IMEX Frankfurt Blog: Gareth Neville, Head of Technical Client Services
IMEX Frankfurt is the largest trade show in Europe for the meetings, events and incentive travel industry (MICE). This year, once again, I joined our Sales team representing The Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD) on the Meet in Ireland stand at IMEX Frankfurt.
It was a damp and early start at Dublin Airport to catch the 07:00 Aer Lingus flight to Frankfurt. However, it’s important to make time to stop off at The Mezz in Terminal 2 for the obligatory sausage bap with Ballymaloe relish and a nice cup of tea before heading to the departure gate! #priorities
A two-hour flight later, I am in Frankfurt Airport to be met at the arrivals lounge by cheery IMEX staff in red t-shirts who directed us to the shuttle buses that will bring us directly to Messe Frankfurt, our home for the next couple of days.
Arriving at the enormous Messe Frankfurt, there are hundreds of spaces and structures to take in, but the Meet In Ireland stand is readily recognisable, an oasis of green in a sea of huge exhibition stands, effortlessly holding its own amongst the international competition.
On the green carpet of the Meet in Ireland stand, I am greeted by familiar and cheery faces from a mix of Irish hotels, attractions, DMCs and Dublin Convention Bureau. Our stand has wonderful Irish catering there to keep us supplied with coffee, snacks and, of course, the obligatory Barry's Gold Label tea – a taste from home and the one thing I need to keep me going! There is no time to waste as we already have many appointments in the diary, along with several walk-ups of people interested to hear all about The CCD and how we can support their event. My colleague, Daniel, and I strap in for a day of chats, charm and convincing!
The people we spoke to on the stand were a mixture of international associations, agencies and corporate clients. My role was to help explain in more detail how our incredible operations team, our class-leading AV and technology and our sustainability practices can enhance their event. What stood out most to me was how enthusiastic people were about these things in particular. I always get excited when people want to hear more about our sustainability, as it is at the heart of everything we do and we love talking about it!
On day two, Niamh and Lina from the Sales team arrived, giving me time to check out some of the educational seminars and talks. These sessions offered valuable insights from industry professionals on the challenges facing the global events sector and, importantly, the possibilities that can emerge from those challenges. I also attended a campfire session on group therapy for sustainability champions. It was fascinating to hear the challenges that other industry professionals are having around sustainability and events. It also provided an opportunity to discuss with our industry peers some of the great work that we do on sustainability at The CCD. It was encouraging to see the level of interest in the room for how we approach sustainable events and infrastructure.
IMEX also boasts a fantastic wellness lounge, where you can go to get away from the noise and frantic pace of the trade show floor. Apart from bean bags, hammocks, soft lighting and music, they offer free sessions to delegates, including an amazing Tibetan singing bowl meditation that I particularly enjoyed!
After two days chatting to clients and attendees, it was time for me to say ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ to IMEX and head back to the airport. Taking the sky train around to the shiny new Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport, it is always such a joy to see the familiar shamrock on the tail of an Aer Lingus plane, sitting on the tarmac waiting to take you home.
While I’m now back to working with our clients on a daily basis, helping to realise their event vision, it won’t be long before I return to the trade show floor at IBTM in Barcelona in November, ready to tell more prospective clients all about how Ireland is the destination to hold your event and The Convention Centre Dublin is the venue to do it in!