Northstar

CALENDAR Jan-Feb 2016 59 meetings & conventions • mcmag-asia.com AIME 2016 MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 23 TO 24 Over 4,000 suppliers and meeting and event planners convene at AIME every year, the largest of its kind in Australia. This year's event, now in its 24th year, will feature a welcome function hosted by Melbourne Convention Centre on February 22 instead of the gala event in order to facilitate more dynamic networking. A networking hour on February 23 will also take place on the show floor, while the Saxton Showcase event will make a return this year on the morning of February 24. More importantly, the hosted buyer appointment system will be shifted to Reed Travel Exhibitions' platform, complemented by webinars and exhibitor manuals as well as a new customer concierge service. This facilitates access to Reed's quality platform for business matching, which provided about 75,000 appointments for ibtm world last year. Post-Event : IBTM WORLD 2015 ibtm world 2015 started with the dynamic Meetings Leadership Summit, which saw about 200 international industry leaders creating a buzzing dialogue that echoed the upbeat mindset of many buyers and exhibitors. More than 80,000 scheduled appointments were lined up, and a significant increase in the number of hosted buyers was confirmed by Graeme Barnett, senior exhibition director of ibtm world. Forty- seven percent of the hosted buyers were new to ibtm world. They represented 52 countries and major corporations such as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and Microsoft. Barnett also confirmed that based on the applications received, 72 percent of these new hosted buyers typically organise more than five international events per year. Adding to the positive outlook was the state of the Spanish economy and that of Europe's in general. According to Barnett, many exhibitors have commented on the quality of business discussions with international meeting planners as well as those planning regional events in the country. ibtm world organiser Reed Travel Exhibitions has extended its partnership with Barcelona and Fira de Barcelona, and will continue to hold the event in the city. Barcelona has been the host city since 2004, attracting over 15,000 meeting professionals each year . WHAT'S ON

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