putting together the program content and selecting the speakers. This allows everyone at ESRI and SIGGIS to focus fully on engaging with the target audience—their clients—during the event.

Because this event is held on a recurring basis, TMAB works year-round to wrap up the previous edition and prepare for the next one. After the event, all statistics are collected and analyzed, and based on that, TMAB drafts a report outlining all strengths and areas for improvement. Every two weeks, TMAB reports on progress to the marketing managers at both client companies, and thanks to our backward scheduling, everyone involved knows what is expected of them and when, as well as when major action items—such as sponsor and participant recruitment, logistical organization, etc.—will be initiated. As a result, a pleasant relationship of trust has existed for years between the marketing teams and management of SIGGIS and ESRI, and TMAB’s project manager and project assistant, who internally lead our production team and actively collaborate with our management to make each edition even better, both conceptually and in terms of practical organization.

All contact information, the program, all logistical aspects, the reverse scheduling, graphic design, the communication plan, etc.—all details are included in a script that is updated after each meeting and thus serves as the perfect guide for everyone involved during setup and the event itself.

ArcGIS is an annual event that took place consecutively at the Event Lounge in Brussels (2024), the Hotel des Douanes in Brussels (2025), and the Elizabethzaal in Antwerp (2026). At the most recent edition, we had 9 sponsors, 58 speakers, and 439 participants.

Relevance of this reference

• GIS-o-TOPO-lis at the time, as well as BeGeo and now ArcGIS, are all comprehensive solutions offered by TMAB Business Events, covering target audience identification, preparation and planning, task allocation, logistical organization, timing, budget management, backward scheduling, on-site coordination, etc.
• Thanks to the recurring nature of the event, TMAB Business Events works with its clients each year to further build the reputation of this prestigious event, based on the results of the surveys and the analysis of all statistical data.
• This comprehensive event—involving two organizing companies, numerous sponsoring partners and speakers, and hundreds of attendees spread across 10 parallel sessions—requires diplomacy and flexibility, experience, and meticulous follow-up.