Jennifer Prusa attended IMEX in Las Vegas to learn new ideas for presenting content at BEMA's meetings and IBIE's education program. She gained tips for improving speaker panels and engaging attendees. Prusa also met with hotels being considered for BEMA events and found new sponsorship products, like interactive photo banners. The experience provided ideas like a catchable microphone and stackable ribbons to engage attendees. Overall, Prusa found innovative ways to format sessions and recognize sponsors that could benefit BEMA and IBIE events.

1. IMEX – 2015 Recap
• Jennifer Prusa, Director of Meetings and
Education, attended IMEX October 12-15 in
Las Vegas.
• My purpose was to learn from other
meeting experts about cutting edge ways to
present content for BEMA’s meetings and
IBIE’s education program.
• I also looked for new sponsorship ideas,
products and met with a number of hotels
to whom we have RFP’s out for BEMA’s
Annual Meeting, workshops and Board
Meeting.

2. POWERFUL PANELS
• Tons of tips for improving the format and
presentations of our speaker panels.
• Ways to help our guest panelists AND our
moderators deliver engaging content
• Resources for panel moderator training and
for professional moderators.
Speaker: Kristin Arnold
IMEX, MPI – Smart Monday

3. IT’S NOT JUST TABLES AND CHAIRS
• What if?
• Our general session looked like this?
• Our workshops or committee meetings looked like
this?
• The photo below illustrates the way that room set
can affect engagement. A mix of furniture =
talking, connecting. Chairs facing front = smart
phone zombies. Taken at the same time at the same
meeting in two different rooms.

4. LOCATION, LOCATION
• From Nashville to Portland, Dubai to
Cancun – I was able to speak with hoteliers
and CVB reps from all of the cities and
properties currently under consideration
for BEMA’s EIGHT annual events!
• Talking face to face and asking questions is
SO much better than online research on
the locations.

5. SPONSOR RECOGNITION
• I did some recon work for Deb Blaylock,
sponsorship sales director for BEMA and IBIE,
and found some original ideas:
• Festival Chairs (top) – fully imprintable
corrugated seating – perfect for an event
sponsorship.
• COOLEST DISCOVERY (bottom 2) – 4-D
Interactive. Each photo on this banner works
like a QR code to unlock video, photos, and
more. The bottom photo shows what one of
the product photos unlocks – what if these
were location stations at IBIE?

6. GREAT IDEAS!
• Catch Box – the tossable, catchable
microphone – makes Q&A time come alive!
• Fun Stackable Ribbons – Get them from PC
Nametag to give out at your IBIE booth and
create some fun. Considering “Been Here
Forever” for our 100th Anniversary
Meeting.
• Personalized Printing – Customize each
item for the recipient – might be our new
speaker gifts.

7. GREAT IDEAS - continued!
• Who knew some airwalls were metal? –
sometimes a simple realization can change
the way a session is presented. Every bit of
knowledge is a resource.
• Great Speaker – I encountered a number of
great speakers and speaker resources.
Chris Heeter is also a wilderness guide –
BEMA tours anyone?
• Find Your Match – Buttons with fun
descriptors on them…select one that
describes you. When you find a match, you
can both enter a drawing. I picked “I’m a
Walking Cookbook.”

8. SHOW FLOOR EDUCATION
• I have the privilege of working with Lynn
Schurman at RBA to co-lead the IBIE Education
Task Force along with chairperson, Andrea
Henderson.
• With that role in mind, I experienced IMEX’s
“Innovation Hub” and the way they presented
seminars on the show floor – from small
seminar rooms to the “campfire” and “hot
topic tables” – the hub was hopping all day!
• BEST TAKE AWAY – Use a headset system tied
into the speaker’s mike so that the speaker
can be heard above the hum of the show floor.