IMEX 2008, News of the Tourism Tradeshow

IMEX 2008: rate discounts in car rental thanks to Sixt Partnership. Winning Wild Cards: Two exciting new destinations for the meetings and incentive travel industry have been selected as the 2008 Wild Card winners– Armenia and Torun in Poland. 2008 Women’s Forum at IMEX.

Partnership with SIXT

Mobility service provider, Sixt, has been confirmed as the official car hire partner for IMEX 2008. As a result the company will be offering discounted rates to all registered IMEX participants during the show period. Sixt is the market leader in Germany and has a network of more than 85 countries, with approximately 3,500 stations and service points. The company offers the largest worldwide fleet of BMWs and Mercedes,
including station wagons, convertibles and jeeps. Its comprehensive services are available at major airports and train stations, and also in
selected partner hotels. Sixt also offers a truck fleet designed to meet any logistical challenge that congresses, meetings and events may present. In addition, event organisers often favour the Sixt luxury chauffeur and limousine service for special guests and dignitaries as all drivers are specially trained and multi-lingual. Gold Card holders already benefit from attractive discounts, including 25% discount off all discountable rates with Sixt rent a car, 15% discount with Sixt holiday cars and 15% off truck rentals.

HelmsBriscoe International powers up for IMEX!
HelmsBriscoe International (HBI) will be bringing over 80 high powered Associates from around the world as part of their IMEX hosted buyer delegation. In addition, the new HBI senior management team of Ian Quartermaine, Managing Director and Bob Gilbert, Senior Vice President will be in attendance.
With both Ian and Bob’s combined experience of over 30 years in international sales and marketing within hospitality and travel distribution, this energetic duo plan on driving higher value to both clients and hotels. In our time compressed world HBI’s one-stop shop solution gives valuable time back to clients.
The HBI network spans 35 countries with 900 associates around the world feeding data into the HBI database including property intelligence, rate histories and anecdotal client experiences and feedback. HelmsBriscoe enjoys partnerships with virtually every major hotel chain and most independent properties. HBI clients can take advantage of the pricing and concessions associated with the collective buying power of all of their clients.

Winning Wild Cards: Two exciting new destinations for the meetings and incentive travel industry have been selected as the 2008 Wild Card winners– Armenia and Torun in Poland

. Each will receive free of charge space at the show together with a package of marketing and organisational support. The GCB have also
chosen two new German Wild Card winners: Holstein Eventmarketing and Marketingkooperation Städte Schleswig-Holstein e.V.Messe Frankfurt’s green mission.
Noted for their sound environmental policies, the team at Messe Frankfurt are continuously looking at ways to reduce the environmental impact of the exhibitions held at the venue.
Initiatives include:
u Using rainwater for flushing toilets u Treating waste water to break down cooking fats u Introducing adjustable energysaving hall lighting systems u Reusing the energy produced by incinerating food waste u Recycling all carpeting Messe Frankfurt are working closely with the IMEX organising team for long-term environmental improvements to IMEX such as using
shuttle buses that run on gas rather than diesel – and using carpet made from cornstarch. Trials are currently underway to test whether the cornstarch carpet can stand up to three very busy days at IMEX! High-tech - simply fun for Germany 2008 “High Tech - High Fun” will be the motto of the German stand at IMEX this year. Covering an area of almost 1,300 square metres, the enduringly striking German stand will once again be the largest single stand at the show.
Its 2008 motto will be reflected in a fresh,new stand design that will once again showcase around 140 German individual exhibitors. With its ‘Meetings Made in Germany’ pedigree, the GCB ensures that no other exhibition can boast such a large German presence as IMEX, offering the chance to meet with so many German destination managers, product experts and service suppliers.

Newcomers on the IMEX Germany stand in 2008 will include Ringhotels, phaeno Wolfsburg, Vila Vita Hotels, luebeckongress, tauleo events & incentives and Filmpark Babelsberg. Germany’s capital city Berlin has reserved more space this year and will be represented along with 25 partner companies.
Hamburg Messe and Congress together with Hamburg Convention & Event Bureau will also be taking additional exhibition space. Hoffmann Catering of Munich will provide food and beverages, while Satis & Fy will ensure that technical support is of the highest standard. Numerous other co-op partners,including Tourismus + Congress Frankfurt GmbH together with the Alte Oper Frankfurt and others will also be exhibiting on independent stands nearby.

Global competencies Mary Power, Executive Director at the US-based Human Resource Certification Institute, will lead the 2008 Women’s Forum at IMEX. The forum will examine what competencies employers are looking for globally – and what should be on a CV to get their attention. The industry panel will discuss the qualifications that they look for when hiring and promoting individuals in a global setting, and identify the key HR benchmarks and success factors. The panel will share their experiences in selecting and
managing a diverse group of meetings industry professionals in today’s fast paced environment. The forum will offer insights for both the meetings industry employer and the employee.
Mary Power is uniquely qualified to lead the Women’s Forum - prior to joining HRCI, Mary was the President and CEO of the Convention Industry Council (CIC) for seven years. She was selected by Meeting News as one of the 25 most influential people in the meetings industry for six consecutive years. In 2003 and 2005 she was selected by Tradeshow Week as one of the 25 most influential women in the meetings industry. Also in 2005 she was selected by NYSAE as one of the top five outstanding women industry executives and by Business Travel News as one of the 25 most influential executives in the business travel industry.

A busy schedule of seminars is already confirmed for the Professional Development Pavilion at IMEX.
Soul at Work will offer valuable stress management advice in an interactive session titled ‘Steer yourself and your team from stress to success’. Award-winning journalist and speaker Tony Carey’s session ‘I’ll never forget whatshisname’ is all about how to stand out in the crowd by creating your own personal brand. Ann Holmes, author of the Rainbow- Plus Personality Type Assessment System, will help participants identify their own personality type – and understand the implications this has for effective business relationships.
The issue of managing meeting content versus managing meeting logistics will be discussed by Maarten Vanneste, CEO, Abbit. Sundial will share the top tips from their Meeting Planner Learning Programme and SHINE will be offering a unique speed mentoring service.
A workshop run by Richard John will look at the importance of making all face to face events ‘experiential’ – and will show you how to do it. Professional Development Pavilion sponsors, CIC (Convention Industry Council) will offer an inside look at their Certified Meeting Professionals programme followed by a drinks reception.
Finally global futurist Rohit Talwar will share his latest research on meetings industry trends and developments – and will offer a radically different perspective on the design, content and delivery of events in the future.