IMEX 2023 Focus: Human Nature

Over 4,000 buyers and 3,300 global suppliers are expected to attend the upcoming IMEX conference in Las Vegas, featuring over 200 education programs managed by the leading travel associations around the world. Here is an overview of the program, including a highlight of Brand Media Coalition preferred solution providers exhibiting at the event.

Event Highlights
BMC Solution Partners at IMEX

“Our focus on HUMAN NATURE will be about what’s good, constructive, and loving about being human; about our positive potential and ability to change, adapt and thrive. In short, I guess you could say it’s a reminder for us all to choose hope, not fear.” That’s the key talking point for over 10,000 people who will converge on Las Vegas Oct. 17-19 for IMEX 2023, according to Carina Bauer. Click here to register.

She writes: “Our industry is predicated on creating and maintaining human-to-human relationships that drive growth and so we have an amazing opportunity and responsibility to foster positive human connections. These relationships feed into networks that stretch all over the world. This is a tremendously powerful tool – a sphere of positive influence if you like – that we need to lean into with more purpose and belief right now.”

The education program, she says, “will be rich in sessions designed to show us how to design meetings and events that bring out the very best in human nature, whether that’s creativity, honesty, psychological safety, inclusivity, constructive behavioral change or more. We’ll examine topics such as how to break unhelpful habits; the (profitable) power of compassion and purpose in business today and how to manage your own and your staff’s mental health while still achieving optimal performance.”

IMEX says it has created an “AVoice4All program, which recently debuted at IMEX America, that will further evolve this year, creating space for meaningful discussions and education around DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion.) We’ll also be exploring our relationship with technology and showcasing the latest tools and programs we need to run great events.”

Bauer says, “We’re already talking to partners about some fascinating behavioral activations for IMEX Frankfurt. And because the five senses are so vital to the way humanity engages with the world and each other, we’ll be exploring this aspect of our biology too.” She adds, “As for our exhibitors, expect to learn about their local communities, their heritage and traditions as well as their food, drink, arts and culture.”

She concludes, “Human beings thrive and survive in community with each other, and meetings and events are a natural extension of that need to be together, not isolated from each other.”

Event Highlights

Education. IMEX says the free professional education program includes 200-plus in-depth seminars, hands-on workshops and specialist forums on the talking point theme, sustainability, well-being and experiential, along with event tech, legislation. and professional skills—much of it provided by industry partners MPI, ASAE, Destinations International, ICCA, PCMA, SITE and the US Travel Association.

Networking. The event includes “countless opportunities to connect in the exhibit hall and at activities around the city, including the “IMEXrun, the glamour of Drai’s or the informality of on-booth happy hours.”

Experience. The online meeting and schedule system are designed to help attendees plan their time with ease.

BMC Solution Partners at IMEX

The following preferred solution providers of the Brand Media Coalition are participating at IMEX.

Citizen Watch America Booth F867. Receive a complimentary timepiece from Bulova and Citizen Watch America by booking an appointment to learn about its event gifting programs. Adrienne Forrest, Senior Vice President, and Heather Chevreau, Director of Corporate Sales will be on hand to discuss programs that it says are designed to be:

Uniquely personal - paying attention to your budget, your guests and your goals.
Delightfully interactive - pick the plan, pick the product and they will take it from there.
An event within your event - your people won't stop talking about it.

They say it’s first-come, first-serve for the gifts while supplies last based on when attendees book the appointment, not the time of the appointment itself. People must show up for the appointment to receive your gift. Click here to learn more about the exhibit at IMEX at booth F867 and to book an appointment.

GGI Worldwide Luxury Brands C4759. Founder Ree Wysong will be on hand to announce a new brand partnership and to talk about the company’s on-site fitting and redemption services, which include program options and a product mix to fit most budgets, she says. “We can custom-fit the gift of your choice by the pool, in an exhibit hall, at a sales meeting, or anywhere else as needed. We do the work while you relax and enjoy all the credit for giving Luxury Brands corporate gifts at your next event or in your program.” She will also be talking about the Branding Iron UGG customization program. Click here to book an appointment and for more details about GGI Worldwide’s exhibit.

Links Unlimited Booth F931, hosted by The Beyond Connection. Lori Straub, Senior Account Executive, Event Sales; Tony Ceja, National Account Executive, Event Gifting, and Bret Williams, Links Co-Founder and Director of Global Events, will be at IMEX to discuss the company's multiple event gifting programs. Tony Ceja recently was recognized as a 2023 Meeting Services Supplier of the Year for the meetings services division of HPN, the Hospitality Performance Network at HPNglobal.com. Click here to book an appointment.

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