IMEX America
love our appointment system such that we
have to call people up and point out
they’ve left no time for lunch or a break.
Now we work to ‘recommendations’. We
recommend hosted buyers make up to
eight appointments a day and this can be a
mix of group appointments, stand
presentations (open to everyone) and
individual one-to-ones. Truth is, we work
on trust. We have very few who abuse that
trust. It’s an unusual business model but it
works for us. Our feedback shows that our
hosted buyers appreciate being treated
like grown-ups.
Is it hard managing the show
from the UK?
We’ve got so used to designing and
delivering international shows from our
base in Brighton that I can’t imagine
running the IMEX business any other
way. Our team are highly experienced in
managing shows abroad.
We don’t have permanent staff in North
America but are helped enormously by
having consultants and our New York
marketing agency, Dana, on our side.
Together with IMEX America’s Strategic
Partners, MPI, plus other association
partners, they ensure we are finely tuned
to the North American market.
The power of imagination is a big topic
this year…
This year’s Talking Point virtually chose
itself because it’s all around us – we now
live in a world that’s changing faster than
ever, much of this driven by technology.
The power of imagination is one that’s
uniquely human (as far as we know!) and
it’s highly prized. As EventMB’s Julius
Solaris puts it in our Imagination research
report, which we’ll launch at the show,
“The bar has been raised for our industry.
If event experiences are the natural
evolution of events, imagination is the
driving force behind this change. This
change is ultimately what the next few
years will be about.”
Smart Monday has a TED talk
speaker delivering a keynote. How did
he come on to your radar?
A couple of the IMEX team had heard
Phil Hansen speak, but when I heard him
at the Site Global conference in Bangkok I
knew that his story and expertise would
help us bring our Imagination Talking
Point to life in an engaging and playful
way. This crossover between art and
events is also a really interesting space.
Although Phil isn’t about to persuade
everyone to become an artist, he makes a
compelling argument for how to change
your perspective and how to apply that to
your everyday work. And who isn’t
intrigued by a man who can paint using a
hamburger?
What are the main differences in the
kind of tasks your teams face in Las
Vegas compared with Frankfurt?
In Vegas we’re dealing with Nevada state
labour laws. We know these inside out
now but in the early days they proved a
very steep learning curve. Also, the
build-up of the show is entirely different in
Vegas where stands are typically delivered
in a modular system which is then
assembled onsite (less labour and less
weight). In Europe, however, the stands
are often fully constructed by carpenters,
welders, painters, so the construction
process is more complex and frequently a
lot more messy.
How will you manage to raise the bar in
the area of sustainability at the show
this year?
This year we’ve launched a sustainability
pledge, encouraging exhibitors to commit
to three green actions to minimise
environmental impact at the show. This
can include reducing all single use plastic,
using public transport and a sustainability
education session.
We share what we learn, running
education on sustainability at our shows
– look out for our new ‘sustainability
superheroes’ panel.
For everything we do, we look at ways
we could do it more sustainably,
benchmarking our performance against
industry standards such as the APEX/
ASTM Environmentally Sustainable
Event Standard. We’re proud to have
achieved an increased APEX/ASTM
Level 1 score of 93% for IMEX America.
As far as we know no other tradeshow on
the planet has ever got this far.
Above: Changing
dates but the IMEX
song remains the
same
What is your own personal favourite
addition to the show’s content?
One particular education workshop we’re
offering at the show is one I’ve done
myself, courtesy of SITE. InsideRisk are
hosting an interactive session on Smart
Monday (our pre-show day of education)
– What kind of leader are you under
maximum pressure? It’s based on the true
story of Swiss executive J.P. Mottu, who in
1988 found himself in charge of saving a
young engineer kidnapped by Colombian
rebels. The programme thrusts everyone
into real-life hostage negotiations, using
techniques and information that’s been a
secret for over 25 years. It’s a truly
immersive and dramatic experience. I
learned a lot about my own behaviour and
decision-making under pressure…oh, and
we weren’t allowed to use our phones.
“We work
on trust. We
have very
few [hosted
buyers] that
abuse that
trust.”
ISSUE 102
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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