Most Innovative Meetings 2020: #4 PlanetIMEX

The Basics: In place of its in-person conferences for the global event industry that had been scheduled to take place in Frankfurt, Germany in May and Las Vegas in September, IMEX Group launched PlanetIMEX on May 6. The venue? An eye-catching virtual world with a unique series of 3D “islands” built by Storyscape 3D.

The pine forest-inspired Education Island mixed live education with prerecorded podcasts and reading materials, while the tropical Community Island offered a curated DJ list, fitness challenges, and more. A third, desert-like space, dubbed Networking Island, let planners and suppliers register for eight days of “Conversations with Brella,” a peer-to-peer video conferencing platform. The system used artificial intelligence to match people interested in the same subject, and a built-in calendar and messenger to schedule meetings. 

The May edition featured various islands, including the tropical Community Island with a curated DJ list, fitness challenges, and more.Photo: Courtesy of PlanetIMEXSteal-Worthy Innovations: PlanetIMEX was all about engagement. First, the conference generated excitement by launching the platform five days before the official education started, which meant attendees had plenty of time to explore the world and engage with preplanned content. Plus, the platform stayed open through early June, and returned with a fresh look and content from Oct. 12-16.

New elements—including educational sessions, happy hours, games and quizzes, polls, and more—were introduced throughout the week to keep a steady stream of attendees tuning in each day. For the live program, sessions were kept short, with most around 20 minutes to address limited online attention spans. (An added bonus? The sessions have all been made available on IMEX’s YouTube page.)

“We wanted PlanetIMEX to be an experience that raised a smile and engendered feelings of warmth and solidarity—from its design using elements of gamification to its whimsical visual features and sound effects [that were] captured by our own staff on our local beach,” said Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group.

Lessons Learned: Bauer is hoping to blend elements of PlanetIMEX into future live shows, giving attendees more options for engaging. “The response from people to all these creative elements of PlanetIMEX has prompted us to increase the imaginative, experiential content we offer at our live shows and adopt a more integrated multisensory approach, using sounds, movement, and smell, as well as sight,” she said.

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