IBTM World 2022: What the world's biggest trade show for events told me about the industry's current state.

IBTM World is the leading global event for the meetings, incentives, conferences, and events industry. It takes place annually in Barcelona, bringing together the international meetings industry, hosting around 2.200 exhibitors and 10.000 attendees over three days.

#IBTM stands for Incentives, Business Travel & Meetings, so it doesn't just show event technology, as at Event Tech Live (ETL), but all the trades of destinations, venues, hotels, transport, agencies, etc.?

Just to give you an idea of the size of the industry we are talking about: The global spend on business meetings and events is 1 Trillion USD, whereas the Event Tech Market is "just" a tiny fraction with a market of about 30 Billion USD (regarding the IPO presentation of Cvent 2021).

In fact, event tech has only a relatively small share at IBTM, of course, with a focus on solutions for the target group PCOs (Professional Conference Organizers) and/or associations.

IBTM is also an excellent showcase for countries as business travel and event destinations; the exhibition stands are grouped by each country trying to sell itself as an ideal travel destination. From infrastructure, logistics, how well they can be reached internationally, hotel chains in this country, the event venues, culture, and cuisine, everyone shows itself from its best side.

Of course, all the clichés are served: So the kangaroo must not be missing from Australia's appearance, just like the mountains and Mozart for the Austrians. Those who want to drink a beer simply follow the loudest party music and reliably find the stand of the Netherlands.

And the Germans? They also stay true to themselves: a sober stand, no frills, the booth looks more like a (super clean, of course) car factory, and above it floats "Meetings made in Germany" ;)

Visiting IBTM is always an opportunity to build connections, re-engage with my network of event professionals, gain key industry insights and get a good sense of what is going on in the industry on a global scale.

So here are my takeaways:

The events industry is back and (almost) like it used to be.

I learned from several conversations that 2022 almost reached the level of 2019 and that the trend for 2023 should continue. Money also seems to be (more) loose than ever; the willingness to spend more for more quality is said to be higher than ever. Recession and inflation? No such thing!

Virtual events?

They don't exist here; that's hardly surprising, considering the focus of the fair. Still, RingCentral Events (Formerly Hopin) was here last year with a huge stand (I also wrote about it at the time ), but there's no sign of them this year. I'm afraid they have other things to worry about now; that's a shame.

At the same time, this fair has again shown the power of in-person events in connecting people and facilitating dialogue. We at Invitario firmly believe in both event formats, online and in real-life (#IRL ) events, if used appropriately (confirmed by our study conducted this year). A trade show of this size simply cannot be transferred – with the current state of technology – to the virtual world.

Event tech also had a strong presence.

After the (perceived) peak in tech exhibitors and tech talks in 2019, event tech exhibitors were again very present this year and well-represented in the talks.?

As already observed at Event Tech Live in London, many have enormously upgraded in the area of services. Also, many started to offer their software for single events in combination with full service. In at least two conversations with suppliers, I learned that they have only started offering this in the last two years.

I also observed at #ETLLondon2022 – and confirmed here – how fragmented the event tech market has become; many providers serve niches or have their focus on sub-processes of events and just take other areas with them. How well these other areas are solved remains to be seen.?

As a person familiar with the industry, I know that the desire of event managers for custom solutions is always very strong. This often comes at the expense of a scalable business model and is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges of an event technology provider.

The event industry has gone fully woke, and the key topics are sustainability, inclusion, goodwill, and ethics.?

While the climate crisis is being discussed worldwide, it is problematic to fly people in from halfway around the world "just" to hold a conference at a fancy location. At the same time, everyone understands that nothing makes a better impact and inspires more than IRL events. So organizers must send effective signals to make their ecological footprint smaller.?

The theme of "sustainability" just screamed out at you at the fair: Grass walls on stands, green surfaces, and light natural wood, everything in harmony with nature, exhibition booths made of cardboard ( PAPERTOWN | Cardboard Design & Concept Studio apparently also delivers to Oman, congratulations Philipp Blume !), name badges that you can "pot-up" after the event and from which tomatoes then grow, to the water for fair visitors from refill bottles, to name just a few things.

In general, it's good to be aware of planning and implementing events in a way that conserves resources. But I would also like an honest approach to the unavoidable fact that large international conferences produce plenty of CO2. Pretending that events contribute to the environment is just as wrong as demanding that they could be abolished entirely.

The inclusion issue is becoming more assertive, which is an exciting and positive development. Too rare in the past, people with disabilities, for example, were not integrated and considered when planning an event. This is changing increasingly, and I can't agree more!

As at many fairs, there were many talks on all three days. I would like to mention a few that I particularly enjoyed:

• Building an Unshakable Business Culture: Why Tech Will Continue to Spend Big on Events featuring Gareth Kelly Senior Director and Head of Strategic Events EMEA at Salesforce
• The Big Tech Interview with Adam Parry - EWD from Event Industry News featuring Francesca Rodriguez Balit , Event Web & Marketing Specialist, Podcast Host, Bbr Web Design & Management Design and The Events Cast Podcast
• Changing the Language Around Event Tech: for Good featuring Karen ‘Kitty’ Small , Relationship Director at SLEEK events, and Felicia Asiedu , Senior Marketing Manager at Cvent
• Launch of The Business of Events: Global Destination Report featuring Martin Fullard , Associate Director – News & Content at davies tanner tanner, Rachael Boraston , Head of Destination at London & Partners , Melissa Riley , Vice President, Convention Sales and Services at Destination DC
• There’s no way back: Creating experiences for a changing world Kim Myhre , Managing Partner at Experience Designed
• Digital Trends & Innovations For Event Marketing in 2023 featuring Nicola Shaw , Head of Growth at Tag Digital
• Nour Moakke, the new face of event tech entrepreneurship with Nour Mouakke , Founder and Chief Wizard, Wizme . Thank you for the inspiring talk, Nour!

Last but not least, after a long break, I met some contacts from the industry again in person, and we were able to chat a bit. First and foremost Katharina Reimann and Ozren Kovacevic . It's always a pleasure to meet with you, guys!

Unfortunately, I missed Tobias Bauer and Felicia Asiedu , but after the event is before the event, so I hope to meet you again soon!

#eventmarketing ?#eventtechnologie ?#eventmanagement ?#smartereinladen ?#invitario ?#eventprofs ?#veranstaltungsmanagement ?#IBTMWorld2022 #IBTM2022 #IBTM