Produced in partnership with the Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event (AIME)
The Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event (AIME) will return to Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) from 9-11 February 2026 for the biggest edition yet to be delivered by event director Silke Calder and the Talk2 Media & Events team.
Opening the event, AIME’s Knowledge Monday program will prime attendees for three days of business, connection and collaboration.
Curated by BEAMexperience founder El Kwang alongside an advisory committee of eight industry leaders, this year’s Knowledge Monday theme, “Expertise Matters!”, unpacks the behaviours and environments driving peak performance in the business events sector.
Calder explains this year’s refreshed Knowledge Monday structure is designed to deliver tangible takeaways and sharp insights while respecting the time pressures on today’s events professionals.
“Event planners are the busiest they have ever been, so the quality of the content you offer has to be on point,” Calder says.
“People are coming to Knowledge Monday sessions wanting to take something away,” she adds. “Our keynote speakers each bring a unique lens on what true expertise means today, sharing ideas that professionals can put into practice immediately.”
Among the expert voices taking the stage is performance and leadership coach Dan Haesler, whose work with professional athletes, Olympic teams and multinational organisationsinforms a perspective on pressure, mindset and sustained excellence that few can offer.
His keynote speech will raise a fundamental question: How do we relate to pressure?
Haesler observes that pressure is often seen as a negative, something to be avoided or reduced, when, in reality, it is an essential ingredient for elite performance.
“There is no high performance without pressure,” Haesler says. “By trying to avoid pressure, you’re setting yourself up for failure from the get-go.”
Haesler notes that pressure reveals habits more than it tests talent. For the business events sector, whose work depends on consistency, anticipation and clarity, this underscores the importance of disciplined daily habits over last-minute effort.
“People don’t rise to the occasion, they fall to the level of their habits,” Haesler adds.
Joining Haesler as keynote speakers are Kristina Karlsson, founder of kikki.K and Dream Life, and Milo Wilkinson, behavioural scientist and futurist, both bringing unique perspectives that extend beyond the stage and into the daily realities of the events and incentives community.
Together, their insights reinforce the program’s ambition to equip the industry with tools for building more resilient and adaptive teams.
The AIME 2026 Knowledge Monday program brings together AIME hosted buyers and exhibitors, while visitor buyers can upgrade their tickets to attend.
For more information, visit aime.com.au
