MEETING and event professionals can learn ‘How to plan with deeper meaning, innovation and insight in mind’ as part of Purposeful Meetings, the new Imex Talking Point and focus of Imex in Frankfurt this year.
The new Talking Point, which reflects an industry shift towards delivering ‘memorable moments’ instead of meetings, and ‘experiences’ not events, will be explored throughout the show, which takes place May 16 to 18 is in addition to the education programme and its ten tracks, many networking events and extensive exhibition.Carina Bauer, CEO, Imex Group, explains: “Any event planner who cares about their craft and truly wants to have a competitive edge will be excited to dig deeper into the Imex Purposeful Meetings Talking Point.
“Our chief focus is always going to be on bringing buyers and sellers together, face to face, in the most efficient and enjoyable way possible. But, from a strategic point of view, having an annual Imex Talking Point, or headline theme, will inject more immediacy, stronger direction and a clearer distinction between each show year to year.”
The Imex Group has also entered into a three-year agreement with EventCanvas.org Foundation, which allows Imex to offer Event Design Certification to selected participants. The certification training will be offered free of charge and provides planners from across the world with a common language for designing more innovative – and purposeful – events.
The Event Design Certification is part of a new pre-show education programme taking place on May 15, the day before the show. Free of charge and open to all, the day will incorporate five core streams covering event design, future trends and supplier education.
The popular Association Day also takes place the day before the show, offering free, tailored education exclusively for association professionals. The Imex Association Day programme has been redesigned for 2017 and will feature a new Association Management Stream, covering topics such as understanding why members leave and how to persuade them to stay. There will now be two Meetings & Events Streams (A and B), discussing issues such as how to maximise member participation at your events, and how to identify and approach new sponsors.
Exclusively Corporate at Imex, the event for corporate meeting planners and event marketers, has also been redeveloped.