With the 10th anniversary edition of IMEX in Frankfurt set to open its doors for three days on May 22nd at Messe Frankfurt, organiser Ray Bloom and his team have announced further growth in the hosted buyer programme, a strong and diverse exhibitor line-up plus new features for the IMEX Vision programme.
New and important for all delegates is that the WiFi in the exhibitionhall is free of charge. More Hosted Buyer than before.
This year’s extensive education programme also breaks through the 100 mark for the first time, with almost 120 workshops, seminars and other learning opportunities on offer for both visitors and exhibitors. A number of changes to the IMEX website and diary functions plus improvements to hosted buyer refund processes have also been introduced. In addition, the 10th IMEX in Frankfurt will see free WiFi available throughout the show for the first time.
Around 3,500 exhibitors representing over 150 countries are set to exhibit at the award-winning trade show. The US section will be 15% larger and will include Detroit for the first time, with San Francisco also returning to the show. Cruise line, Buy the Sea, exhibits for the first time, as does ATA Hotels, DMC Connection, Eventschmiede, JTB Europe and Pacific World, who will also be bringing a hosted buyer group. Other new exhibitors include: Best Western, Escuela y Centro de Conferencias de Monte Leon, Incentive Destinations Myanmar, Qatar Airways, Mintcentive India, Relais & Chateaux, Tumlare, Vantage and the Venetian Macau. Mice Mallorca make a welcome return and Promo Tours becomes the first independent company operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina to exhibit at IMEX.
The technology area of the show will be 10% larger than in previous years with a sold out Tech Tap, plus the IMEX technology pavilion showcasing products and services from Amiando, ATIV Software, EventMobi, Evenium, Konnect and Video Tattoo amongst others. A new iPad Bar, sponsored by QuickMobile together with PSAV, will provide hands-on education on Apps for events. In addition, the IMEX App will be available for iPads for the first time.
26 established exhibitors are also taking larger stands for the 2012 show. Among the larger destination stands are: Boston, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Las Vegas, Mauritius, Moscow, Paris, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Texas, Turkey, Visit England and Visit Scotland. AIM International, Cvent, GL Events, and technology providers, Psideo and Ungerboeck will also have larger stands. Meanwhile, among the hotel groups Fairmont, Jumeirah, Kempinski and Starwood have all taken bigger stands this year.
This year’s winners of the IMEX in Frankfurt Wild Card competition are Sendai in Japan and the El Salvador Convention Centre in Central America. Both win free stand space on the Wild Card Pavilion plus, new for this year, a package of trade show and marketing support from business events consultancy, GainingEdge.
Hosted buyer growth
The show’s hallmark hosted buyer programme is set to bring almost 4000 hosted buyers to the Frankfurt show. 20 new hosted buyer groups are set to attend – half of them represent the European market, with the others focussing on long-haul buyers. Around 15% of the total hosted buyers at the show are expected from the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries. The number of buyers from Latin America and Mexico will also be higher this year and, as a direct result of success at IMEX America last October, more US groups will be present.
New – free Wifi
Among the most significant changes that buyers and exhibitors will notice this year is the introduction of free WiFi throughout the show. The service will allow everyone to browse the web and check emails on the go. Equally, exhibitors are being encouraged to make good use of the ability to offer ‘stand presentations’ to groups of individual buyers. This new facility will allow exhibitors to open their group appointments to more buyers and to invite individuals to join a group presentation through their online diaries, thereby maximising business opportunities and meeting time during the show.
Over 120 education choices plus new tracks
This year’s IMEX Education programme will be the largest and most diverse in the trade show’s history. Over 120 different learning opportunities will be on offer, all of them free of charge. The IMEX App will also allow visitors to save education sessions into their personal schedules for the first time. Seminar attendees will also be able to use the App to download education collateral, make notes they can then email back to themselves, and complete seminar surveys.
A number of the education stands have also been rebranded to reflect subtle shifts taking place in the global industry. For example, The IMEX-CIC Inspiration Centre (formerly the Professional Development and Innovation Pavilion) will now provide a wider range of both professional and personal development information and advice. This year it is also sponsored by Poland.
Planning which sessions to attend throughout the show has also been enhanced by the introduction of eight ‘tracks’: marketing and communication; personal development; HR and professional development; social media; sustainability; technology and general education. A ‘Visionary Events Series’ on the Inspiration Centre will also give visitors the chance to understand the dynamics behind individual meetings and events which have either pushed back boundaries or set new standards in innovation, design or impact.
Education will be delivered by a range of experts and leading industry names including Meetology, tmf dialogmarketing, the GCB (who will once again be running an extensive German language seminar programme across all three days) and a host of industry associations. Among the individuals sharing their expertise in various sessions will be: Avinash Chandarana, Group Learning and Development Director, MCI; Aoife Delany, Director of Global Sales, Ovation; Eric de Groot, Meeting Designer, Mind Meeting; Andy Sharpe, Founder, Song Division; Julius Solaris, Editor, Event Manager Blog and Martin Suiter, Business Consultant. Sessions will also be delivered in a variety of formats. These include Lightening Labs designed specifically as short, sharp ‘how-tos’ specifically for exhibitors and Campfires, which are informal, small group discussions facilitated by an expert. For the first time, and by demand, Campfires will also cover sustainability and technology issues.
