A mainstay in the event agency and planner’s diary, this year’s 3 day IMEX Frankfurt conference was bigger and better than ever before.
Team Glisser spent almost 4 days exhibiting as part of the Technology Pavilion, returning not only with lots of memories and new contacts, but a new personal best for breaking down our stand (bang on 5 minutes).
Here’s what we’ve learned from the experience:
1. Booth babes are out – it’s all about the Booth Bros
Gone are the days of semi-clothed ladies on stands – this year it was all about the gentleman. It seems giant men are all the rage. Not only did Iceland successfully draw in the crowds by having The Mountain (Game of Thrones) appear on their stand, but we also spied what looked like the Jolly Green Giant strolling around.
2. Buyer appointments are worth their weight in gold
The IMEX appointment diary was a godsend. Hosted buyers were able to book meetings straight into stand diaries making sure that there was a steady flow of interested, potential buyers to talk to. The system was really easy to use, and meant there was a consistent flow of qualified leads to meet.
3. Messe Frankfurt is much, much bigger than it looks on the map
As we rapidly discovered, everything in Frankfurt looks deceptively close on the map. Reaching the venue entrance in no way meant we were close to our stand. By day 2 we’d wised up to the excellent shuttle buses put on by the venue. Something we’d wished we’d used on day 1, when we very almost ended up pole vaulting over a gate to get out of a side exit….
4. Airbnb is the way to go as a supplier
While the hosted buyers and visitors stayed in Frankfurt’s hotels, most of the exhibitors stayed in local Airbnb’s; a trend that’s only going to continue. Not only does it help keep costs down, but it also meant that we could cook our own meals and socialise more easily each evening.
5. Delegates increasingly expect WiFi as a basic provision
As with most large venues, the WiFi network struggled to keep pace with delegate demand. While the stands had wired connections (fantastic), it wasn’t always so easy to connect smartphones and iPads to the internet, and we heard a lot of visitors fretting about how much they were having to spend buying extra data.
While we’re certainly biased at Glisser, we increasingly notice event delegates expecting good WiFi in the same way that everyone expects a café in the venue.
6. Comfortable shoes are a must
See point three. One memorable day our step counters showed we’d walked a grand total of 18 km, spending almost 7 hours solidly on our feet. Comfy shoes and trainers helped a lot, and we weren’t the only ones adopting this rule - we were particularly impressed with the DoubleDutch team’s regulation converse trainers.
