The programme will feature a mix of industry business leaders, event professionals and keynote speakers.
The Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event (AIME), taking place at
the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from 13-15 February,
has unveiled its Knowledge Program, with an overriding theme of ‘Your
Industry, Your Opportunity’.
The
programme will showcase how the business events sector can emerge
stronger and more important, following periods of upheaval. Sessions
will focus on the future of work, how to build resilient cultures, what
to do in a crisis, upskilling and wellness.
The programme will feature a mix of industry business leaders, event
professionals and keynote speakers, and will be hosted by El Kwang,
chief commercial officer at The Venues Collection, AIMEbassador and
chair of the Knowledge Program Advisory Committee.
Speakers for the day include Professor Ben Hamer and Australian
tennis star Jelena Dokic. Hamer is a media commentator, podcast host and
author of The Kickass Career and will cover the future of work in his
keynote. Dokic will draw on her life experience to deliver a talk around
wellbeing and resilience.
Speaker sessions will be complemented by EQ (emotional intelligence)
and IQ (intelligence) streams, designed to address both the hard and
soft skills needed to thrive in the business events industry. The day
will end with associations setting the vision for the future of the
industry.
Commenting on her participation, Dokic said: “It is wonderful to see
an industry putting health, wellbeing and resilience front-and-centre.
It is clear the business events industry is moving at breakneck speed
and these themes could not be more timely. Building resilient workforces
will permeate the future of workplace dialogue and I am pleased to be
part of this movement.”
For the first time in the history of AIME, the programme has been
compiled by the Knowledge Program Advisory Committee, with eight leaders
from the Asia Pacific meetings and events curating all program content
to ensure it is relevant and timely.
Anna Patterson, founder of experiences and events provider Sight, and
member of the committee said: “We are at a pivotal point in our
industry’s trajectory and we need to think more about the future. The
Knowledge Program is about empowering people by sharing experiences and
focusing on the opportunities for what’s next.”
Silke Calder, AIME event director, added: “On the back of a
monumental 2022, everyone is starting to feel the ‘burn’. Event planners
more than ever are having to balance the practical skills of event
planning with the more humanistic qualities which build connection
within our workplaces and our events. We have kept this front of mind
when curating the 2023 Knowledge Program, selecting a diverse range of
speakers and sessions to create space for us as individuals, and
together as an industry, to inspire leadership, creativity and map a
better path forward.”