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This Just In

Business Events Industry Turns to IMEX for Innovation

FRANCES FERRANTE, SENIOR EDITOR
IMEX's new logo

FRANKFURT — When it comes to creative educational formats, IMEX won’t disappoint when the show reconvenes May 23-25 at Messe Frankfurt 

The IMEX Group—which has a new Head of Programme, Tahira Endean, CITP, CMP, CED—has once again partnered with a number of organizations to design innovative formats and learning experiences—something it has become known for.  

Among them: the Google Experience Institute (Xi) CoLabs, a series of 20-minute fast-paced ideation and brainstorming sessions centered around six ideas and themes from Google’s research. The focus is to rethink all aspects of event design, including trade shows; one lab will focus on cultivating belonging at a trade show. 

Meanwhile, over at the Encore Ideation Station, speakers will deliver quick fire 7-minute brainstorms designed to allow planners to share their voices and collectively source answers to some of the problems they keep facing. Each session rounds off with a secret finale, which the organizers refer to as a “hidden speakeasy.” The DRPG & Maritz—More than Experience Theatre returns again this year to help organizers look at their events with fresh eyes. Topics will include: “What if your attendees designed your event?” 

Related. IMEX America Achieves Visionary Status for Sustainability 

What better way to understand how to deliver education than to explore how you learn as an individual? Designers of business events will have the chance to work with Storycraft LAB to discover their own learning profiles and get advice on how to use them as tools to craft curated journeys at their own events. 

“Event organizers need to offer a broad range of education in a variety of formats, such as campfires, one to ones, seminars/workshops, keynotes and panels. This allows attendees to ‘pick and mix’ sessions to suit their skill set, desired outcomes and their available time. It also recognizes that participants arrive with diverse needs and preferred learning styles. Simply put, we don’t all learn or engage in the same way,” Endean said. 

“While delivering content around the ‘next big thing’ is always going to excite people, it’s essential to ensure content remains grounded, relevant and helpful for people—it has to meet their current needs both professionally and personally,” Endean said. “Post-pandemic and in the current climate of shrinking budgets and expanding workloads, meeting organizers are more discerning than ever about the events they leave home to attend. They need to have an experience that fits their individual needs and is the best use of their limited time and resources.” 

Along with providing rich education and experiences, IMEX Frankfurt will also be the backdrop for IMEX to debut its new branding. According to IMEX, the company no longer felt its logo and branding reflected its current identity, and after workshopping and testing, the resulting logo embodies people meeting face to face to do business and make connections. The new branding also involves inclusive design principles, with a soft brown tone as the background color instead of white, because it is more neurodiversity-friendly and easier to read for a wider range of people. 

Reach Tahira Endean here.

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