From the desk of Emma Bowyer

Many people have surmised over the past two years that 2020 will be the year that will be remembered in the future because of the global pandemic. If that is true then 2022 could be remembered as the year when we began a new era of reconnection and renewal.

Historically, difficult and challenging times are succeeded by periods of growth. The Dark Ages, for example, preceded the Italian Renaissance and the so-called Age of Discovery.

Those working in the Business Events sector have been witness to great change since mid-2020. Thankfully, new methods of engagement were fast-tracked to allow for on-going activity.

Now, after successfully running two in-person international events in the past three months, I feel confident in saying that not only are in-person events back, but they are back better than ever!

The buzz at the 20th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (1-5 May, 2022) was palpable. Over 1,300 attendees – more than half in-person – were just so overjoyed to be meeting again. The Gala Dinner was oversubscribed and the number of international delegates who brought their partners was significantly higher than anything we had experienced pre-COVID.

People wanted to re-engage.

I was equally thrilled at the high in-person registration at the 21st International Meeting on Lithium Batteries (IMLB 2022), 27 June – July 1 2022.

What has been exciting is how many young people attended this Sydney Meeting from all corners of the globe. Walking through the exhibition on the first day was so rewarding to see these future leaders being photographed in front of their scientific poster presentations by their peers. I can only imagine how they must have felt when all their research and study and effort was realised through their poster being accepted to share at this Meeting after so many years in what for many has been a long period of isolation.

The elevation of content at these two meetings, with delegates at each praising organisers for such a strong program. IMLB 2022 included a Welcome Address from Special Advisor to the Australian Government on Low Emissions Technology and former Chief Scientist, Professor Alan Finkel, and a Keynote presentation from Nobel Laureate Professor Stan Whittingham. Both insisted on attending in-person rather than appearing virtually.

It should be noted that virtual meetings have and do serve a purpose, with significant benefits to our clients and their key stakeholders.

It’s an exciting time to be in meetings management right now. The very best is yet to come.

The new ICMSA website

Next time you’re searching for something online take a look at our new corporate website. Our team - and especially our website manager James Chung - have been hard at work on this, with the end result a bright, bold, modern and user-friendly site that hits the brief in all the right places.

Talk to us about website design for your upcoming event.

In-person communication inspires greater creative ideas

A recent academic article featured in Nature (Virtual communication curbs creative idea generation, 27 April, 2022) is a timely reminder of the power of in-person meetings.

In a laboratory study and a field experiment across five countries, the authors found that in-person innovation leads to collaborative idea generation and is the foundation of commercial and scientific progress.

ICMSA Owner and Managing Director Emma Bowyer wrote an article on the power of in-person meetings after reading this study and following ICMS Australasia successfully managing the 20th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering at the ICC Sydney in May 2022.

Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineers laying the foundations for post-pandemic recovery

ICMS Australasia was delighted to play a key role in the successful delivery of the 20th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSMGE 2022) at the ICC Sydney in May. This was the first international association meeting held in Sydney, Australia since the start of the global pandemic.

The Conference attracted a total of 1,368 attendees with 867 of those delegates attending in-person.

And what an experience they had! Click on the link above to view a short video of the event including interviews with a few key Conference personnel including ICMSA’s Owner and Managing Director, Emma Bowyer.

ICMSA in the news

ICMSA has been in the news far and wide since our last correspondence with articles by Emma Bowyer and write-ups of meetings under our management appearing within Australia and internationally.

Emma Bowyer was interviewed by The Siteseer where she spoke about how business was evolving as the pandemic receded.

M&C Asia ran a four-page case study in its June 2022 edition on the successful 58th Annual Meeting of the International Association of Forensic Toxicologists that was held as a virtual meeting and attended by 713 delegates. ICMSA was called at the 11th hour to assist with this conference after it was cancelled as an in-person event in South Africa due to ongoing concerns over the pandemic.

CIM Business Events included a story on the successful World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) International Congress that ICMSA organised in 2021.

We also received significant coverage locally and internationally on the 20th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSMGE 2022) held at the ICC Sydney in May. This was the first international meeting held in Sydney with significant in-person attendance numbers since the start of the global pandemic.

Articles appeared in Conference & Meetings World, Boardroom magazine, Association Meetings International, M&C Asia, micenet magazine, CIM Business Events, and Spice News.

And finally, there was plenty of media interest for the 21st International Meeting on Lithium Batteries (IMLB) in Sydney in late June, with articles appearing in Association Meetings International, Conference & Meetings World and Mix Magazine.

Strong new business wins in Q2

ICMS Australasia is continuing its strong run of new business wins in the second quarter of 2022, securing national and international meetings being held later this year and in 2023.

These include:

• Ex-Services Organisation Summit, 5 – 6 August 2022, Melbourne
• Infrastructure Delivery Conference and Expo hosted by Sydney Water, 8 November 2022, Sydney
• Symposium of the International Association for the Shell and Spatial Structures, 10 – 14 July 2023, Melbourne
• XX International Coal Preparation Conference 16-19 October 2023, Gold Coast

The Director’s Cut: Lili Lin, ICMSA Creative Director

20th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering

You know when you have those creative meetings where you talk about new ideas and concepts and there’s often someone who has a heap of them and delivers them so passionately that you know they will work so incredibly well? At ICMS Australasia one of those people is our Creative Director Lili Lin.

As soon as Victorians were allowed to travel further than a few kilometres from their home during lockdown last year Lili was out and about shooting a teaser video around Melbourne for the 26th Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography (August 2023).

Two new recruits for the ICMSA team

It’s a warm welcome to ICMSA’s latest recruit Micaela Fortun who joins our Brisbane team as Event Coordinator.

Micaela was previously Education Specialist at EventsAIR with duties including developing and delivering educational resources to clients, creating written, digital, and audio-visual content, and upskilling clients to deliver live, virtual, and hybrid events. Micaela is set to hit the ground running at ICMSA with the Don’t Forget The Bubbles Conference at the BCEC in August and the Brisbane team already putting in the groundwork for the 3000+ World Mining Congress in Brisbane in June 2023.

Cosmas is an accomplished and motivated Accounts Payable and accounting all-rounder, with a Diploma in Accounting and an international Degree in Accounting. Cosmas supports Financial Controller Radhika Kulasekera in preparing financial statements and reports.

Welcome Micaela and Cosmas!

When Experience Matters

ICMS Australasia manages projects from concept through to final audit, providing expertise in attracting delegates, sponsors and exhibitors; budget and cash flow control, business and scientific program development; information, presentation, communication and staging technology, creation and delivery of social and recreational activities and accommodation. From idea generation to post event evaluation we provide expertise, creativity and a healthy respect for the financial bottom line.

If you are interested in bidding for an event or need help with an event already confirmed, pick up the phone or send us an email.

Our experience will matter.

Talk to Emma Bowyer now.