Reed Travel Exhibitions released the unaudited—and therefore unofficial—registration numbers from the inaugural AIBTM, the Americas Meetings & Events Exhibition, which took place in Baltimore June 21–23: Exhibitors: 789 Total number of booths: 183 Registered hosted buyers: 740 Registered trade buyers: 806 Total number of appointments: 11,200

While the number of hosted-buyers fell short of the 2,000 RTE was predicting several months ago, the number of registered trade buyers, who “were only allowed admissions after they were qualified,” according to a spokesperson, brought the total number of buyers to about 1,550.

AIBTM was the first large-scale, hosted-buyer show in America, where planners have pre-set, in-booth appointments with suppliers of their choice, in return for complimentary travel and hotel accommodations. The model is well-known in Europe, where RTE has run EIBTM for many years, the last seven in Barcelona, Spain.

More than 1,000 attendees had the opportunity to rock the night away with U2 on its 360° Tour, held at the M&T Bank Stadium on Wednesday night, where organizers reserved tickets for attendees, exhibitors, and other guests.

Several hundred industry veterans also attended the Convention Industry Council’s Hall of Leaders gala on Tuesday night, which inducted four industry icons into its hallowed halls: Fay Beauchine, president, engagement and events, Carlson Marketing; Sandy Angus, chairman, Montgomery Worldwide, a holding company with multiple interests in exhibition and business event production; Christian Mutschlechner, director, Vienna Convention Bureau; and Cliff Wallace, managing director, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.

AIBTM will release the official registration numbers within the coming weeks.

Look for our photo gallery in next week’s MeetingsNet Extra.