AIME Celebrates 30 Years With Good Vibe And An Elegant Organization

Silke Calder, AIME’s Event Director, expressed delight at the wonderful energy this year’s event produced and the excitement that welcomed the Welcoming Event and 30th Anniversary.

No detail was overlooked in order to make the occasion memorable; an indigenous artist made even the lanyards commemorating AIME’s 30th anniversary, and the design represents celebration.

“We received comments this morning that it was the finest welcoming event in the previous 30 years,” she remarked.

“I had one individual tell me that he had gone to 28 of the 30 AIME welcoming parties, and his favourite was last night.”

Silke entered the stage on knowledge day, which was the first day and addressing the crowd, she said: “The energy is excellent, and people are extremely enthusiastic. Looking around, you can see that it differs considerably from last year. Companies have spent much more money on bespoke stands. It’s reverting to its former state. Last year we were just getting started, but this year we have 411 completely hosted buyers. “Of the 411 buyers, 300 are Australian, and the rest are from overseas, the bulk from north and east Asia.”

“We have a few from the United Kingdom and one or two from America, but the majority are from Asia. We maintained the number of Australian buyers high, and it’s paying off. There are approximately 350 exhibitors, representing a 40% increase over last year. ”

All of Australia’s convention bureau were represented; none were absent. “With 29 partners, New Zealand is the biggest here. We have a significant Qatar presence. We have Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, and Japan on the exhibition floor.”

Were there any difficulties you experienced in organising this year’s event?

Considering that we’re still recovering from the pandemic, it was undoubtedly more difficult at the same time; the volume is so much higher with more exhibitors, but would I call it challenging? No, not at all!

The most recent issue was Hurricane Gabriel, which caused havoc since we had a large number of attendees and exhibitors from New Zealand. As a result, we had a few cancellations due to people being unable to fly out or arrive on time.

We also managed to keep our whole team, which is fantastic. So, we have the same team going through the event the second year after the pandemic.

How will attendance vary between 2022 and 2023?

We had some issues with the previous organiser, which is why they changed the organisers. Thus Talk2toMedia Events took over, and it grew once again. 2020 was a fantastic year, but we are now larger than we were in 2020 and 2022.

Finally, all I want to see are smiling faces telling me they’ve accomplished a lot in their meetings; that’s what happened in 2022.

Have you seen any changes in seller and buyer expectations since the pandemic?

The pandemic break we endured because of COVID has made us value human connections even more. I find the business on the floor to be more active; people are happy to see each other again and to be together after the pandemic.

They are happy to meet everyone face to face and without limits. It’s back to normal, life as we know it. They are more comfortable this time, and they are much more prepared. Last year, they were all a little nervous and didn’t want to spend too much time chatting. Several people did not even show up. This year has returned to normalcy.

What changes do you anticipate in business over the next five years?

While face-to-face interaction returns, we will continue to depend on our AI-powered platform. AI is a significant component of our business, and I’m amazed by what our tech partners are telling us about the future. And then there’s the next Gen tunnel, the allergy tunnel, where they show you what more they can do.

AI is becoming more significant, but it will not replace what we want, which is to do business face-to-face. AI will be an added benefit.