LAS VEGAS—There was no doubt that with 12,068 meeting and event professionals in attendance, 4,339 total buyer attendees, and 62,000 appointments, IMEX America 2022 was back full throttle. And with fewer concerns top of mind about safety, mask-wearing, and hand sanitizing (although not to fret, sanitizer stations on-site were plentiful), attendees had more bandwidth to discuss industry trends as they move into Q4 and forecast for 2023.
The international trade show took place Oct. 11-13 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, where IMEX Group relocated to in 2021 following a 10-year recurrence at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. And in the spirit of newness, merged event-tech suppliers MeetingPlay, Aventri, and eventcore took the opportunity to rebrand under new company name Stova—derived from “standing ovation”—which aims to consolidate the three major tech companies into a holistic event management solution.
MeetingPlay, Aventri, and eventcore unveiled a rebrand under the name Stova—derived from “standing ovation”—in an effort to consolidate the three major tech companies into a holistic event management solution.Photo: Vincent Murphy/BizBash
Also new, Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino debuted the $100 million remodel of its 2.1 million-square-foot convention center on the first day of IMEX. And aside from carpeting upgrades that reflect Mandalay Bay’s tropical design, there are 11 new 24-by-13-foot digital walls for brand placements, sponsorship opportunities, and targeted event messaging. For increased data transmission speed up to 9,400%, the convention center now also boasts Cat6A Ethernet cabling throughout, as well as 200-plus motion detection cameras and RFID locks on all meeting room doors.
At IMEX, Caribe Royale Orlando took the opportunity to unveil a $127 million expansion and renovation that was phased across two years, which included the addition of the 50,000-square-foot Palms Ballroom (pictured). There’s now a total of 220,000 square feet of gathering space across the property.Photo: Courtesy of Caribe Royale Orlando
But we also want to know what’s to come. And while it can be difficult to forecast the future in an ever-changing industry, BizBash heard rumblings of what industry pros should have top of mind as they head into Q4 and beyond. Here’s what we think you should keep an eye on…
1. Sustainability rules.
If “safety” was the buzzword of IMEX 2021, then “sustainability” was undoubtedly 2022’s counterpart.
Take BizBash’s conversation with Gerardo Tejado, the senior vice president of global value development and the general manager of meetings and events at American Express Global Business Travel (GBT), for example, where he called sustainability a “corporate mandate” rather than a trending topic. “Our forecast found that 80% of respondents say their organization took sustainability into account when planning meetings and events,” Tejado noted, adding that of those, “76% have a defined sustainability meetings program strategy in place.”
AmEx GBT walks the walk with its own initiative to make the industry more sustainable. “We advise on everything from location choices with the smallest carbon footprint to certified venues, food, and beverage choices that avoid carbon emissions.” And as if that weren’t enough, 2022 marked the beginning of AmEx’s partnership with Shell Aviation “to push forward the development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to help reduce carbon emissions and limit air travel’s climate impact,” Tejado explained.
Sustainability was a hot topic at this year's trade show, and IMEX Group put an emphasis on the initiative as well by allowing attendees to recycle their badges and lanyards at the end of the three-day event.Photo: Vincent Murphy/BizBash
The travel and meetings management company isn’t alone. On the other side of the world, the International Convention Center (ICC) Sydney has similar objectives to go green and is doing so with a legacy program to bolster the environment and give back to the local community. So aside from launching a carbon calculator—which Samantha Glass, the director of communication, corporate affairs, and social responsibility at ICC Sydney, hopes to utilize for a pre-event report come 2023—the convention center suggests that planners, “instead of buying flowers that’ll be thrown away, to think about purchasing some fresh produce from our local farmers and using them as centerpieces,” Glass said.
She added of the arrangements, which may consist of big artichokes or red chard: “We call them ‘edible centerpieces,’ they’re really beautiful. Then, at the end of the night, we take those products and we make meals out of them, then take them to the local shelter to feed people in need.”
Want to learn more about how to make the industry more sustainable? Look to Net Zero Carbon Events (NZCE), which also happened to use IMEX as a chance to announce the launching of its Roadmap for industry professionals, which will be unveiled at COP27 on Nov. 11, Decarbonization Day, in Sharm El- Sheikh, Egypt.
2. Reaching pre-COVID metrics is about supporting each other.
The International Convention Center (ICC) Sydney is prioritizing sustainability by working with local farmers to create "edible centerpieces" out of produce. At the end of the night, those fruits and vegetables are created into meals and donated to a nearby shelter.Photo: Courtesy of ICC Sydney
From talks with the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions (NBTC), it's obvious that leaning into the “bleisure” travel trend isn’t enough to get a destination on the map. Beyond allowing families to tag along and creating space in itineraries for professionals to spend time with their loved ones, NBTC’s North America director Antonia Koedijk told Bizbash it’s also about giving back to the community. The concept creates an ecosystem where the Netherlands can give an experience to meeting and event professionals unlike any other, and those professionals have the ability to give back.
In order to accomplish this, NBTC puts a heavy emphasis on both short- and long-term goals—which it prefers to refer to as “impact” and “legacy” goals—to bolster MICE travel and the Dutch tourism industry. It’s all mapped out in Perspective 2030, which boasts the Netherlands now—as an attractive, environmentally friendly, hospitable destination—as well as how it hopes to positively impact MICE travel by the year 2030. Koedijk noted that she asks herself how she and her team can take the more than 1 million travelers the Netherlands sees each year (35% of which are there for business) and convert them into tourists by teaching them about the country’s history and giving them a way to give back to the Dutch community during their stay.
Maritz Global Events, meanwhile, enforced the sentiment that bringing the industry back to pre-COVID levels is about leadership taking care of their employees. Steve O’Malley, Maritz’s COO, said he looks to move the industry forward by supporting his employees now more than ever. “We’re in the business of people,” he told BizBash on-site at IMEX. And to truly prove this commitment, he cited an “instance earlier this year where we resigned a customer simply because they treated our employees terribly.”
But it’s also about paying employees what they deserve. “It comes down to being realistic and taking what the market price is, if you will, for all the great talent that we invite to work with us,” O’Malley said. “And that’s changed dramatically—sometimes up to double digits—depending on skill set. We’re matching what is needed to attract people in,” the C-suite executive said, while also noting that beyond a paycheck, he puts great emphasis on “continuing the culture Maritz has built over the 60-plus years it's been in business.”
And for Caesars Entertainment, chief sales officer Michael Massari puts an emphasis on mentorship and thought leadership. “We’ve got lots of people on our team—myself included—that are volunteers in the industry. (For example,) I’m the co-chair of the Meetings Mean Business Coalition, we’ve got representatives on MPI’s global board and on the board of trustees. We think that’s a critical part of giving back to the community that we operate in.”
3. Content is king.
Yes, content is still king. And despite the shift back to IRL, Sam Kolbert-Hyle, the president and CEO at Brandlive, nodded to the fact that it always will be. There’s a perpetual need for virtual as it pertains to “big meetings and big moments” in the meetings and events industry, he said.
Sure, Brandlive is a virtual event platform, but Kolbert-Hyle noted that he set out to create something rather “binge-worthy” in its production—like your favorite show on a streaming service—”that has emotion in it, that maybe made you cry, stir butterflies in your stomach, or make the hair on your arm stand up” in order to keep the future of virtual events bright.
Brandlive's booth at IMEX was set up like a production studio to echo president and CEO Sam Kolbert-Hyle's sentiment that there's a perpetual need for virtual as it pertains to “big meetings and big moments” in the meetings and events industry.Photo: Courtesy of Brandlive
To accomplish this, the CEO said that he and his team “think like a showrunner or producer” rather than an event planner, “because attention spans are so small that you can’t feed them coffee and donuts to keep their attention anymore, you have to actually make the content good. You have to make it a show.” Cue “high production value, nice cameras, multiple shots, (and) graphics like the types you would see on The Ellen DeGeneres Show or on Oprah.”
According to Brisbane-based EventsAir, it’s about leveraging 30-plus years of experience. Chris Ridd, the event tech company’s recently appointed CEO, noted EventsAir’s uniqueness as a veteran in an industry that has only become so saturated in the past two years. Thus, the company was able to develop a “unique pricing model where planners aren’t charged for additional events, or additional features, or by attendees.” Ridd enforced that EventsAir sets itself apart by “not penalizing our customers for being successful at virtual events”—a model that he attributes to keeping virtual and hybrid alive.
Working pods on-site gave attendees a reprieve to answer emails before networking on the trade show floor.Photo: Bennett Carpenter/BizBash
