Some 15,000 meetings industry professionals are expected to attend EIBTM, the global meetings & events expo, taking place November 19–21 in Fira Gran Via, Barcelona. This year’s dates are a week earlier than in previous years.
With more than 3,100 exhibitors representing more than 150 countries, meeting and incentive buyers will find “the world under one roof,” says Show Director Graeme Barnett. Not only that, they can experience oxygen therapy, mapping technology that turns passive structures into dynamic art, and bracelets that change color when you’re near a like-minded peer.
What’s New at EIBTM
With the Innovation Zone, meant to showcase the latest thinking and products for events and meeting design, the show floor offers some new features this year, says Barnett, including:
• Pitches: 45-second presentations by companies pitching new products and services
• Knowledge Sessions: 20-minute presentations by experts on topics such as live coverage of your event through tweets and Facebook posts, online collaboration in event planning, and the use of some truly new tools such as Raspberry Pi, a cheap, credit-card-sized computer. Intrigued?
• The Genius Zone: an area where experts will be available to give one-on-one advice about topics from holograms to sustainability
• Top 10 Demos: ongoing demos of the top 10 innovations in events. Among the demos:
1. COVR’s cmWalkTrue, a tool that has been created for virtual exhibitions based on 360-degree photography, using real-life images taken on site. (Think Google Street View.) Visitors can virtually visit the online version of the EIBTM Innovation Zone and experience how cmWalkTrue can be used to present full exhibitions or venues online.
2. Eventisimo’s Sunflower Graphic is an interactive virtual experience that unifies the digital and physical world by mixing high-quality software-generated content with live surroundings, and allowing the user to interact with the virtual world by moving his body.
3. Embraceled Interactions BV offers an RF bracelet meant to enhance the in-person event experience by enabling online interactions to happen in an offline world. The bracelets light up in different colors, allowing participants to discover people with similar interests, submit a vote, or receive information from event organizers.
4. Beabloo’s facial recognition software detects facial interaction to determine a number of factors that contribute to ROI at exhibitions, such as the demographics of the visitors who have walked past, their age and gender, how long they remained at the booth, and the repetition rate. Attendees will have the opportunity to see Wi-Fi Analytics sensors, Video Analytics sensors, and the Digital Marketing solution in action, as they continuously adjust their content depending upon the audience.
5. Topi will conduct demos of its mobile solution that focuses on optimizing interaction among event participants, in addition to providing access to event essentials such as profiles searches, interest-based group chats, private conversations, and social network integration.
6. Acciona Producciones y Diseño will showcase Video Mapping, a new audiovisual concept for projecting images—both video and graphics—onto real surfaces, making it possible to transform a passive structure, such as the front of a building, into an optical illusion with motion effects. Acciona has produced video mapping installations at iconic places such as Trafalgar Square, London.
7. Crowd Reactive is working with global events to maximise social media content that attendees create using a live slideshow at the event, as well as Web widgets, live printing, and photo props. EIBTM attendees will be able to take a photo and immediately see it displayed on the live screen simply by tagging it with #IZONE13.
8. Kisikura will be inviting EIBTM attendees to take a moment to relax and revitalize on their branded oxygen chair. The results? Increased energy, relief from stress-induced headaches, and maximized memory functions.
Returning EIBTM Features Include
• The EIBTM Forum is held November 18, the day before the EIBTM trade show opens. All attending the EIBTM Exhibition are welcome to the event, which includes a presentation by James Woudhuysen, professor of forecasting and innovation at De Montfort University, Leicester, U.K., whose topic is “A New Perspective on the Meetings Industry.”Professor Woudhuysen is known for his trendspotting and his counter-intuitive proposals on what to do about them. The EIBTM Lifetime Achievement awards presentation will follow, and the day concludes with an invitation-only networking event.
• The EIBTM Corporate Program, set for November 20, this year focuses on how companies can change the outcomes of their meetings by being more creative. Sponsored in 2013 by London & Partners, the hosted-buyer corporate program is now in its ninth year and will feature high-level speakers presenting to some 150 corporate meeting planner buyers.
This is EIBTM’s 26th year, and its 10th in Barcelona. Find all the registration and program information at the EIBTM Web site.
