micenet understands the extension of the partnership beyond this year was agreed in the lead-up to AIME 2025, which was held last week at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC). This year’s event was the last show under the existing contract between the bureau and Talk2 Media.
Talk2 Media took over organising duties for the Asia Pacific business events trade show from RX – then known as Reed Exhibitions – after the 2018 edition of AIME.
Since delivering their first show in 2019, Talk2 Media have more than doubled the number of buyers and sellers at AIME, with 675 sellers and 640 hosted buyers, alongside other visitor buyers, participating in AIME 2025.
“We’re really thrilled with the partnership that we’ve had with Talk2 Media,” MCB chief executive Julia Swanson told micenet exclusively on the show floor of AIME last Tuesday.
“They’ve been a great partner throughout the show,” she said, adding that when the bureau went out to tender for a new organiser in 2017, “we just felt that the show needed a new injection of life, [to] really make it very contemporary, dynamic, innovative”.
“[Talk2 Media have] been on that journey with us and through the rollercoaster that’s been COVID and just the energy and the passion that they’ve brought to reinvigorating the show,” said Swanson.
“In many ways COVID was a blessing because it allowed for a full reset. And it wasn’t just, ‘oh, well, let’s do what we did before COVID’. [It was] ‘let’s really think about what works, what the industry wants, what the industry needs’.
“And we were aligned that AIME should be the platform to lead the industry out. It’s the one point in the year the whole business events community comes together.
“We have a role to play in re-stimulating the industry. So I think we were just really strategically aligned on that and had a similar view on how to bring it to life.”
Swanson flags the four straight years of growth for AIME while Talk2 Media has been at the helm and says the alignment between the bureau and the organiser meant “it was a fairly natural decision” to extend the partnership.
“The metrics go up every year. So, from our side we’re really happy with where the show’s at. The size is good. We’ve got all the right people here. There’s a real sense of community. Everyone has fun,” she says.
Swanson said it was the MCB board that ultimately made the decision, and they too were happy with its Talk2 Media era.
“They’ve been really pleased with the show and what it [has] delivered for industry. So…long may it continue.”
