Innovative thinking at the heart of IBTM World 2018

IBTM today announced Duncan Wardle, one of the primary creative forces behind The Walt Disney Company, as the first of three exciting keynote speakers lined up for IBTM World 2018, taking place in Barcelona from 27-29 November.

Duncan’s session leads the ‘innovation, technology and creativity stream’ of the Knowledge Programme and will kick-off the schedule on Day 2. Titled ‘Think Different the Disney Way’, Duncan will draw on his 25-year career with The Walt Disney Company, and his experience leading a team of creative ideation consultants, to show how leveraging creative thinking can generate far reaching and unexpected business results.

Duncan was part of the team that led the delivery of EuroDisney and Disney cruises and held several roles in the company before being appointed Vice President of Innovation and Creativity. Duncan is now an independent Innovation Consultant, working with companies such as Coca Cola, Ford and Johnson & Johnson.

The full programme of 63 sessions that form this year’s Knowledge Programme cover seven topical content themes all aimed at inspiring and educating on the latest industry issues and hot topics so that delegates leave motivated to apply learnings to their own exciting events. As well as innovation, technology and creativity, content falls under the following streams; industry trends; engagement and experiences; safety and security; sustainability and CSR; professional development, recruitment and wellbeing; and business development and strategy.

Shane Hannam, Portfolio Director, IBTM, comments: “We’re delighted to announce our first keynote speaker for IBTM World 2018. We look to inspire people with fresh-thinking from outside of the industry, and Duncan really epitomises this. He will give real life examples from his time at Disney, including sharing a toolkit to inspire and different way of thinking to drive change in the culture of a business – something that will be of direct benefit to our customers.”

IBTM World’s 2018 edition is set to be another unmissable event, with new exhibitors including Tourism New Zealand; Plus DMC Group, Standard International Management hotel group and creative technology company Codemodeon, which develops fun experiences by utilising breakthrough technology in virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. Returning brands include Hyatt Hotel Group, Hilton, Kempinski Hotels, Germany Convention Bureau, Switzerland Convention & Incentive Bureau, Slovenia Meetings, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau, VisitScotland and partners, Barcelona Convention Bureau, amongst many others.

Shane continued: “We’ve got a really exciting programme lined up for IBTM World this year. The event is centred around the theme of technology and how it can enhance every aspect of producing great events – from enabling creativity to analysing and understanding industry trends to helping us to create better, more useful connections. We’re looking forward to announcing more updates in due course.”

IBTM’s flagship show at Fira Gran Via Barcelona, IBTM World 2017 saw almost 3,000 exhibiting companies from over 150 countries joined by 3,463 buyers and thousands of visitors for a packed schedule of meetings, networking and educational sessions. Over 74,000 pre-scheduled meetings were arranged over the three days.