An advanced approach to skill building
IMEX America attendees have their pick of more than 150 education sessions across seven tracks, including Trends & Research, Business Practices, Experience Design, Event Marketing, Technology & Innovation and Wellbeing, many of which qualify for industry accreditations.
Tahira Endean, head of programme for IMEX Group, refers to herself as an “event nerd” who spends her day looking for advances in meeting design. You will see her holistic approach in the education sessions. “Instead of overtly labeling a problem and looking for a specific solution, we start with the assumption that we’re an industry that has the power to show people how to do things better. So, let’s do that,” she explained.
Read More: Destinations Skill-up to Support Meetings Industry Advances
Toolkit sessions will include topics such as conscious catering, contract negotiations, sustainable luxury and working with big-name entertainers. “It turns out that our superpower is actually connecting people and ideas,” said Endean. To that end, she enjoys bringing people together who don’t know each other and watching them collaborate on innovative things in the future. “It makes us all stronger,” she said.
Fresh Education Formats
#Eventprofs Unplugged, a 60-minute talk show format that debuted last year will return. A community table, a literal dining room table will serve as the setting for spontaneous kitchen table conversations after speakers finish in Google’s Experience Institute (Xi).
Shared Studios is a gold box of a portal with a screen that connects visitors with someone in one of 200 portals somewhere else in the world—the Ukraine, Rwanda, Mali, Barbados.
A fresh campfire platform will feature World Experience Organization, a global institution dedicated to improving the quality of experiences through World Experience Summit.
Looking for keynote ideas? Unique Speaker Bureau is bringing their Global Speaker Showcase with 15 speakers top inspirational voices from around the world in a rapid-fire format on Smart Monday
Mindful Times
Because meeting professionals are more than a set of skills, a series of presentations will look at personal development. Ayurvedic Health Coach Carmen Boscolo will help attendees find personal balance and Sepidah Eivazi, founder of Dawn of the Earth, will lead Somatic breathwork at noon daily as part of the Well-being Wheel, an area billed as a relaxing VR experience.
That is also where conversations with cancer survivors and anticipatory grief sufferers will have brave conversations. Another poignant addition, author Deana Brown Mitchell, will share her Scars to Stars stories of vulnerability, resilience and hope focused on suicide prevention with veterans and hospitality workers.
Sessions on biohacking, men’s and women’s health and meeting well will come from Olympian Meetings founder David Stevens and Tree-Fan Events CEO Anca Platon Trifan. “We bring our whole selves, that is why we need to create safe spaces to have conversations,” she said.
“We know it is a busy show, but we want you to leave exhilarated because you’ve taken the time for yourself, you’ve taken time to learn and you have grown your business,” said Endean. “It’s about finding that balance.”
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Rising talent sessions will incorporate mentorship along with sessions on sustainable luxury on Thursday for those who choose to finish strong. “There are some strong reasons to stay until the end to take things back with you that will make you better at your job,” she said. One of those reasons. You don’t want to miss Baba Brinkman, the Event Rapper, who will tie up all the loose ends on Thursday morning.
The bottom line for Endean is that attendees need to feel they have gotten a return on their time. “When you go to a conference, you want to come back richer for everything that you’ve done,” she said.
A Dedicated Tech Education Area
New this year is a dedicated event tech stage in the tech area. With more than 60 tech exhibitors clustered in one space, event tech attendees will have one convenient place to go to learn what is new. “This is the place to talk about, how tech is changing lives, debate what AI looks like and hear case studies from peers who have solved tech challenges. “They are building the things that are changing our futures. We need to hear what they have to say,” Endean said.
Follow the Blue Dot
Tahira Endean advises taking a balanced approach to scheduling your calendar for 2024 IMEX America. One helpful tool is digital navigation from Crowd Connected. 700 Bluetooth beacons around the trade show floor will allow attendees to map their appointments on the show floor so they make sense and don’t have to run from one side of the floor to the other. No more getting lost in gifting when you are looking for international destinations.
“This is my 18th IMEX that I’ve been to in some capacity. I can tell you it is possible to maximize your time to take appointments, get business done, have some me-time and learn something for yourself. It goes by fast,” Endean counseled.
“So, take your water bottle, look for the education sessions that are going to make a difference to you, follow the tracks using the new tagging system and if you have to take a break to answer emails or take a call, there will be a place to do that, too.”
Need one more hack? A new AI app that debuted in Frankfurt IMEX will deliver educational takeaways on a snap site minutes after session endings so you can pay attention without taking furious notes. “This will allow you to listen and engage in a different way,” she said.
This article appears in the September 2024 issue’s IMEX supplement. You can subscribe to the magazine here.
