In its desire to give back to the international business events, meetings and incentive travel industry following the massive outpouring of support since IMEX in Frankfurt was cancelled, the IMEX team have created a brand-new virtual experience, due to launch 6 May and run for several months.
PlanetIMEX has been designed as a destination in its own right and will feature 3D, interactive islands, each created using principles borrowed from the world of online gaming.
Visitors to PlanetIMEX will be granted unlimited, free access to a variety of content and activities on three islands: A beach-themed Community Island; A forest-inspired Education Island and a Networking Island characterised by canyons, mountains and valleys.
Although the execution is light-hearted, each island has a serious purpose. The intention is to keep the spirit of IMEX alive by allowing visitors to explore, reconnect, talk future business and continue learning in the company of friends and colleagues from the global business events community.
PlanetIMEX goes live on 6 May when both Community Island and Education Island open to industry visitors. Education programming starts on EduMonday 11 May with a day of education and interactive content, starting with a keynote by Guy Bigwood, Managing Director of the Global Destination Sustainability Index. Bigwood is also the lead on the IMEX Nature Talking Point research, supported exclusively by Marriott International, and set to be launched later this year. Tuesday 12 May will be IMEX Community Day, with content delivered by a range of IMEX’s association and other partners. It will also include the IMEX-MPI Future Leaders Forum.
On Thursday 14 May IMEX Introductions will encourage industry buyers and suppliers to explore potential new business relationships and spark up one-to-one conversations. The following week on Monday 18 May, PlanetIMEX will provide specialist content aimed at specific buyer communities, including a new interpretation of Exclusively Corporate, the Agency Directors Forum and Association Focus. The education platform on PlanetIMEX has been generously designed and developed by sponsors, Cvent.
Patrick Smith, CMO of Cvent, the market-leading meetings, events, and hospitality technology provider, explained, “All of us at Cvent are incredibly proud to be partnering with IMEX to help them bring this extraordinary online experience to life. As longtime leaders in the meetings and events space, IMEX Group is dedicated to helping everyone in the industry make connections that matter. While the in-person experience at IMEX in Frankfurt will be greatly missed this year, our teams have collaborated to create a unique and deeply engaging virtual environment. While nothing can replace meeting face-to-face, it’s important that as industry leaders, we make the best of this current situation, and to be able to help IMEX deliver their great content to their global audience in an interactive, compelling way is really exciting.”
