In a primary for the center East, GIBTM 2013 has given delegates a glimpse of ways technology will shape events sooner or later, becoming the 1st show within the region to provide the hybrid event initiative Event Camp Middle East 2013.
This hybrid format included seminar sessions fascinated by technological advances impacting the meetings industry, broadcast from both the show floor and streamed online from destinations as far afield because the US and Australia.
It extended GIBTM’s reach to a web-based global audience of 16,000 users across ten countries in precisely two hours.
“By pioneering this hybrid format we’ve taken GIBTM out of the four walls of the show floor to a world audience,” said Lois Hall, exhibition manager, GIBTM.
The event kicked off at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) yesterday and runs until tomorrow.
“We recognise the significance of technology and social media in shaping content and how wherein meetings’ professionals are connecting now and the way they’ll accomplish that someday, that is why this year’s show has embraced these ground-breaking trends.”
The session took on added relevance when it was reiterated that the center East was the fastest growing region for twitter users with 2.1 million recorded in June 2012, while in November 2012 the center East and North Africa (MENA) region had 45 million Facebook users, 50 per cent of whom accessed the media via mobile.