During today’s IMEX America closing press conference at Mandalay Bay, IMEX Group Chairman Ray Bloom reported overall participation of 12,000 people, which included 4,000 buyers. The show’s hosted buyer program included 3,300 of those buyers. The show was also 45 percent bigger than last year, in large part due to easing of travel restrictions, with 40 percent of returning exhibitors enlarging their booth space.
Bloom noted that while many participants from outside of the U.S. made it to last year’s show despite only being allowed to enter the U.S. the day before the show began, the tremendous growth this year was beyond what organizers had anticipated. And there was roughly an even split between attendees from North America and those from the rest of the world.
Drew Holmgreen, chief brand officer for MPI—IMEX’s strategic partner—noted that MPI’s 50th anniversary celebration began at IMEX America 2021 and concluded at IMEX America 2022, and he lauded the partnership with IMEX that has blossomed over the past 20 years.
“For nearly half of our existence, IMEX has been on our side for a great partnership and we’re so thankful for the kind of family relationship we have between Ray, Carina and the rest of the team,” he said. “I’ll speak for my team: We work really close with the entire team at IMEX. I’m very thankful for all that you provide us and very thankful for this partnership.”
Holmgreen said MPI activities at IMEX America are twofold.
“It is important for us to be here as a regional destination for destination awareness primarily, and also to connect with clients and hopefully gain more business.”
“We get the opportunity to bring our educational resources, then we also have our MPI Foundation activities—which were exceptionally successful this year,” he said. “We had keynotes all the way through, and we had our Smart Monday—which featured nearly 200 more attendees than in 2021. We had over 800 participants in Smart Monday education, and our keynotes that started on Monday and finished this morning also had over 800 participants. It’s great to see that face-to-face engagement and packed keynote sessions.”
Holmgreen also noted the 13 sessions (with more than 300 participants) held at MPI’s booth (“You see how this industry is starved for knowledge and connections.”) and noted that 2,725 people participated in MPI’s Rendezvous event on Wednesday—an attendance record and the first time the event has sold out.
“Our second purpose in being here is our Foundation, and Ray and Carina and the rest of the team at IMEX are wonderful supporters of the MPI Foundation,” he said. “At the height of the pandemic in 2020, this team was gracious enough to provide a donation of $250,000 to MPI, which went to the immediate benefit of our members. We are so thankful for their continued support of our organization and our membership.”
(“Thanks to our partnership with IMEX Group, the MPI Foundation has yet again set a new watermark for funds raised at IMEX America,” Kevin Kirby, executive director of the MPI Foundation said following the press conference. “We consistently position MPI Foundation Rendezvous, hosted and sponsored by Caesars Entertainment and Drai’s Nightclub, as ‘THE evening event to attend at IMEX America’—and this year was clear evidence. That resulted in over $315,000 raised for the Foundation in one evening and brought our cumulative IMEX America totals to in excess of $400,000.”)
Other Foundation activities at IMEX America included the invite-only Red, White and You, which raised more than $55,000, and the silent auction, which featured more than 90 packages and brought in another $35,000.
Holmgreen also noted that MPI will be visiting the home of IMEX Group with its European Meetings & Events Conference (EMEC) in March 2023, followed by the World Education Congress (WEC) in Mexico in June.
“We are thrilled to host so many buyers and show everything that’s new and everything that our visitors from around the globe remember about Las Vegas this week.”
Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said he appreciated all the hard work of the IMEX team to make the show a success over the years.
“This has been a great business show for Las Vegas, but it’s always a thrill to just host the entire industry here and to do so at such a great event,” he said. “We are nearly back. But one of the areas where we still need work is bringing back all of our international visitors. This is where that work gets done. We are thrilled to host so many buyers and show everything that’s new and everything that our visitors from around the globe remember about Las Vegas this week.”
Stephanie Glanzer, CMP, chief sales officer and senior vice president for MGM Resorts International, said “the energy felt in this building and this city this week is why we all get to do what we do.”
“We have been very fortunate in Las Vegas to have large groups since reopening just over a year ago to large gatherings,” she said. “This is why face to face matters. You can see the people sitting together, hugging, having ah-ha moments and conversations. I have said many times that we value it now more than ever and we all get to play a part of it.”
Glanzer said a recent $100 million remodel at Mandalay Bay involved parking, lighting, furniture and technology.
“As a company, we continue to invest in digital innovation, and it’s not just small stuff, its big stuff,” she said. “As we look into the future, how can we continue to innovate and provide immersive experiences as people come back and groups come back year after year? Most importantly, we all continue to focus on what matters, and that’s why the partnership with IMEX works so well. We align in how we operate as a business, and that is caring about protecting our planet and embracing all of mankind.”
“This is why face to face matters. You can see the people sitting together, hugging, having ah-ha moments and conversations.”
Carina Bauer, IMEX Group CEO, said the pandemic gave us an opportunity to step back and take stock as an industry.
“And I think from that, we are seeing some really positive, innovative changes happening,” she said. “Many of them are incremental in nature, and that’s a bit of a surprise given the speed of change and development, especially in the tech world, that we saw during the pandemic. We needed a moment after that to really step back and understand what this is going to mean for the future of our industry and the future of the events that we put together.”
Bauer said that change is really about how we create more human and people-first experiences.
“Trends like distributed and remote work forces are certainly helping us in the industry to really continue to prove the need for face-to-face interactions, the value of bringing people together to create teams,” she said. “That’s a massive trend I think we’ll continue to see that will be very good for this industry.”
Bauer said it’s also important to deliver experiences that “consider people’s full selves.”
“We’re not a consumer person and a businessperson—more and more that is merging,” she said. “We really need to think about that full-human, people-first experience. That means giving people more freedom of choice, letting go of things like overscheduling because we know that some of the best experiences and cherished memories really happen in the spaces in between. Give people choice and trust people to make their best decisions. It also means building much more inclusive events that not only look at how DEI is incorporated but also ensure belonging.”
“Trends like distributed and remote work forces are certainly helping us in the industry to really continue to prove the need for face-to-face interactions, the value of bringing people together to create teams.”
Bauer discussed the Google Experience Institute launching a project at IMEX America that empowers event professionals to design events that are more considerate and inclusive of all neurotypes.
“So they’re really urging us to put belonging into DEI because the data that they have show that belonging is very good for business,” she said. “High belonging is actually linked to a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% drop in turnover risk and a 75% reduction in sick days. Trying to incorporate that sense of belonging into event design can really help businesses to ensure the success of the business objectives of their events and continue to prove the value of events in the business mix.”
Bauer said IMEX is very intentional about many aspects of the design of IMEX America.
“For example, bringing nature into many of the spaces, that’s a very intentional design,” she said. “Incorporating well-being into the show, whether that’s through early morning exercise sessions, meditation or sleep pods. And some of our exhibitors are showing up very differently, too. Hyatt, for example, has meditation and sleep pods in their booth. IHG has provided well-being smoothies. And, of course, I hope many of you have experienced the Encore Break Free experience, a truly immersive way to tell the story of sustainability.”
On the topic of sustainable events, Baur noted that despite receiving numerous accolades, such the Events Industry Council’s Sustainable Events Standards Platinum certification, there’s a long way to go on sustainability.
“We’ve learned that just simply reducing the impact of the show—reducing the bad—isn’t enough,” she said. “We have to also aim for our events to have a positive net contribution to be truly regenerative. So we need to start not only reducing waste and water usage, but also really taking seriously our commitment to delivering net-zero events. We at IMEX are working very hard behind the scenes to firstly measure the full carbon impact of our events and then also to create a plan to reduce that carbon, step by step. We’ve committed to the industry’s net-zero target and we’re going to be publishing that roadmap in the coming months for everybody to see.”
