TAKING PLACE ON STAND A430: MESA EDUCATIONAL CAMPFIRE PROGRAMME
Click on the title to link to the IMEX pages.
Tuesday 19th May
1030-1050 How to Survive Events Without Leaving Drained
Back-to-back gigs, long days, constant pressure. In 20 minutes, get practical tools to spot stress, reset during events, and recover between gigs, so you stop carrying exhaustion forward. No fluff, just real fixes you can use at your next event and daily.
Johanna Roodt, Co-Founder, Event Mental Wellbeing
1100-1120 What organisers forget: The attendee journey beyond the event days
There is a lot of effort that organisers will put into the day of the event. But with every year, attendee retention becomes harder, even when the events are better. What makes the attendee come back next year, spread the word to their peers? Join this campfire session to go over the weakest points in event planning that are dragging down your ROI.
Jelmer van Ast, Founder & CEO, Conference Compass
1130-1150 From Insights to Action: How AI Unlocks Business Value Hidden in Your Event Content
Most event content goes unused - but AI can change that. Discover how AI-powered content intelligence platforms turn keynotes, panels, and audience engagement into real-time business insights. Learn to identify intent signals, deliver session summaries, and boost sponsor ROI. Walk away with practical strategies to transform your event content into measurable business value—fast.
Vamshi Velmajala, Managing Director, Snapsight
1200-1220 MESA Group Presentation: A Discovery Journey of Event Services and Technologies for Your Next Event (Part One)
1400-1420 MESA Group Presentation: A Discovery Journey of Event Services and Technologies for Your Next Event (Part Two)
MESA (Meetings & Events Support Association) is a collaborative network of event and technology suppliers dedicated to the meetings industry. Together, we create innovative solutions tailored to overcome your challenges. Join us on a journey that covers every stage of your event— from planning to execution and post-event follow-up. We’ll share fresh ideas, cutting-edge technologies, and practical tips to help you deliver exceptional events for your company, your clients, and your attendees. Both sessions will look at different technologies - Connect with us to explore and discover:
- Innovative event services and technologies to elevate your next event
- Effective solutions to address your specific challenges and enhance event experiences
MESA (Meetings & Events Support Association)
1430-1450 Tech Stack Integrations: Lessons from Karaoke Night
Ever tried singing Dancing Queen to the tune of Gangnam Style? Total chaos! When your tech doesn't talk, your event loses its rhythm. Join our campfire to sync your integrations into an efficient orchestra. We’ll add bass to your revenue and harmony to your data; with a sprinkle of terrible musical puns!
Grégoire Bradley, International Account Executive, LetzFair
1500-1520 Stop buying tools. Start buying outcomes
Event tech decisions too often lead to silos, spreadsheets, and unclear ROI. This campfire explores how agencies can shift from features to outcomes, design smarter ecosystems, and turn vendors into true partners—protecting margins, speeding delivery, and asking sharper questions that drive measurable impact.
Knut Amund Gulsvik, Chief Commerical Officer, Qondor
1530-1550 Lessons from the Exhibition or Conference Stage – The Emotional Hook
As a visitor, your time is your greatest investment. What makes an exhibition or conference feel truly worthwhile for you to know whether it is worth attending again? This campfire explores the “return on time” for delegates - from first impressions to lasting memories - and uncovers how staging, energy, and connection turn attendance into real value.
Jakob Dyrbye, Founder, The Trade Show Academy
1600-1620 Same Hurdles, Higher Stakes: Navigating the New Event Tech Reality
Event companies face familiar obstacles, but with a twist: clients now demand lightning-speed execution and precision. Join this session to discuss the shift in event technology, why AI is currently a tool rather than a disruptor, and how to leverage "regular" tech improvements to meet modern client expectations.
Jelmer van Ast, Founder & CEO, Conference Compass and Shaun Daws, Senior Technical Project Manager, Arinex Pty Ltd
JOIN MESA FOR DRINKS ON A430 1630-1730 ON TUESDAY
Wednesday 20th May
Exhibitors and sponsors don’t read the manual, they email you instead. That simple reality creates one of the most overlooked challenges in event operations: a constant stream of repetitive questions handled by small teams under pressure. In this campfire session, we’ll explore why traditional approaches no longer work, and how AI is transforming exhibitor and sponsor support into a faster, more scalable, self-service experience.
Christian Skelton, Co-Founder, Eventflow
1030-1050 Smaller. Smarter. Stronger: How Digital Posters Revolutionize Engagement and Conquer Network Costs
Tired of paper waste and empty poster halls? How can you guarantee 100% meaningful author engagement, eliminate no-shows, and structure interactions? I’ll expose how digital posters enhance the poster session experience, deliver sustainability, inclusion for people with limited mobility, and overcome the high cost of network infrastructure.
Joel Chetzroni, CEO, Multilearning
1100-1120 Years of running events? Can AI actually use that data?
There are 10 dimensions to event operations data. Structure. Connectedness, Transformability. Most teams hit a few without knowing it. This Campfire shows you all 10 and gives you practical steps to close the gaps before your next event.
Ali Taghavi, Co-Founder, MergeLabs
1130-1150 Everything, Everywhere, All at Once… Conference Edition!
Imagine attendees watching a livestream of a parallel session while sitting in another lecture hall. Is this the new way to experience a congress? Increasingly, the answer is yes. Today’s participants expect full digital support and content access alongside their in-person experience. This campfire session dives into the playful but serious question: how can planners embrace this trend, balance hybrid needs, and ensure that delegates truly get everything, everywhere, all at once?
Thomas Berghausen, Owner, meta-fusion
1200-1220 MESA Group Presentation: A Discovery Journey of Event Services and Technologies for Your Next Event (Part One)
1400-1420 MESA Group Presentation: A Discovery Journey of Event Services and Technologies for Your Next Event (Part Two)
MESA (Meetings & Events Support Association) is a collaborative network of event and technology suppliers dedicated to the meetings industry. Together, we create innovative solutions tailored to overcome your challenges. Join us on a journey that covers every stage of your event— from planning to execution and post-event follow-up. We’ll share fresh ideas, cutting-edge technologies, and practical tips to help you deliver exceptional events for your company, your clients, and your attendees. Both sessions will look at different technologies - Connect with us to explore and discover:
- Innovative event services and technologies to elevate your next event
- Effective solutions to address your specific challenges and enhance event experiences
MESA (Meetings & Events Support Association)
1430-1450 Beyond AI hype: case studies that actually work
AI is everywhere... but practical use cases are harder to find. This session cuts through the noise with real examples from the events industry, led by Johnny Martinez and Chloe Richardson. Discover how teams are using AI to save time, improve marketing, and elevate event experiences. With a strong focus on audience interaction, this session invites you to share your own use cases and learn from peers... turning collective insight into actionable ideas.
Johnny Martinez, Partnerships Manager, CrowdComms & Chloe Richardson, Head of Content, ELX
1500-1520 From Overwhelmed to In Control: Smarter Tech Choices for Live Events
Smart hardware decisions start with understanding attendee flow, registration needs, and check-in complexity. Choose scalable, reusable solutions—like iPad kiosks, thermal printers, recyclable badges, and digital platforms. Prioritise sustainability and efficiency to reduce waste, streamline operations, and create a smooth experience for attendees and organisers alike.
Kerem Baran, Founder, Eventpack
1530-1550 What’s shaping the MICE industry in 2026: Key insights from our industry report
How are B2B event budgets evolving, and what does a conference look like in 2026? Discover data-driven forecasts, real budget trends, and the impact of AI on the industry. Based on 300,000+ data points from our booking platform and insights from 270+ industry experts, we deliver a precise market perspective.
Paul Hermann, CEO, Event Inc Group
1600-1620 How AI helps Event Managers to set up events in minutes instead of hours
How can AI make everyday life easier for Event Managers? Most of us probably use AI tools regularly, but now integrated AI support in Event Management Platforms is a reality as well. What impact does this have on the workload when planning an event, and how much time can you save by using the right platform for you?
Martin Klöfver, Founder & Head of New Markets, Trippus Event Solutions
JOIN US ON WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR THE MESA RE-FRESH DINNER
Thursday 21st May
1000-1020 Biohack your way through events
This relaxing session is presented by Silent Seminars! It is targeted at events professionals but anyone can benefit. A journey in how to use your body to help you remain calm in stressful situations - both at events, and in the office. Join us for a breathing exercise, a few stretches, and a thoroughly magical visualisation - all through Silent Seminars headsets featuring ambient sounds and the voice of your guide. Suitable for all ages and abilities. No prior experience required. The session will be seated. If you have any accessibility requirements, please let us know before. We just ask that you relax, breath, and have a wonderful time with us! You will leave clear-minded, energised, and refreshed, with a new lease of life for all those old, and new, connections at IMEX.
Chet Olafsson, Sales Director, Silent Seminars
1030-1050 Stop Selling Space, Start Selling Outcomes: Re-engineering Sponsorship for 2026
With budgets tightening, the old Gold/Silver/Bronze tiers are dead. This session provides a toolkit for pricing and packaging based on "Lead Value" and "Sponsor Routes to Market." It teaches organisers how to reverse-engineer their pricing to align with what sponsors actually buy (outcomes), rather than what organisers want to sell (floor space/logos on stuff).
Richard Morris, Director, Active Media Events
1100-1120 Using AI photo distribution to explore an untapped revenue stream for organisers
In this session, we’ll explore how organisers can unlock new revenue streams through their sponsors with just one simple tool. Once built for attendee experience and UGC (User Generated Content), AI-powered photo distribution has now become a powerful driver of sponsor visibility and an untapped revenue model for organisers.
Anup Mohan, CEO & Co-Founder, Premagic
1130-1150 Let's fix networking together! Version 2.0
Everyone believes that networking is important at conferences, but many people also find it awkward, forced and difficult. Can we together come up with some new meeting design formats that would support networking in a more natural and welcoming way? This campfire will give you the chance to explore and build on the ideas that came out of a workshop held at the ABPCO Festival of Learning in April 2026.
Tamsin Treasure-Jones & Raymond Elferink, Co-Founders, Kubify
1200-1220 Driving Engagement at your Event
Engagement doesn’t just happen - it’s designed. This campfire explores practical ways to spark interaction before, during, and after your event. From personalised journeys and gamification to tech tools and creative networking formats, we’ll share strategies that keep attendees connected, inspired, and coming back.
Victoria Hallin, Chief Revenue Officer & Simon Roberts, Director, Solutions Engineering, InvitePeople
1230-1250 AI in Your Event Stack: The Good, The Bad, and The Gimmicks
Everyone is using AI, but we’ve moved past the initial hype - now it’s time to talk about ROI and risk management. Here we pull back the curtain on the event tech stack to explore which AI tools are delivering real success, which are just expensive “shelfware”, and which pose operational and reputational risks. In this candid interactive discussion, we'll identify the red flags of a tech fail and the "quiet wins" that drive efficiency, as well as sharing our biggest AI successes and most frustrating challenges!
Joe Atkinson, Director & Co-Founder, Lineup Ninja
Interested in running a campfire at one of our events? Contact Sandie
Our audio visual screens are sponsored and provided by ACS audiovisual solutions 
Our campfire seating is sponsored and provided by FestivalChairs 
MESA campfires will take place using MESA Member Silent Seminars headsets. 