The Summit Meeting & Incentive showcases content as king of meetings

This edition brought together, on 8th March at the Palacio de Congresos in Madrid, more than 200 national and international participants (including 42 hosted buyers) with 111 different exhibitors, who could experience a day in a hybrid event that combined networking, training and much innovation.

A large integrated space. Following the trend of combining training and expo in the same area, the MIS was held entirely in the multipurpose room of the Palacio Municipal de Congresos in Madrid, bathed in natural light. Integrating in the same space two educational areas with parallel sessions in English and Spanish. Between them, as well as a chill-out area with music by a Paraddax Lab DJ (a DJ at a conference? Try it! A great way to create a relaxed atmosphere), which served as a meeting point.

Three exhibition areas in the same hall completed the layout of the event. An open space that allowed circulation, accessibility of attendees, conversation and networking. Furniture by JMT, in charge of all the furniture of the event, put the cool touch to the common areas, including massage chairs and other puffs.

Smart appointments. The event used the matching system of Orgamice to define appointments between buyers and exhibitors according to the interests of both parties, in addition to the management of appointment times in a complex equation with many variables. But beyond this organized part, the event left a lot of room for informal relationships, whether in the chill out area, in the educational sessions or as spontaneous visits the stalls.

New formats. Play to learn better… The play & learn sessions by Sankara put delegates to play after lunch to help build relationships and awaken the body at this difficult time. This MIS also brought another novelty, “show & tell” in which destinations could present themselves through an object, a way of telling through something tangible, an object which illustrates what the destination offers for meetings. The “f@#$up meetings” session was a purely participative session in which participants shared their biggest mistakes, a great way to learn.

Much incentive! There was a lot of education for incentive professionals, including a session by José Maria Leis Mayán (PWC) on taxation in incentive travel, a session by SITE analyzing the best practices in the SITE Crystal Awards, and the Travel Advisors Association explained some of their best practices and changes in customer demand on issues of incentives. Finally, Chema Gómez and Natalia Barrero (MindMeeting) told us how to apply the principles of design meeting to incentive trips, dividing into groups attendees to design an incentive day.

Congress as well… A roundtable with three major medical societies, the Spanish Society of Cardiology, the SEMFYC (family medicine) and SEPA (periodontics), explained how they implement content strategies in their congresses, as well as several sessions on meeting design.

More high-quality training. Other presentations and workshops included Björn Wigforss (Microsoft) who explained how to make a more memorable event designing impactful content. Miguel Angel Trabado (Henkel) spoke of brand experiences, immersive marketing techniques and distribution of content to convert customers into brand ambassadors. Meanwhile, Hector A. Venegas (Swarmworks) and Karine Krogh spoke of the power of active participation and showed how to involve attendees in meetings and events. Sabine Bonora (MED-EL) made attendees live the exciting story of being a guinea pig, learning what obstacles they face and traps that can be found in planning and implementing an interactive workshop are.

The last training sessions were run by Colja M. Dams (VokDams), who spoke of the Live Campaigns as a trend in events and gave examples of hybrid events and campaigns to ensure an emotional communication, as well as Teresa Cetulio (Madison) who explained real case studies of events generators of big data, on behalf of AEVEA.

Moderators. A good conference has the support of good moderators. Hans Etman (Masters in Moderation) came from Holland to, along with José García Aguarod (Grupo eventoplus), ensure a moderation that maximizes good communication of messages, interactivity, transitions…

Before enjoying the closing cocktail, all attendees were crowned, receiving a paper crowns for the final photo. Content is King!

Other collaborators: Brahler (AV); Aramark (catering); Conventia (DMC); TST (electricity); Sanca (digital printing); BeMydriver (buses); Jesús Anton (photos and videos); KMMK (lanyards); Orquidea (social wall)); Meridiana Azafatas (hostesses). And we collaborated with ISPE and its students.

The event was sponsored by NH Meetings, Andalusia and Madrid Destino as the host. We appreciate their support. And as we prepare a great MIS 2017!