Exhibitor FAQs

AIME will be held at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre (MCEC). The program commences on 10 February until 12 February:

• Monday 10 February – Knowledge Program (11.30am - 5.30pm) & Welcome Event (7pm - 10pm)
• Tuesday 11 February – Day 1 Tradeshow including the Ideas Academy (9am to 5:30pm)
• Wednesday 12 February – Day 2 Tradeshow including the Ideas Academy (9am to 5pm)

The dress code across all days will be business casual.

The MCEC has large cloaking facilities. Please feel free to use these services throughout the show or on Wednesday morning for luggage if you are departing immediately at the conclusion of the event on Wednesday afternoon. Alternatively, all hotels have storage facilities if you prefer to store your luggage at the hotel either prior to check-in or after check-out.

Travel restrictions and Covid-19 requirements have been relaxed across Australia. It is no longer mandatory to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to enter, Australia, the state of Victoria or the AIME 2025 venue, Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centre. It is also no longer mandatory to wear masks, however, we recommend you make your own judgement on whether you would prefer to wear a mask. We also recommend keeping this in mind if you have an upcoming event in the weeks immediately leading up to or following AIME. As AIME 2025 gets closer, please also keep up with developments via the https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/

AIME partners with known leaders in the events industry, who align with sustainability and legacy values. These partnerships support the delivery of an event that is not only socially responsible but is also committed to investing in the growth and sustainability of the business events sector. Held at the first convention centre in the world (MCEC) to have a six Green Star rating, and with a 31 year legacy, AIME is committed to sustainability at all levels – from cultural to environmental. In delivering a sustainably minded event, we do encourage all our exhibitors and visitors to consider their environmental footprint and adopt more sustainable practices - for example the use of digital content vs print collateral. To help you with your sustainable event planning, you can find Melbourne Convention Bureau’s Sustainability Toolkit here, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre’s Sustainability plan here and Sustainability strategy here. In order to help you organise a sustainable event, please click here.

The Australian government website contains a range of information for those who wish to enter the country on a temporary basis, and you will find answers to many of your questions on their site.   Please check visa requirements for entering Australia on this site -visas are dependent on which country issued your passport. From the list on the government site the main purpose of your visit is ‘attending a conference or expo’ which is about halfway down the list on the link above.   Visas applications must be covered at your own expense, and you can request a visa letter from your AIME Account Manager once you are a confirmed exhibitor at AIME. Please be advised that, due to high demand, visas are taking longer to process and can take months in some cases.  Please book early to avoid disappointment.   If you require a letter to support your visa application, please apply through the Exhibitor Hub.

The cost depends on the package you purchase. Whether you’re a first time exhibitor or seasoned professional, our exhibitor packages and stand options offer something for all budget.

The benefits in attending AIME are numerous including:

• pre-scheduled appointments matched with hosted buyers
• meeting buyers from around the globe – Pacific, Asia, MEA, Europe, The Americas
• increasing your brand awareness and positioning within the global meeting and events industry
• attending educational sessions at the Knowledge Program on Monday 19 February
• exclusive invitation to participate in the Ideas Academy on Tuesday 11 & Wednesday 12 February
• keeping up with the latest trends and developments – making your future events even better
• networking with industry suppliers from Australia and around the globe – we’ve all learnt over the past few years that strong supplier relationships help us to create better events
• networking with like-minded event professionals – many of us learn as much from each other as we do from a speaker at an educational session
• exclusive opportunity to access AIME’s sponsorship program and elevate your brand
• having fun – at the end of the day when the serious business is done it’s time to let your hair down at the Welcome Event on Monday evening

Exhibitors are provided with:

• lunch on Monday 10th February for those attending the Knowledge Program
• casual dinner at the Welcome Event on Monday 10th February
• morning and afternoon tea in the Hosted Buyers Lounge on Tuesday 11th & Wednesday 12th February
• Exhibitors can pre-order lunch boxes from MCEC, you can find more information, pricing, and order forms on the Exhibitor Hub

Exhibitor Sales close on Friday, 6th December 2024

Once your contract has been signed, you will be sent a link to register through our registration portal. In 2025, there will be a separate company registration and then in September we will open the attendee registration, where you can register who will be attending AIME2025 on behalf of your organisation.

Exhibitor registration closes on Friday, 6th December 2024.

Exhibitor guests can register for free as an Exhibitor Representative Support through your registration link located in the Exhibitor Hub. You will have the option to purchase Knowledge Program and or Welcome Event tickets at an additional cost.

Yes. Whilst we do recommend pre-registering online, onsite registration will also be available.

When you arrive at MCEC head towards door 8 and you will find the AIME Registration Desk. Proceed to the self-serve computer, scan your QR Code and print your badge. Staff are available to assist with any questions.

We recommend nominating someone within your team to be your AIME Stand Coordinator. This person can be responsible for organising all things (and people) related to your registration and stand at AIME and this includes completing the Company/Exhibitor Attendee Registration Form.

When completing your registration form, we recommend selecting the primary type of buyers you are wanting to meet and target. You may choose as many buyer types as you like but please DO NOT select all if you don’t want to see that specific buyer type.

Exhibitor attendee registration for all team members will be available through your unique registration link located in the Exhibitor Hub.

Once you know who is attending submit their Exhibitor attendee registration through your unique registration link located in the Exhibitor Hub. This will be available until the 8^th December 2023 to register all attendees. For any changes after this date, please contact your account manager.

You will need to add if you’re attending the Knowledge Program and or Welcome event to your event agenda on the meeting matching platform.

You will receive an email with your confirmation number and a link to access your registration. Click the link in this email to modify your registration.

If you did not receive the confirmation email within a few minutes of submitting your registration form, please check your 'junk mail' folder or contact the AIME team here.

After your company registration has been approved, you will receive a login to AIME’s exhibitor hub via Xpobay from the AIME team.

A PSA is a Pre-Scheduled Appointment with a buyer. Tradeshows all work a little differently, and at AIME we curate a diary of PSAs for you, reducing the time and pressure on buyers and sellers to create and fill their own diary. Exhibitors commit to 32 x 15-minute PSAs. These PSAs are held on the show floor on Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 February. Out of the 32 appointments, 28 will be pre matched by our AI platform. A five (5) minute break will be provided between appointments. No PSAs are scheduled during morning, afternoon tea or lunch breaks - although this time can be used by exhibitors or buyers to schedule additional freeflow meetings.

Please check with the person organising your stand at AIME. They will have the details of your PSAs

Tuesday 11 February - show hours are 9am to 5.30pm – PSAs are between 9.30am and 4.40pm Wednesday 12 February – show hours are 9am to 5pm – PSAs are between 9.30am and 4.40pm All appointments are spread across two days with 16 each day between 9.30am and 4.40pm.

Yes, 2 exhibitor badges are included with each full PSA. We encourage one main point of contact to be listed in our meeting matching platform. However, if you would like both attendees to be listed for the pre-scheduled meetings contact your account manager.

Meeting matching is the process you go through to create a personalised number of PSAs for each exhibitor’s and buyer’s diary. Once applications have closed and we have all the exhibitors and buyers confirmed, buyers then submit their filtering for the types of exhibitors they would like to meet and the types of event services that interest them. Exhibitors are also required to submit preferences for the types of buyers they prefer to meet. For example – a buyer may indicate on their preferences that they mainly organise incentives which are between 60 and 100 attendees, and they wish to meet only international destinations, venues, airlines, group activities etc. suitable for that number of attendees. Once filtering, such as this example, have been received from both sides, our specialised meeting matching AI software takes over the matching process. The software will consider the answers to all the filtering provided, and on that basis make recommendations to buyers about the types of exhibitors they can meet on the show floor ie. exhibitors who meet the criteria they outlined in their filtering. Buyers and exhibitors are then given the opportunity to review and filter the recommended matches before diaries are finalized. For any changes you would like to request, you must contact the AIME team. The more preferences you put forward – the better quality your recommended meetings will be! At the end of the process exhibitors will have a curated diary with 28 x 15-minute PSAs. These PSAs are held on the show floor on Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th February.

The meeting platform will open to exhibitors on 12 December 2024 to set up your profiles, and filtering will begin on 16 December 2024.

We cannot start the process until all buyers and all exhibitors are confirmed in December 2024. The meeting matching platform will then open for a period of five weeks (including the weeks of Christmas and New Year). During this time, you will have the opportunity to set up your profile in the meeting platform and complete your filtering of buyer preferences. You will have quite an extensive list of buyers to filter through, we recommend putting one day aside to go through this list.

You will receive your provisional diary on 30 January 2025 and final diary on 6 February 2025.

Yes, this is possible but dependant on availability. You will need to contact the AIME team at aime.exhibitor@talk2.media for any requested changes in January 2025.

We will be bringing 350+ Domestic Australian buyers and 150+ International Buyers attending AIME 2025.

Buyer registration will close on the 6^th December. The meeting matching platform will open for exhibitors from the 14^th December at which time we will make the list of 2025 buyers available through the platform. In the meantime, based on past shows, the following types of buyers attend AIME:  

• Agency – advertising, marketing, PR, branding, consulting
• Association or Membership-Based Organisation
• Association Management Company & PCO
• Charity / NFP / Research Institute
• Corporation - primary company function is not event related
• DMC
• Educational Institution, University, Training Provider
• Event Management
• Exhibition Organiser
• Festivals / Tour Promoters & Organisers
• Government
• Incentive / Loyalty Programs
• Independent Event Planner / Sole Operator
• Media
• MICE & Travel Agency
• PCO
• Travel Management – corporate, groups, incentives, leisure, luxury
• Tour operator – inbound / outbound
• Venue Finding Services

 

No, the buyer list is not available for export.

You are able to scan visitor QR codes on their registration badge through the AIME app. You can also purchase a separate scanner through Cvent, for more information and pricing on the scanners, please check the Exhibitor Hub.

All scanned data can be exported through the meeting matching platform after the show.

As part of your on boarding you will be given a login to the Exponet portal. You will be able to order all your additional extras for your stand through the portal directly. Please contact Exponet directly if you have not received this login. Exhibitor services department: esd@exponet.com.au (02) 9645 7070

The exhibitor is responsible for booking and paying for their own accommodation. You will find a list of hotel partners with discounted rates for AIME on the Exhibitor Hub.

You will be able to download the AIME app via the App Store (Apple & Android) from 6^th February 2025. The app is your guide to the show program and your appointment schedule. You can also use the app for lead capture. You will be able to scan the badges of all visitors to your stand and export their data post show.

Whilst we do take photos of the event, we cannot guarantee we will take photos of your specific stand. If you are wanting professional photos of your stand, it’s best to organise your own photographer.

Yes, public lability insurance is required for each exhibitor from bump in to load out covering the AIME event, venue location and event dates. This is the responsibility of each exhibitor and co-exhibitor.

Please contact the AIME team here and a member of the team will be in touch shortly, alternatively you can contact your account manager directly.