AIME
AIME shines new
dialogue light in the dark
TALK2 MEDIA TOOK OVER THE RUNNING OF AIME 2019 MEETINGS
INDUSTRY SHOW FOR THE FIRST EDITION IN MARCH. CEO MATT PEARCE SPOKE
TO CMW IN MELBOURNE ABOUT THE HUGE EFFORT INVOLVED
he first edition of the AIME
meetings show in
Melbourne recently, under
new Talk2 Media
management, made a Sunday start, with
site visits for buyers ahead of the
education content kick off on the Monday.
“With the introduction of all the
educational content, Monday was the
best day to do it. We therefore moved the
media and hosted buyers site visits to
Sunday. The networking was successful
and the education we worked on with the
PCMA, ICCA and SITE was well
received. Events like ‘Dialogue in the
Dark’ went down particularly well,” was
how chief organiser Matt Pearce saw it.
The show introduced another first
with breaks in the morning and
afternoon, which were well received,
although Pearce admitted the task of
getting the hosted buyer mix right –
both for quality and geographic locations
– had been a challenge in terms of
reconciling the meetings that buyers
wanted versus the exhibitors’
expectations. “It’s a complex piece,” he
acknowledged.
Over 600 hosted buyers took part in
more than 5,000 showfloor meetings.
In terms of the enduring validity of the
hosted buyer model, Pearce believes the
onus is on making sure that the exhibitor
gets a return on their investment, “that’s
a priority of the organiser,” he said.
“Paying for them to come in focuses
the mind on the investment you put into
it as an organiser.”
Pearce’s aim is to double the number of
hosted buyers, but admitted the need this
year was to “walk before we can run”.
Nevertheless, a 50% uplift in buyers
was creditable, with 52% of those being
new to the show and 62% international
compared to approximately 18%
international last year.
Pearce said a lack of new hosted buyers
had been a complaint from previous
years. “Exhibitors complained they had
seen them all before. We also took on
board complaints about the networking
and not enough food”.
In terms of new exhibitors, he said:
“There are still a lot we want back. We’re
talking to them.” He said many were
happy to come through and take a look at
the new-look show even if it hadn’t
worked for them previously. “They’re
taking small steps forwards. Thailand,
Indonesia, Malaysia were here, for
example.”
“We’ve gone
out with
a lot of
promises.
People
want to see
if you can
deliver”
ISSUE 100
How did Pearce define a good show?
“The exhibitors need a return on
investment and the hosted buyer needs a
return on time. They come in, have all
these appointments and if they walk
away with new venues, new destinations
or suppliers then everyone’s won.
‘Dialogue in the Dark’ was a win but you
need a series of wins. It’s never just one
thing. Not everyone likes the same thing,
but generally feedback has been great.”
Show owner Melbourne Convention
Bureau’s involvement in the running was
minimal this year. “Now and then I
would seek council with Karen Bolinger
on a couple of things but day to day
running has been what they need to
know only. Ultimately, they employed us
to manage the show,” Pearce noted.
So, what is still to change?
“We’d like to grow the show obviously.
We’ve gone out with a lot of promises.
People want to see if you can deliver. If
we get this right, people will say ‘they
know what they’re doing’ and ‘maybe we
should spend more’ – we can then grow
the show, invest in more hosted buyers
and more content.”
Pearce stresses the importance of the
show for the region. “There isn’t another
large show like this… In terms of scale
we have an
opportunity to
make it even
bigger. If we do it
right, to create the
IMEX of the Asia
Pacific region.”
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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