Ten Top Moments from IMEX America

by Seth Kenvin

1. Party Scientist session at IMEX Inspiration Hub: On the final day, Jacques Martiquet first inspired and then asked a communal circle for someone to step forward with an oath. I went in, reflecting on a week of experiences in Las Vegas, with a vow to align with the great attitudes and initiatives I encountered, and help advance live, in-person and on-location activities that have special importance in this world right now.
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2. new EIC Hall of Leaders inductee (congrats!) Julius Solaris presentation at SmartSource exhibit space: This highlighted some of those essential aspects of live events’ rising importance. 90+ slide / <30 minute blistering deck (pic in this post includes bald-spotted me, left-of-center, intently gazing up at Julius) presentation opens with audience challenge about why in-person engagement’s so important now. And, with approval by our sage presenter, the consensus during my session was that as our increasingly-AI on-line activities become more synthetic,  in-person engagements become more vital.
   
   
3. Club Ichi activities: Over-the-top production geniuses gathered dozens in PJs for pre-dawn Tropicana demolition, which I skipped to optimize for next morning’s push-up challenge (below, keep reading). I did join an on-the-foor Ichi experience crawl with not quite enough glass capacity for me to enjoy Moroccan tea service, and I joined two community tables, led by inimitable Liz Lathan, with discussions including how field marketing is becoming more strategic, how to direct attention on-location / not in-phone (another Party Scientist s.o.), complexion of measuring events’ RoI, and getting people on-site immediately and meaningfully acquainted (s.o. Adam Fillary).
   
   
4. participation in Gather Voices documentary shoot for Event Mind Matters, another Ichi-empowered venture: Janice Cardinale is committed to better experiences based on support for and promotion of wellness including higher standards for every event participant being truly, reassuringly safe. This sort of progress is of course necessary for events activities to fully realize the rising potential that was so clear throughout IMEX.
   
   
5. DAHLIA+ activities: A corner of the exhibit floor constantly pulsed (sometimes in a literal dance party) spanning the Tech Education Stage where Shideh Doerr showed JabberYak forming immediate rich connections between people, the Tech Upskill Bar where Braindate’s Jillian Cardinal and I talked about opportunities to produce with authentic, creative distinction, and the Tech2Grow Collective where Joe Eitzen presented Snapbar’s approach to tech enhancing (/not distracting from) in-person experiences as revealed in my bobblehead doppelganger. There.App Co is psyched to exhibit with Dahlia in Tech2Grow Collective at iaee Expo! Expo! in December!
   
   
6. Two Dudes Photo free headshots: Whatever the length, this line’s worth it for half a dozen pics, in different poses and with different backgrounds, guided by highly professional coaching about optimal arm-fold (the shoot is also source of my new LI profile pic). In-person service by an expert,  in my case from founder Mason Foster, makes real-world experiences that much more resonant amid all our electronic interactions. My and Mason’s connection was strong enough that we both recalled a similar encounter, years ago, at an Emerald Ace gathering.
   
   
7. What Balance Means To Me panel of agency CEOs at Inspiration Hub: MGME’s Carvie Gillikin spoke of increasing priority on getting employees together effectively, and enjoyably, in great places, during this time of less office-centric work norms. The Opus Group’s Kim Kopetz finds things so dynamic now that she invests  confidence in her teammates’ operational capabilities, freeing more time for her to anticipate future developments. Thanks to Vamshi Velmajala of Snapsight for the automatic notes of this session helping me recall highlights, showing how everything has a role to play in elevation of event quality – even (sometimes) AI.
   
   
8. pushup challenge by the Resilience Room: On-location success relies on teamwork among the right sets of talents like Anca Platon Trifan’s organizational aplomb, DJ Grafitti Martin Smith’s pec-pounding beats, and David Stevens’ encouragement between sets about brain-body connections and the benefits our upcoming IMEX day would have from more than 200 pushups within 20 minutes. The communal exercise expanded internationally with our Las Vegas crew taking inspiration from Colleen Coll not letting schedule conflicts that put her in London get in the way of her reps.
   
   
9. Encore exhibit space: The IMEX floor actually does not have much intensive exhibiting, it’s more filled with spaces for small meetings, presentations, and group engagement. But the Encore space did set a standard for great exhibiting. While feeling my recovery from the pushup challenge, Encore engaged even more live senses from lavender scent blasts, to plush projectiles flying over partitions, to on-site people transitioning to holographic avatars. These innovations are presented as economical and sustainable ways to distinctively engage people in real-world settings.
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10. Food and beverage: The real-world sensory engagement of course extended to taste as well with highlights including Visit Baltimore’s crab dip, Meet Boston’s lobster roll sliders, and end-of-day espresso martini service from Freeman. One evening event I attended, also with good food and drink, was Live Nation’s takeover of Brooklyn Bowl, an impressive setting for game play, concerts and more, where I had great discussion with Joshua Dodson of Culture.Fun about the exciting post–pandemic rebound of live activities on-location. Much has changed since 2020, and having endured through brutal lock-down days among other impactful trends, IMEX showed me the events industry is poised for more vibrancy and importance than ever, and we’re excited for There.App’s role.