Editor's note: This article was provided courtesy of IMEX Group.
IMEX America’s learning program, which underpins the business and networking at the heart of the show, is now live online. Designed to both educate and entertain the global business event community, from seasoned veterans to first-timers, the 150+ session-strong program also offers progressive new formats and a few surprises.
Learning sessions are delivered across seven tracks: Technology and Innovation; Business Practices, Impact, Trends/Research, Well-being, Experience Design and the increasingly popular Event Marketing. Attendees can choose from over 150 sessions, many of them taking place on the show floor’s newly redesigned, multi-theater Inspiration Hub.
[Related: IMEX America Promises Impactful Programming That Will Engage Attendees on Deeper Levels]
All professional education at IMEX America, October 8 – 10, is provided free of charge, including the show’s specialist events for association, corporate and agency planners taking place on Smart Monday, powered by MPI, October 7.
Tahira Endean, Head of Programming at IMEX, outlines how she approached the design of this year’s program: “We’re out and about talking to our community all the time – we want to put ourselves in our attendees’ shoes to figure out what will resonate and enhance their show experience. What I love to do when crafting our learning program is to bring together unexpected combinations of people, all with a range of perspectives. The resulting debate and discovery is where the magic happens.”
Creative Collaborations
One group of speakers that’s sure to intrigue is delivering a session which has impact (IMEX's Talking Point), specifically cultural impact, at its heart. Drawing from their own experiences, three speakers will explore how to build meaningful, culturally-relevant experiences that go beyond the traditional:
Justin Wren – also an MPI keynote speaker at the show - is a US mixed martial artist who, following a life-changing trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, founded Fight for the Forgotten. This non-profit provides clean water, education, and empowerment to Pygmy communities in Africa.
Sucheta Rawal is an award-winning food and travel writer who has visited more than 100 countries across all seven continents learning about different cultures along the way. She founded Go Eat Give to raise awareness of different cultures through food and travel. “When I travel abroad, I dive into what people eat in their homes and why,” she says.
Virginie de Visscher from Destination Canada and Leonie Ashford from Tourism New Zealand will share their experiences as founding members of the new Global Indigenous Tourism Association.
Leadership trailblazer Holly Ransom is delivering a new Emergent Leadership Day where industry leaders from associations and across the city of Las Vegas will examine leadership from different angles. Being a good listener, asking the right questions and stepping into the ‘courage zone’ are all likely to figure highly in these discussions.
Holly explains: “My passion is how to close the ‘knowing and doing gap’ – how do we help people not just to explore ideas but put them to work practically. Whether that’s individuals improving their own leadership or collectively building a stronger leadership culture.”
Innovation a Star Attraction
With innovation topping the list of preferred topics for education according to Freeman’s research (Freeman Trends Report), Skift is bringing back its Innovation Lab to the show. The Skift Meetings Innovation Lab will address prime industry topics through facilitated peer-to-peer discussions. The Skift team is also joining Freeman and Explori to dig into data, looking at the latest industry insights, how they’re gathered and how planners can use these to inform decisions.
New for this year is a partnership with the Unique Speakers Bureau International who are bringing together over 15 top level speakers from around the world to Smart Monday. At the USBI Global World Series Speaker Showcase in partnership with IMEX and MPI, attendees can dip in to quick-fire speaker overviews throughout the day and potentially meet or source keynotes for their future events.
Finally, the nuts and bolts of event planning remain a fundamental thread throughout the education program. A series of meeting planner toolkit sessions will cover all the essentials, from contracts, security, managing risk and preparing for REAL ID, set to come into force for US travelers from next year.
Technology to Enhance Educational Value
To help attendees maximize their time at the show, IMEX continues its work with Snapsight, Gevme’s AI powered tool, to provide quick and easy access to takeaways from the education sessions. These highlights, available online and via the app, will free up attendees to put aside their notebooks and be fully present and focused in the sessions.
“We’re leaning into the reality of how people want to access learning”, says Tahira. “Whether it’s using AI to capture insight from the show floor or using a ‘pick and mix’ of formats with an understanding that we all digest information in different ways. We’ve designed content that’s bold, unexpected and prompts people to think about themselves, their roles and their skills differently – if they come away with three to five learnings they can immediately apply, then we’ve done our job!”
In line with current trends and preferences, well-being activities will be embedded across the show and in various styles designed to offer life-hacks, learning, coaching, fitness, nutritional and mental health guidance.
IMEX America 2024 takes place at the Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, and opens with Smart Monday, powered by MPI on Monday October 7, followed by the three-day trade show October 8 - 10.
