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Collaborating and connecting – the latest learning at IMEX America

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‘Collisions of thought’, connecting with community and delivering a new era of experiences are all topics discussed at IMEX America, taking place September 10 – 12.

The show has a wide program of more than 180 learning sessions – all free of charge – taking place at the expanded Inspiration Hub, sponsored by Maritz Global Events. 97 per cent of eligible education sessions are assigned with continuous education units for CMP certification, while 114 are approved by ILEA. This is the show’s highest accreditation achievement to date.

‘The biggest leaps and turnarounds come from collisions of thought’ – that’s the advice of Tim Sanders, CEO of research and consultancy firm Deeper Media. His session, Innovating faster – why collaboration changes everything, focuses on creating a culture of collaboration in order to problem-solve and drive innovation.

Collaborating and connecting

Collaboration – one of the tenets of IMEX’s Talking Point, Imagination – is also explored in Celebrating the positive impact of business events. Jane Cunningham from BestCities Global Alliance discusses the wider societal impact of events and connecting with the community. She will detail case studies from associations and explore the range of measurement tools available.

The importance of data in order to research and choose a destination and venue is covered in a session by marketing agency CI Group. In How research and data analysis identify the ideal meeting destination, CEO David Watt will reveal how data analytics can streamline the event planning process and how destination profiling and heat maps also have a part to play.

Deliver a new era of experiences

PCMA delivers a future-focused session – Five trends shaping the future of business events. PCMA and Marriott International uncovered key trends in their research and will explain how these can be brought to life by planners, ushering in a new era of experiences for any audience.

Creating deeper attendee and sponsor experiences is the aim of Five easy ways to align event tech with your event goals. EventMobi’s Event Marketing Manager, Kate Gray, shares best practices for integrating tech in an event to streamline the planning process and align to event goals.

Technology remains a firm focus of many of the education sessions with The Meeting Pool team, part of the expanded tech area on the show floor, sharing their expertise. In Smart project management tools for smart planners Tara Thomas promises to delve into new platforms, show how to customize them, and transform how planners execute tasks and reach milestones.

Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group, explains: “Our extensive education program, developed carefully with our industry partners, recognises that regardless of experience and career level, there is always something new to learn and discover. The business events sector continues to develop at a rapid rate and we, in turn, keep evolving our learning programs. In that way we stay true to our mission of leading by example.”

The IMEX America education program is now live. IMEX America takes place September 10 – 12, 2019, with Smart Monday, powered by MPI on September 9. Registration for the show is free of charge and open to all who work in the meetings, events and incentive travel industry.

MEDIA CONTACTS: Emma Blake (UK): emma.blake@imexexhibitions.com ; Norman Birnbach (US): norman.birnbach@imexexhibitions.com      

Comprehensive learning program delivers ‘creative collisions’ at IMEX in Frankfurt

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‘Everyone has the potential to think creatively. Children are able to think of more than 60 new solutions per day in response to a problem. As we get older, this reduces to about six a day. Why not learn to think creatively again?’ Gebert Janssen, founder and CEO of the Party and Eventarchitect, and one of the speakers at IMEX in Frankfurt, summarises the challenge planners face in generating fresh content.

Many of the learning sessions at IMEX in Frankfurt, taking place 21 – 23 May (with EduMonday, May 20), focus on the topic of imagination, IMEX’s Talking Point for this year. The result is a wide range of learnings and insights delivered by experts from both within and outside the global business events industry.

Disruptive thinking

The team behind DUNDU, the giant puppet and previous playful addition to the show, will share their expertise on how to use art to boost playfulness in Puppet-thinking: where puppetry and design thinking collide. Sam McNeill, Song Division’s UK/Europe General Manager and one of the world’s most in-demand MC’s, will also explain the benefits of song writing as a route to problem-solving in Creating a culture of innovation.

True to their name, Marmalade on Toast will be taking an alternative approach to technology and innovation. Founder Simon Harmer thinks ‘the industry is ripe for disruption’ and will explain more in his session Using innovation to disrupt and engage. Meanwhile, the Editor-in-chief of Love Inc. Brittny Drye, will share her advice on creating authentic, inclusive content in Taking the next steps to becoming an equality-minded event business.

The topic of imagination will be expanded in a series of ‘Power chats’ delivered by some members of the IMEX Team. Based on first-hand experience, these interactive insights into the different facets of the show’s Imagination Talking Point will cover diversity and inclusion, imagination in action, and sustainability.

New for 2019 is PCMA’s #Iamremarkable workshop on EduMonday. Designed to tackle ‘gender-related modesty norms and glass ceilings’, this session will empower everyone taking part to speak openly about their accomplishments, in the workplace and beyond. It will be led by Katarzyna Seidl, Strategic Partner Manager in Global Partnerships Team at Google and Florian Ahle, global Brand Evangelist and Auto brand marketing expert who also teaches for the Google Digital Academy in London #iamremarkable is one of three specially-tailored PCMA workshops, with the next at PCMA’s EduCon in Los Angeles in June and the third at IMEX America in September.

Experiences alongside education

New experiences and activities introduced at this year’s show will fire up the imagination of planners and exhibitors alike. Many of these can be found at the show’s new Discovery Zone which is home to holograms, robots, illusionists, music and art along with a few surprises. EduMonday on May 20 at Kap Europa will showcase its own ‘Imagination Zone’ where attendees can tap into their artistic streak at a painting party or unleash some fancy moves at a silent disco.

‘Creative collisions’

Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group, explains: “With over 250 educational events over four days, we have designed this year’s programme to supercharge the skills of planners and exhibitors alike. This year’s focus – imagination – takes learning to a new level with advice, stories and direction from boundary breaking experts from inside and outside of our industry.

“It’s been wonderful to see so many partners, one being MPI, leveraging our Talking Point and using it to rethink their engagement and education delivery at the show. They’re a great example of a partner who asked ‘what if….?’ and came up with some fresh new concepts as a result.

“With such a diverse combination of learning, experiences, connections and a huge dose of memorable surprises, we’re expecting some exciting, creative collisions and, of course, plenty of bumper business meetings between buyers and suppliers in a few weeks’ time!”

IMEX in Frankfurt takes place 21 – 23 May 2019. Registration for the show is free of charge and open to all who work in the meetings, events and incentive travel industry. EduMonday takes place the day before the show, on Monday 20 May, and is free to enter following registration for IMEX in Frankfurt.

MEDIA CONTACTS: Emma Ward, emma.ward@imexexhibitions.com ; Chris Lewis, chris.lewis@imexexhibitions.com