A Kite Dancing in a Hurricane #IMEX16

What makes IMEX the go-to meeting for much of the MICE industry in both Europe and America? It is a place to do business, learn about what is new and as always it comes back to the sheer amount of opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations with people from around the world.

No Rog Simons you take the pic - your arms are longer!
Also with Maarten VanNeste

With Padraic Gilligan and IMEXDale Hudson

Nothing beats face to face.I am currently midway through the DES – Digital Event Strategist Certification – where we learn all there is to know about the development, management, and delivery of successful virtual and hybrid programs from experts across the industry – a great program, and I was able to connect with fellow learners from the EU while at IMEX - from chat room to chat! 

Mike Lyons pleads for the defence, my "counsel" Padraic and I listen raptly,
Jon Howell presides above

IMEX offers several adjunct programs including Exclusively Corporate Day for these planners and also an Association Day, among others. Exclusively Corporate was ably hosted by the SoolNua team of Padraic and Patrick and began with some fun polling, a journey through new thinking from Kaihan Krippendorff, and moved through a variety of topics which offered ideas and suggestions for challenges these planners face. We ended with a Mock Trial presided over by the legendary Jon Howell and ably facilitated with the help of Mike Lyons and  and our expert “witnesses” Deborah and Peter. While we did not come to a final conclusive end to our arbitration we certainly shed some light on important topics for our industry. Once again IMEX offered a day to these planners which tapped into their needs before they moved into their time at the show. 

In the #EventTech area

As always for those of us who are either new to or have spent time in the industry the show floor navigation is full of information, smiles, hugs and engaged conversation with friends and colleagues from around the world – we all become kites dancing through the hurricane. I was able to discuss job progressions with Jessie States of MPI; the future of strategic and engaging design with Ruud and Roel of the Event Model Generation Canvas; to be inspired about the importance of embedding sustainability into our meetings especially during the FRESH Dinner with Dale Hudson, Claudia and BabsNijdam; to be inspired by our future leaders including Courtney Stanley, Magdalina Atannasova, Rosa Garriga to meet, see and spend time with luminaries including Olga Novarro, Terri Breining, Julius Solaris of EventManagerBlog, (my first post linked here!) and Maarten VanNeste from the Meeting Design Institute, Eling Hamso, Mike Van de Vijver, and many more. IMEX as always is about the people.

Hanging out at MPI with Jessie States and Ruud Janssen

The floor was buzzing with announcements, hospitality and fun activations on the floor and once again the IMEX team maximized social, always adapting to the changing social media as our relationship to mobile and digital evolve. Again Miguel Neves and Gerrit Heijkoop are a formidable team, creating, curating and sharing across platforms to engage those on-site as well as those watching from around the globe - and they do it smiling for four days. (link takes you to a great post from a new member of the IMEXSocial team)

IMEX is a place where business is done with people we meet live and have come to trust and as always I can’t wait to return.