“They’re both incredibly important, but quality [will] always be our driver, because our success has been built on delivering buyers who are ready to do business [with] our exhibitors,” said Pearce at the opening press conference for AIME 2026 on Monday morning.
“That will remain our guiding principle as we grow into new channels, subgroups, and different sectors. It’s that curation that is the key.
“We’re not trying to be the biggest show in the world. We go to those big shows, and we know where we sit.
“We’re focused on being the most effective, and we’re curating connections, translated to real business outcomes.”
Even as Talk2 Media shuns exclusively chasing quantity, AIME has grown again in 2026, becoming the largest show delivered under the current organiser, who took over from Reed – now RX – after AIME 2018, producing the show on behalf of its owner, Melbourne Convention Bureau.
In 2026, the show has 766 exhibitors, up 13 per cent on 2025, and 1,500 vetted buyers, including more than 700 who are fully hosted.
Around 25,000 scheduled meetings are expected to take place and Pearce projects a greater value of business deals will be kickstarted on the show floor this year than in 2025.
Post-event research after AIME last year estimated $400 million worth of business would be negotiated in the 12 months following the event, as a result of conversations had on the floor.
New countries exhibiting in 2026 include South Africa, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, but Pearce said the show’s growth is largely coming from closer to home.
“It’s really the strength of Asia Pac that is growing the show, in truth,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot more in Asia coming through, and that makes a big difference, and you’ll see that on the show floor.”
Pearce also told industry media that AIME was entering a new chapter, following pandemic recovery.
“We’ve gone through that post-recovery stage from ’22 to now, really. It’s been a bit more short-term. I think people are still nervous about where things were going.
“We know we’re through that now. And we’re now focusing on the next five years and what that growth will be and what it will look like. That growth will continue to be driven by curation, vetting and quality.”
He also talked about the event’s carbon footprint, which has seen significant decreases, driven largely by its venue, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, switching to fully renewable energy this financial year, due to purchase agreements made by the Victorian Government who owns the centre.
“Sustainability has become another area where AIME is committed to leadership and not just conversation,” said Pearce
“Our next step is to move beyond measurement and into collective action.”
The show is signed up to both the Net Zero Carbon Events (NZCE) initiative and the Virtuous by NZCE initiative, a new global platform to reduce event emissions, as well as working with the Better Stands initiative to improve the sustainability of the event.
“What we’re starting to do with Better Stands next year is actually stand by stand by stand working out what’s renewable, what’s being thrown away and so forth,” said Pearce.
“The big lick is in the venue [emissions]…and then the rest of it becomes very, very granular.
“It comes down to these small slivers of emission control. And so that becomes the longer tail and the longer journey. But we are well on that way.”
The show has set targets of cutting its emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and being at net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“AIME is taking a position that sustainability is incredibly important, therefore we must be…a leader rather than a follower,” said Pearce.
Prior to the show floor opening tomorrow, AIME’s Knowledge Monday ran through the late morning and the afternoon today, followed by the welcome event at Evoqé Events this evening.
