On 14 November last year, ICCA and BestCities Global Alliance announced the winners of their first Incredible Impacts Programme. A number of associations entered the programme, showcasing their unique and innovative approaches to ensuring their events go beyond tourism. Securing one of the three $7,500 grants was The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) for its World Thrombosis Day Campaign.

Committed to developing scientific discoveries and clinical practices, ISTH works to develop the next generation of professionals through educating physicians, scientists and allied health professionals wherever they may live. Beginning in 1954 as a small group of investigators, the ISTH has grown to become the leading thrombosis and haemostasis-related professional organization in the world with more than 5,000 members in 98 countries.

Placing a global spotlight on the often overlooked and misunderstood condition of thrombosis, the society’s World Thrombosis Day campaign saw over 8,200 awareness events organised across the globe in 2016. The team demonstrated an impressive approach to going beyond tourism, looking at how they could create multiple touch points with the industry, outside the four walls of the event itself. Judges of the Incredible Impacts Programme were impressed with the society’s creative approach to thinking and the ways in which they created a legacy to bring awareness to the conditions. One standout example was their annual Twitter Chat digital event. Running on World Thrombosis Day (October 13), the society created a platform for people around the world to talk about the condition, share expert advice and insights through a dedicated hashtag which generated an impressive 45 million impressions worldwide.

Now firmly into 2018, the team at ISTH is focusing its efforts to prepare for its fifth annual World Thrombosis Day and their next ISTH meeting in Dublin, Ireland, with the following meeting take place in Melbourne – one of the BestCities 12 destinations. With the help of the grant, the team are working to ensure awareness and information about the critical condition reaches more people than ever before. The Incredible Impacts grant will be used to develop and distribute additional online and print resources on several types of thrombosis to both health care providers and the public. The monies will also allow the society to work with designers to create simple check lists that will enable more people to identify the symptoms early on. Generating compelling social media content through imagery and videos will also form part of their grant spending to ensure their messaging is spread across the associations platforms.

Figures show a startling 1 in 4 people from around the world die from conditions related to thrombosis and so with the help of the grant, the ISTH hope to educate, inspire and motivate people through action-orientated approaches that will reach a global audience.

The Incredible Impacts Programme was launched in 2017 to create a platform to celebrate amazing legacy works by associations across the globe. Submissions for this year’s programme are now being accepted – to more information visit here.