IBTM World has revealed the first details of its conference programme, with human connection specialist and author Simone Heng set to
be a keynote speaker in Barcelona this November.
With a mission to inspire people to connect, Heng has shared her wisdom with organisations including the United Nations, Harvard
University and Google. Her book, Let’s Talk About Loneliness, is the
winner of the 2024 Silver Nautilus Book Award for Social Change & Social
Justice.
Opening the main stage on day two of the show, which
celebrates its 20th anniversary at Fira de Barcelona from
November 19 to 21, Heng will deliver a session on ‘The power
of human connection’. Attendees will discover techniques for forging
meaningful relationships across divides, and why these connections are
imperative as humans move deeper into the age of artificial intelligence.
As a whole, the conference programme aims to champion the idea of ‘People Power Potential’, with a range of speakers across various tracks on topics such as experience design and marketing,
among others.
On day one, Heather Gallagher, former chief technology officer and head of design at Burning Man, will
lead a talk on the main stage exploring how Burning Man grew from
a small gathering into a global cultural movement, without the use of
traditional marketing. And on day two, as part of IBTM World’s new
Exceptional Experiences programme, Jameka Pankey, head of experiences for artist at Amazon Music, will explore ‘Turning events into cultural
experiences’.
Jimmy Knowles, global head of experiential at Canva, and Madolyn Grove, creator community at
TikTok, will follow and share their experiences of creating strong global brand
propositions in their session ‘Building and expanding a world-class event brand -
what differentiates good from great?’.
Claudia Hall, exhibition director at IBTM World, said:
“This year’s conference programme is an uplifting and exhilarating tribute
to people, the power of working together, and the limitless potential that can
be achieved when we do so. We’re delighted that so many incredible speakers are
prepared to share their wisdom with our wonderful community who are always so
eager to learn, so ready to be inspired, and so prepared to engage.
“All sessions are carefully curated to ensure
maximum benefit for attendees, and I can’t wait to watch our industry come
together and put the building blocks in place to create an even greater, more
dynamic and thriving events industry of the future.”
For more information on the 2024 conference programme visit: https://www.ibtmworld.com/en-gb/whats-on/conference-programme.html#/sessions/day/1.
