With a combined annual meetings and events spend of over $270 million, the 80 corporate buyers who came together for the third Exclusively Corporate @IMEX created the most influential gathering yet in this successful yearly series of dedicated education and networking events specifically for corporate meeting and event planners.
The group who met in the spectacular newly renovated Kempinski Gravenbruch on the day before IMEX in Frankfurt opened included buyers from 27 countries around the world covering 13 industry sectors. Senior executives from Accenture, American Express, Barclays, Cisco, Fidelity, GlaxoSmithKline, Lenovo, SAP and TetraPak were among the participants.
A ‘meet and greet’ dinner on the Sunday evening hosted by Starwood Hotels & Resorts and on the following day a short networking breakfast sponsored by Dubai Convention & Events Bureau were the first opportunities for the executives to meet and make connections with their peers.
The main programme opened with a dynamic and interactive introductory session to connect participants and help them make the most of the programme.
Kevin Kelly, internationally acclaimed motivational speaker and authority on the success principles underpinning entrepreneurship, leadership, sales and motivation, then delivered the keynote address. In ‘How Xceptional execution redefines innovation and enhances engagement’, he explained how the driving force behind many organisations’ successes is often the exceptional execution of an ordinary idea and why dreaming is no substitute for doing!
After a networking lunch, the programme then split into tracks focusing on ‘Engagement’ and ‘Technology & Negotiation’. Alongside these education strands, senior corporate executives with more than 10 years’ experience who manage meetings and event programmes or departments were able to take part in the private Executive Meeting Forum.
At the first session in the Engagement track, the participants heard what business gurus are saying about innovation and engagement from Alan Jordan and Ron Immick of BookBuzz before learning about innovation and engagement in destination selection from Gerard Brown, Head of Future Events at UBM Routes, including how to communicate the value proposition of hosting events and how to use the value proposition to reduce the costs and increase the bottom line.
The Technology & Negotiation track, sponsored by London & Partners , opened with an engaging session by Mike Dominguez, Senior Vice President for Sales at MGM Resorts International, on the state of the industry in 2015 and top trends highlighting the need for change and rapidly changing technology, behaviour changes in audiences, the future of meeting room design and the influences behind the trends. LinkedIn expert and trainer Bert Verdonck then explained how to innovate by using LinkedIn to engage.
The programme finished with an innovative World Café discussion session on topics determined throughout the day by delegates before a networking dinner hosted by London & Partners.
Victoria Lee of the Estee Lauder Companies from New York, USA said; “This is one of the best education events I have attended. It’s great to meet people from outside North America, people who have a global perspective, and to learn from talking to them, to learn about best practices. The industry trends were very interesting and I’ll certainly be sharing them with my senior managers. It’s been a day well spent.”
CJ Lin of Nu Skin Greater China from Taiwan also appreciated the opportunity to learn from industry colleagues all over the world. “It’s been great to hear different perspectives on our industry as people in different continents and industries think and operate in different ways. It’s also been good to share knowledge with other people here about contacts and experiences, about destinations and suppliers. The speakers provided valuable insights, particularly about budgets and choosing venues.”
Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group, commented: “We are delighted with the feedback for this third Exclusively Corporate @IMEX event. Each year we have worked to further improve and develop the programme. This year, the sessions focussed on engagement and innovation and the updated format gave the buyers even more opportunity to develop relationships and make connections with their peers.
“Exclusively Corporate has now consolidated its reputation and role as an important element of the IMEX education programme, attracting new corporate buyers into the show, as well as helping them to expand both their knowledge and peer networks. It is an event that is greatly appreciated by both exhibitors and buyers.”
IMEX in Frankfurt is currently taking place at Messe Frankfurt from 19 to 21 May 2015.
