IBTM World 2022
Bring back Togetherness
With this year's annual theme "Yesterday's connection makers are today's culture creators", IBTM focuses on the topic of "culture creation". Photo: ibtm World
With this year's annual theme "Yesterday's connection makers are today's culture creators", IBTM focuses on the topic of "culture creation". Photo: ibtm World
While winter is rapidly approaching in Germany and the tense situation around the gas supply is moving people to prepare for cooler days, the idea of being in Mediterranean Barcelona is tempting. That's exactly where Reed Exhibitions is inviting visitors to the IBTM World trade show at the end of November.
Anyone imagining that heat supply is not an issue in sun-drenched Barcelona ought to have another think. This year, the notion must give way to reality: while energy-saving measures are still being discussed in Germany, Spain has been taking action: on August 2, 2022, the Spanish government passed the Energy Saving Law, which sets an upper limit of 19 degrees Celsius in public buildings. In addition, there are other voluntary initiatives with which the Spanish are making their contribution to solving the current crisis. These rules and regulations also have an impact on the IBTM World 2022. David Thompson, IBTM World Event Director, reported that reduced and more intelligent energy consumption is absolutely called for this year. “Spain has introduced new rules which apply to public and large commercial buildings to assist with energy conservation, and these will also apply to the Fira Gran Via. These include limits on air-conditioning and heating, and have been implemented to help reduce energy usage, help use energy more efficiently, and reduce dependency on Russian oil and gas supplies.”
Culture Creation as Annual Theme
With this year's annual theme "Yesterday's connection makers are today's culture creators", IBTM is focusing on the topic of "culture creation". The motto was born out of the realization that the events industry must adapt to a heterogeneous working environment after the pandemic. The theme aims to celebrate diverse cultures, to come together where differences meet, and to work together to shape the new culture of the events industry. This year, the main theme is further branched into sub-categories. “We will explore five key sub-themes within this throughout the show’s Knowledge Programme. Creating Better Connections will focus on networking, Creating Better Business will examine ROI and the challenges of modern business, Creating Better Careers will consider future skills, Creating Better Brands will evaluate brand building, and Creating Better Experiences will contemplate technology and innovation design,” said Thompson.
Yesterday's connection makers are today's culture creators
With the rise of remote working, culture has shifted from offices to events and it’s up to event professionals to use those events to create real, human, cross-team, cross-business cultures. The theme of IBTM World 2022 is culture creation.
Education and networking program
In this year's edition, the education and networking program will focus on Connections, Business, Careers, and Brands and Experiences. Special tracks on Networking, Return on Investment (ROI) and Creating Better Business, Future Skills, Brand Building, and Technology and Innovation Design will be key elements of the event. “As part of our value proposition, we have re-evaluated our market-leading Knowledge Programme to ensure it delivers real world solutions and sparks ideas and creativity. It has been carefully tailored to address the new challenges facing events professionals and is designed to help them skill up to take on the new challenges,” David Thompson explained. To allow more time in Hosted Buyers' schedules to attend educational sessions and meetings during the show, the Corporate Buyer Programme and Association Programme will be staged on November 28, 2022, the day prior to IBTM World.
A total of 10,000 participants are expected to the show in Hall 3 at the Fira de Barcelona, including 2,500 exhibitors and 2,500 hosted buyers. Among them this year, after a three-year pandemic break, also the destinations India and Brazil. The South American country has increased its booth size by 160 percent compared to its last presentation in 2018. Also exhibiting will be countries and cities such as Bahrain, Boston, Brussels, Ireland, Jordan, Canada, Croatia, Las Vegas, Malaysia, Miami, Spain, and the Czech Republic, as well as hotel chains such as Barceló Hotels and Meliá Hotels.
Personal contact as indispensable driver
The advertising slogan "Make a year's worth of connections at IBTM World" suggests that this year's trade show concept will once again focus on getting together in person. With the Networking Hour, Club Night and Welcome Party on the first day, IBTM World focuses on getting together and exchanging ideas. Networking, continuing education and knowledge exchange will be among the issues being promoted. The education program on cultural topics will take place on the stage in the center of exhibition action. The IBTM Accelerate stage will feature short presentations as well as idea showcases. IBTM takes place annually in winter and in recent years has been severely affected by corona restrictions. What has come with various challenges in the past has given IBTM World valuable experience to draw on today. With the Stay Safe Guidelines, IBTM World is confidently looking forward to the December show and enabling responsible contact among participants. Even if it is not currently mandated by the government, IBTM World recommends wearing proper face masks throughout the show site.
The pandemic was an incredibly difficult time. The industry and ibtm World embraced technology. Photo: IBTM World
Dynamics and transition
With the rapidly changing circumstances of the past pandemic years, the event industry has had to continually adapt and evolve. And that of course applies also to the format of IBTM World. According to IBTM Director Thompson, the industry has shrunk, various contacts are no longer the same and positions have remained unfilled. On the other hand, the new edition of the event and re-entry into in-person business brought in fresh faces. This year, half of the hosted buyers from 72 countries are new contacts in the IBTM portfolio. David Thompson summarized, “The pandemic was an incredibly difficult time for our industry, but we’ve learnt a lot, including how adaptable and resilient we are, how passionate we are about our industry, and how flexible and adaptable we can be. We embraced technology in a way we hadn’t before as an industry or a business, opening our event up to those who, for whatever reason, aren’t always able to attend a face-to-face event.”
Coming together in times of climate crisis
IBTM World is guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and focuses on the objectives that can be most influenced. On the IBTM website, the company provides information on the implementation of four of the 17 goals: Decent Work and Economic Growth, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, and Partnerships for the Goals. International face-to-face trade fairs such as IBTM World are confronted with various challenges in terms of sustainable action. With an international audience, the travel factor plays a critical role. With participants from all over the world, many of the visitors will travel by plane, but IBTM World offers a discount for flights with Lufthansa without any pointer to use the discount for long-distance travel only and to compensate the CO2 emission. There’s only a cue to extend the trip to learn more about the city, country, and culture better. True to the motto of IBTM World 2022.
Pia Such