– Says Ray Bloom, Chairman of the IMEX Group
“This has been an outstanding week of business, learning and experiences to stir the imagination,” says Ray Bloom, Chairman of the IMEX Group, as IMEX in Frankfurt 2019 came to a close.
“The spectacular destinations and venues, the investment in sensational, creative stand designs and the great energy in the hall have created an inspiring environment to do business and to learn; and from all the business being done, there is evidently a strong, positive, forward-looking mood at the show and optimism around the industry.”
Ray Bloom concluded by adding. “This has been an exceptionally successful and enjoyable week and we’re looking forward to meeting everyone at IMEX America, this year in September, and here again next year in May.”
This growing confidence was also reflected by the high level of engagement between exhibitors and buyers at the show. Close to 70,000 individual and group appointments were made with 72 per cent having a mini RFP attached.
For Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group, the experiences in the new Discovery Zone, the fresh ideas in the Red Lab and the new technology have stood out.
The power of imagination
Collaborative waste reduction was one of the sessions in The Red Lab. This typifies the ideas challenging the industry to think about how it operates and give everyone fresh perspectives on key topics such as sustainability, a keystone of the IMEX Talking Point.
The IMEX Policy Forum continues to increase understanding and engagement between the political world and the business event industry. This year 35 political representative and policy makers from national and regional government organisations worldwide were among more than 130 participants who learnt from keynote speaker Dr Julie Grail how to put placemaking plans into action and shared experiences of how business events can act as a catalyst in developing inspiring locations.
EduMonday has developed into a day packed with high quality free education for everyone including several specialist groups. Open to all, 1100 people including many exhibitors are now taking advantage of this superb opportunity for professional development. Exclusively Corporate brought together more than 120 senior corporate event planners from companies such as Allianz, Amazon, Bayer, Estee Lauder, Mastercard, Nestle Purina, Nokia and PepsiCo to exchange insights and hear fascinating keynote speakers from the International Olympic Committee, Barclays, Cisco, Microsoft and KPMG.
Throughout the week over 250 education sessions covered a vast range of engaging topics in a variety of formats. 47 per cent of speakers were women and 96 per cent of the sessions were assigned with CEs for CMP certification.
The annual 5km IMEXrun was a great success. This was one of the many events including Association Evening, SITE Nite, cim-clubbing (supporting the MPI Foundation) and the IMEX Gala Dinner that brought the industry together. Collaboration is a key element of the IMEX Talking Point and Carina Bauer highlighted how it has once again contributed significantly to IMEX in Frankfurt.