Creativity and engagement are set to top the agenda at IMEX America this year. A new Play Room and dedicated education sessions from both meeting and entertainment professionals are set to provide a fresh look at meeting planning.
The new Play Room, powered by Play With A Purpose, will be held throughout IMEX America, 13 – 15 October in Las Vegas, offering attendees a creative, interactive, hands on “play space”.
With ‘quirkshops’ during Smart Monday on 12 October and on the Inspiration Hub throughout the show, the Play Room will showcase a variety of tools and techniques, providing planners with immediately useable ideas to implement in meetings. Quirkshops will cover room design, technology, networking tools and teambuilding ideas, enabling planners to create more engaging, creative meetings. Planners can work with others to get to grips with human whiteboarding, gamification, humour power and zen tangles among others.
The Inspiration Hub, home to all show floor education during IMEX, has a dedicated creative learning track with impactful sessions designed to boost engagement and create a memorable delegate experience.
Human connection – a lost art in a noisy world will be delivered by award winning magician and MPI Keynote Tim David on 13 October. Through his work, Tim has learnt what makes people tick and will share many tips in this motivational presentation uncovering the key to effective and persuasive communication and fostering connections.
Award winning film director Josh Tickell makes movies geared toward the 80 million people between the ages of 18-35. According to Inc. Magazine, he is “America’s #1 Strategist” for connecting with the Millennial Generation (also known as Generation Y). His MPI Keynote Managing and marketing to the future of Generation Y on 14 October is set to explore this further, explaining how to tailor sustainability policies, communication, HR and customer service to meet the needs of the attendees of the future.
Patrick Henry, former Nashville songwriter, performer and MPI keynote says: “If you can’t create an emotional connection with your customers…you’re going to lose them”. His keynote address on 15 October, Becoming ‘Remember-able’, shares real life stories to show how to build an extraordinary customer experience, achieve personal and professional excellence and build loyalty among their team.
Carina Bauer, CEO of IMEX Group, comments: “In a rapidly evolving marketplace, it’s essential to stay up to date with the latest trends and develop a fresh approach to planning and hosting meetings. Our new Play Room is an exciting new addition to IMEX America. When combined with our creative education sessions and the outstanding line up of MPI Keynotes, we hope to provide delegates with the latest business practices which they can take back and apply to their meetings.”
Alongside the Creative Learning focused education sessions are nine other speciality tracks including Business Skills, Marketing & Communications, Risk Management & Compliance, Technology & Social Media, Trends & Research, Health & Wellbeing, Diversity, Sustainability and General Education.
The Inspiration Hub, home to all show floor education at IMEX America, is split into six areas with more than 180 education sessions – each catering to different learning styles. There are seminar rooms, a campfire area and a Hot Topic area providing the opportunity to debate the latest industry issues with peers. The Meet the Experts Clinic offers individual appointments with an industry expert and presentations at the Research Pod area showcase the latest industry research.