A Singsum Success
Our first completely sold-out IFES World Summit to date was hosted in the spectacular setting of Singapore’s Marina Bay area. 180+ IFES delegates converged at the Annual General Meeting and 3-day Conference for a productive get-together under the theme of “Expanding Horizons”.
The welcome event, MeetMe@ThePool set the scene, where our attendees from across the globe gathered for cocktails against the breathtaking backdrop of the Singapore skyline at the venue’s pool level. Enthusiastic reconnections took the event late into the evening poolside, where the pool itself transformed into a fibre-optic galaxy of stars at nightfall.
Annual General Meeting and New Member Induction
Wednesday, the 21st June, kicked off the business side of proceedings with three Breakaway Sessions, providing progress updates on Sustainability and the Educational Initiatives/IFES Talent Team, while a session in the main convention room for new members (and those needing a quick refresher) unpacked “How to make the most of your IFES membership”, highlighting the numerous collaborative, promotional and sponsorship opportunities available to members. Takeaways from this presentation, along with some thought-provoking audience suggestions, promise to continue to increase value for our IFES members over the coming year.
The AGM outlined the plans for ITT and Education revitalisation across 6 future education/exchange programs, and reiterated IFES’ involvement with the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative and Smart Production & Waste Management workstream, ISO 20121 training opportunities, and active involvement in Ufi’s Sustainable Development Working Group. Representatives from IFES partners JMIC and IAPCO explored collaboration potential between the parties to benefit members of all 3 organisations. The 20 (of this year’s 50) new members who managed to physically attend this year’s Summit were heartily welcomed and introduced to the global network. An invitation to give their insight into the challenges they face working abroad, the values most important to them as association members, and to contribute ideas they would like to see implemented, yielded some interesting and inspiring answers to stretch thinking.
A deep-dive into Asian Markets
Sustainability is a key focus for IFES and we pride ourselves on being “first-movers” in this regard. Our early birds and enthusiastic runners enjoyed a scenic run/walk, calling attention to the IFES Sustainability Drive in magenta pink IFES shirts before heading back to the Meeting Rooms for Coffee and Registration. The morning was spent “Expanding Horizons” as some of the region’s top speakers conducted a deep-dive into the Asian Market with Mark Cochrane’s (Ufi) outstanding delivery of “The State of the Asian Exhibition Industry After COVID“, Richard Ireland’s (Clarion Events) illuminating “Singapore, the green gateway to capturing growth opportunities in Southeast Asia“, Michael Kruppe’s (SNIEC) exploration of “CHINA RELOADED 2.0 / Changes and Challenges to be watched”, Sarah Markey-Hamm’s (ICMS) “Overview of the Australasia Exhibition + Event Market” and Sonia Prashar’s (NürnbergMesse India) intense exploration of “The Indian Exhibition Industry: A Gateway to New Markets and Opportunities.” A superb networking lunch readied our delegates for a breakdown of the biggest local and global trends impacting the tradeshow industry, with DP Design’s Claudia Nam delivering an inspirational presentation around “The Value of Design in Creating Transformative Experiences” and Kingsmen’s Andrew Cheng’s comprehensive insights into “The Pulse of Asian Consumers – An Asian Perspective.” Our MC throughout was the enormously talented Han Leenhouts (Sales & Pepper).
The next generation
The rest of the day belonged to our upcoming generation of new talent, with Martijn Besaris (The Inside) and Ella Grossmann (Z3 Live Communication) introducing the IFES Talent Team (ITT), World Coffee with Vanessa Aguilar of Happy Projects and an enlightening panel comprising Paco Collazo (Happy Projects), Dominique Bohler (IFES) and Andrew Stevens (Stevens E3) who conducted a heartfelt exploration of why “Motivation Matters: Inspiring and Engaging Young Professionals in the Workplace.”
It is becoming increasingly important to ensure that the younger generation share their ideas and brainstorm solutions to take the Association forward, and with over a third of this year’s attendees falling into the under-35 age bracket, there was plenty of scope for that at the IFES World Summit this year.
Expanding our Horizons
Friday 22nd June wrapped up the ITT section with a disruptive talk presented by UFI’s Next Generation Leaders 2022. Joseph Kowalsky and Monika Baro showed how harnessing talents and reimagining our branding as a community-building industry can be directly linked to revenue optimization. Ahead of the networking lunch, Sukumar Verma (Informa Markets) turned the “Spotlight on Sustainability in Singapore” which then segued smoothly into a robust panel discussion including himself, Alexander Alles (JMIC), Arthur Zhang (Thornehope Marketing) and Michael Kruppe (SNIEC), skillfully moderated by Joerg Zeissig (Holtmann+).
Daniel Tjan of Gevme broadened the thinking even further, taking attendees “Beyond Boundaries: Unleashing the Potential of AI, Metaverse, AR, and Omnichannel in the Exhibition and Event Industry,” to explore the potential of technological innovation to revolutionise the industry, before the closing speeches and handover to the next World Summit Host, Malagar, wound up the official World Summit business. A post-event tour of Kingsmen Creatives’ local premises gave attendees some inspirational bits and bytes ahead of the awe-inspiring light show at the Gardens on The Bay.
Green Singapore Tourist Program
Those staying on for Saturday’s Green Singapore Tourist Program got to explore nature along the Northern Shores (Punggol-Coney-Pasir Ris), bike through the coastal forests and go plogging along the coast of Coney Island and the waterways of Punggol.
Our IFES family returned home with a deepened understanding of the Asian Markets, inspired by the creative, fresh winds of the next generation, and galvanized by the imperative of bringing Sustainability into all exhibition and event–related business activities as well as the impact of the Metaverse, ChatGPT, AR, Omni Channel and the ways that these advances will impact the exhibitions and events industry. We would like to thank everyone who participated, as well as the generous sponsors who helped make this a top IFES event and our hard working hosts who made our visit to this part of the world so memorable. We are already looking forward to the next one, where we hope to see even more members!