Innovation Award
Recognising Innovative Solutions in the Meetings and Events Industry
Have you come across someone who has revolutionized the way events are organized? Someone who has introduced groundbreaking ideas, technologies, or strategies that have significantly enhanced the event experience? Now is your chance to honour their remarkable contributions by nominating them for the IAPCO Driving Excellence Innovation Award.
Click here to submit your nomination for Innovation in events that took place in 2024. The entry deadline is 15 March 2025.
The winner will be announced in May 2025 at the gala evening at IMEX Frankfurt.
Criteria/ Rules of Entry
- Any individual engaged as a full-time employee of an IAPCO Member is eligible to be nominated.
- Entries are limited to one nomination per IAPCO Member Company, but any staff member, whether from a Member Company or a registered Member Office, is eligible.
- The submission should be for an event that took place in 2024.
- Nominations must be received by 15th March 2025.
Submission
The submission needs to include:
- 50 words – biographical details of the individual nominee
- 50 words – biographical details of the PCO Member
- 50 words – about the event (if applicable to an event)
- 250-500 words – abstract describing the use of innovation:
- Outline of the challenge
- The approach and solution to the challenge
- The outcome
Judging
The IAPCO Council will judge the entries, based on the written submission noting the degree and complexity of the challenge and the outcome of the innovation.
The winner will receive two tickets to attend the IMEX Frankfurt Gala Evening where they will be presented the Innovation Award.
The Award Winner
- Innovation Award presented to the individual winner on behalf of their company at the IMEX gala evening in Frankfurt.
- A complimentary registration for the winning individual to attend the IAPCO Annual Meeting 2026 in Athens.
- Use of the Innovation Award logo on email signature, stationery, biographical details/CV.
Current Winner
2024 – Claire Smyth, Director of Sales and Marketing, Conference Partners International
Claire Smyth, Director of Sales and Marketing at Conference Partners International (CPI) was announced the winner of the coveted 2024 IAPCO Innovation Award, supported by IMEX.
The IAPCO award, part of IAPCO’s Driving Excellence Awards Programme was presented at the IMEX Frankfurt Gala Dinner on Wednesday, 15th May by Sissi Lignou, IAPCO President-Elect and President and CEO of AFEA Congress. The Innovation Award recognises and celebrates those at the forefront of innovation, raising the standards of professionalism within the meetings industry.
Claire’s winning entry addressed the challenge faced by One Young World, a forum for young leaders when they brought their 2023 Summit to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Part of the motivation for choosing Belfast was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, a pivotal moment in the region’s peace process. Claire impressed the judging panel with her creative and impactful approach to connecting the 2023 One Young World Summit with the city of Belfast.
Under Claire’s leadership, CPI engaged both exhibitors and local street artists to create bespoke artwork that formed a connection between the Summit, commercial exhibitors and the local community. Every exhibitor hung a unique piece of artwork, each identifying a key theme around modern Belfast and the role of peace and reconciliation. Additionally, CPI organised a Community Dine Around, allowing delegates to experience firsthand the impact of peace on local communities affected by the Troubles.
The innovative initiatives led by Claire resulted in multiple positive outcomes, including increased engagement between delegates and exhibitors, a deeper connection to Belfast City and meaningful participation from local artists and communities.
“Winning the IAPCO Innovation Award is a significant honour and privilege for me,” said Claire Smyth. “It signifies CPI’s dedication to pushing boundaries and fostering creativity. Being acknowledged for an innovation that emanates from the heart is truly rewarding. This award is a testament to the hard work and commitment of every member of the CPI team, who continuously drive such innovations forward.”
Nicola McGrane, CEO of Conference Partners International, commended Claire’s achievement, stating, “Claire’s innovative solution exemplifies our passion for delivering events that create lasting value. This recognition has not only validated our relentless pursuit of excellence and boosted our reputation in the industry but has also energised our team, sparking creativity and fostering a culture of innovation to propel us to new heights of success. We are immensely grateful for this honour and remain inspired to continue revolutionising our industry with cutting-edge solutions that make a lasting difference.”
IAPCO President-Elect, Sissi Lignou praising Claire on her win commented, “We’re delighted to recognise Claire’s outstanding achievement. Her creativity showcases the power of collaborative problem-solving within the meetings industry and the special care provided to our clients by IAPCO PCOs.”
As the 2024 Innovation Award winner, Claire will receive a complimentary registration to attend IAPCO’s 2025 Annual Meeting in Taipei, Taiwan. Her innovative solution to events management will also be featured in the upcoming edition of IAPCO’s ‘The PCO’ magazine, inspiring meeting professionals worldwide.
Previous Winners
2022 (awarded in 2023)
Audrey Alloul, Chief Digital Officer, Kenes Group
Kenes Group, a leading global meetings and events organiser, is announced as the winner of the 2022 IAPCO Innovation Award for its Unlok Education platform at a gala Awards evening on Wednesday, 24th May at the IMEX 2023.
The Innovation Award judges picked Unlok Education as the most innovative new product or service in the meetings and events industry in 2022 from the nominations submitted.
Audrey Alloul is the current Chief Digital Officer, in charge of the recently created Digital Department at Kenes and, subsequently, the development of Unlok – the visionary online educational platform for healthcare professionals . Audrey has been part of Kenes for over 17 years holding several leadership positions.
Unlok Education is an AI-powered video library that integrates several technologies into an easy-to-navigate, cross-specialities learning space. The platform allows healthcare professionals to access Continuing Medical Education (CME) – accredited content from Kenes’ Original Events, the Global Education of Medicine and Science – GEMS Association, and other leading medical organizations.
Unlok Education was created in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the cancellation or postponement of many in-person medical congresses. Kenes Group was committed to enabling a platform for medical collaboration and advancement no matter what, and Unlok Education is the result of that commitment.
Unlok Education uses algorithm-based matching systems and artificial intelligence to facilitate the knowledge exchange between users themselves and between users and speakers. It automatically generates captions and translations to 120 different languages, identifies highlights of keynotes in the speakers’ speech, and accurately recommends similar content to create personalized CME-accredited learning programs based on users’ searches.
Unlok Education is currently available in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Chinese. The platform will be translated into additional languages in the coming months.
The IAPCO Innovation Award winner received the prestigious trophy as well as a complimentary registration and speaker’s slot to attend the IAPCO Annual Meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2024.
“This award represents both the recognition of 1.5 years of the Digital Team working hard to materialize a vision that is only possible thanks to our six decades of expertise and knowledge about the continuous learning journey of healthcare professionals and the momentum of our Unlok Education space – designed to be a turning point in the field of continuous medical education. We understand the great value that the IAPCO Driving Excellence Awards hold within the associative sector and it is an honour for me to receive the Innovation Award on behalf of Kenes Group and everyone involved in the Unlok Education project. Without a doubt, this accolade has already awakened significant interest in Unlok Education and I am very much looking forward to further sharing insights about it in Ljubljana, Slovenia, at the next IAPCO Annual Meeting.”
2021 (awarded in 2022)
Ms Hyojung Ok, EZpmp, South Korea
For Ms Hyojung Ok’s use of innovative digital technology to deliver a flawless carbon-neutral event to a virtual audience at the P4G Summit in Korea in 2021.
Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G), the first multilateral environmental event to be hosted by the Korean government, the virtual summit brought together government representatives and international organisations to focus on the theme of ‘Inclusive Green Recovery Towards Carbon Neutrality’.
The summit was delivered virtually using 5G wireless technology and in the spirit of inclusivity, innovation, and sustainability, used real-time augmented reality to provide delegates with an immersive experience while showcasing Korea’s culture and natural habitat.
2020 (awarded in 2021)
Jakel Lin with the GIS Group
Created a successful hybrid experience that will become a benchmark for hybrid congresses in the future. The perfect use of technology – including holograms – combined with a well-designed programme created the perfect engagement experience for both in-person and virtual audiences.
2019 (awarded in 2020)
Monica Fusaro and Marta Calderai, AIM Group International
The winning team introduced web TV to their clients’ congress to broaden the reach of its high-quality scientific content.
Awarded at the virtual ceremony during the IAPCO #WinningWebinar as part of PlanetIMEX titled ‘Olympians and Meeting Professionals
2018 (awarded 2019)
Elvire de Chalus of Colloquium
Announced at the impressive IMEX Gala Evening in Frankfurt, Christophe Painvin was delighted to accept the award on Elvire’s behalf, presented by Mathias Posch IAPCO President.
2017
Amber Chen, Assistant Vice President, GIS Group Taiwan
For the 3rd EcoMobility World Festival in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, the awardee transformed a local neighbourhood into an ecomobile community – a live demonstration of how to create an urban transportation culture within a historic neighbourhood. In addition – through effective storytelling – children were educated on the benefits of ecomobility. Creating a true legacy, the green transportation introduced continues to be used in Kaohsiung City.
The results were close and both runners-up deserve recognition for their innovative concepts around meeting design: Rosa Garriga Mora, Kenes Group and Christina Gotze, Congrex Switzerland.
2016
Elizabeth Winter of African Agenda
Announced at the impressive IMEX Gala Evening in Frankfurt and presented by Jan Tonkin, IAPCO President, the award was accepted by Corne Koch of Wesgro Convention Bureau on Elizabeth’s behalf.
Elizabeth’s award-winning innovation was a “standing discussion”, a session, which took participants out of their comfort zones and brought them together to share ideas in a lively, structured discussion. Experiences and knowledge were shared, and new ideas were sparked, as all corners of the session topic were explored. The bonus connection of improved cognition and physical movement to strengthen learning, improve memory retrieval, and enhance motivation and morale was not missed by the participants who scored the sessions highly when surveyed post-conference.
Elizabeth stated: “Being innovative does not necessarily imply being an inventor, we suggest it implies assessing a situation, a need, an audience and crafting a concept in order to shape a solution. This is an example of that.”
2015
Yoshihito Takahashi from Congress Corporation, Japan
Jan Tonkin, President of IAPCO, presented the Award at the IMEX Gala evening. Yoshihito’s innovation was an app, which streamlined the process of participant attendance for lunch seminars. This ensured that there were none of the dreaded queues and delegates could check availability for the seminars in real-time, all with the added bonus of being completely paperless.
2014
Andrew Dergousoff, of ICS Canada
The first winner of the inaugural IAPCO Innovation Award was announced at the IMEX Gala Evening at Frankfurt Opera House in May 2014. The new award for PCOs attracted numerous applications, and the three short-listed nominees were presented by Council to the audience at IAPCO’s Annual Meeting in Lisbon, for delegates to vote on the nominees’ innovative ideas, implementation, and successful contributions to their companies.
In addition to Andrew, and his work on virtual meetings, the short-list included Magdalina Atannassova, of AIM Group Bulgaria, for work involving social media, and Dohyun Kim, of MECI Korea, who worked on public relations strategies. All three candidates showed very high levels of understanding of the meetings business, along with a great capacity for integrating innovative solutions.
Andrew said on his win: “I could not be more delighted. It was a real honour just to be shortlisted, but to win… was something I only dreamt of. It is fantastic recognition.”