IMEX Frankfurt grows because of technology and economic hard times
Wednesday, 18 January 2012 13:16
Ray Bloom, founder and owner of the show, talks to Sydney Paulden
The continued success of IMEX Frankfurt, celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year, underlines all that the meetings industry represents. In the face of the incredibly speedy development of technology and more and more advanced means of communication, people are still very keen to gather at the Messe Frankfurt.‘This is a trade show’, says Ray Bloom, founder and owner of Imex. ‘The face-to-face meetings cannot be replicated by any other means.’
He then adds: ‘In fact, technology assists us in what we do. We use technology to make the face-to-face show all the more known and all the more effective’.
He stresses that the MICE business is a personal business. People need to make new contacts; they need to maintain and strengthen relationships with existing contacts. ‘Personal networking is a big part of the show and this is an occasion when networking can operate on a level that new technologies cannot offer.
Ray Bloom is equally bullish about the success of IMEX Frankfurt even in the midst of a recession. ‘The show has grown year on year even during the harder times since 2008. The reason is obvious. IMEX offers business opportunities. These are even more important and unmissable when economies are struggling.’
Ray has always seen his exhibitions as more than just what takes place on the floor of the show. IMEX Frankfurt is an important hub for many activities taking place around it.
Just announced, especially to mark the 10th Anniversary of IMEX Frankfurt, is its ‘Power of 10’ study. This will seek opinions from individually selected thought and business-leaders inside and outside the meetings industry to help shed new light on what the next 10 years might hold in store. It will also look back over the last decade to capture the most important events and changes that have had the greatest impact on the industry and the professionals working within it.
‘We have always emphasised’, says Ray, ‘the educational role IMEX plays, with its extensive programme of seminars. And other organisations, such as ICCA, use the show as the focal point for their own events. And then people from all around the world build business trips in the region of Frankfurt and Germany before and after the show. In short, IMEX Frankfurt is an experience in itself, but it is also a way of making maximum use of time, benefiting MICE executives in many ways at once.’
