On June 9-11, ibtm america took place in my new hometown, the city of Chicago. Assistant Editor Morgan Halaska and I attended the tradeshow to meet with planners and suppliers in the meetings and events industry.
The tradeshow adopted a new style this year and held a closed-door event for the first time. Exhibitors and hosted buyers took part in a pre-show, mutual match system where they both selected who they wanted to meet and do business with. Over 5,200 appointments were pre-scheduled.
“ibtm america is part of the ibtm events portfolio (www.ibtmevents.com) and follows in the footsteps of our sister event, ibtm arabia, which took place earlier this year. Both are all-inclusive solutions with an innovative meeting pod design customized stand for each exhibitor,” said Jaime McAuley, event director, ibtm america. “Providing touch points for exhibitors and buyers, that not only include pre-scheduled appointments but also networking and education, the intention is for all attendees to be given as many business opportunities as possible, maximizing return on investment, and creating an industry community that can exploit all these connections.”
The set up change came from research that asked both suppliers and buyers their business objectives for the event.
Before attending the event, I was apprehensive about the pre-scheduled appointments. Morgan and I had only attended open tradeshows in the past and we weren’t sure if this would work in our favor. We were proved wrong. I loved this setup and would encourage tradeshows to adopt this feature in the future.
Knowing who we were going to meet with beforehand allowed Morgan and I to do research on the company or area we would be discussing and prepare questions. It also allowed the person we were speaking with to know a little about our magazine and have pertinent information ready. The meetings were much more productive and informative because both parties were prepared.
Additionally, attendees were treated to social networking events at unique venues in Chicago each night of the tradeshow. These events allowed both exhibitors, hosted buyers and the press to mingle in a more relaxed setting and maybe talk to people they weren’t able to set up a meeting with. The events were a lot of fun and both Morgan and I made some great connections with others in the industry.
ibtm america was an extremely successful event and I can’t wait to attend again next year. The organization has already announced the 2016 tradeshow will be taking place in Nashville at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. Cant’ wait to see you all there!
