An Alphabet Soup of Mystery
While this is not necessarily new news, it is important. Last fall, the IEEE MTT-S changed the EEM for the IMS based on a recommendation from IEEE MTT-S AdCom, changing from HH to HEI. If that alone does not confuse you, imagine how puzzling it is to those who understand all the acronyms.
To simplify: IEEE has decided to change the folks who manage IMS from Horizon House to Hall-Erickson Incorporated for IMS2025.
Correcting for IMS2021 what I initially thought was an unwise decision for IMS2009 when IEEE changed from the long-standing Conference Manager, Horizon House, to someone different, IEEE has done it again, moving on from Horizon House to entrust our industry’s largest Conference and Exposition to yet another company. I believe that makes 3 changes in 14 years after decades of Conference Management stability.
As a long-time exhibitor (well over 20 years) and someone with opinions (I have a blog, after all), I have a few things to say as we approach HEI’s first IMS.
AdCom was unfair to Horizon House to change the EEM so soon after Horizon House was re-awarded the Conference. I want to look at the Conferences that landed in the Horizon House lap, but before that, let’s examine situation in the industry and world leading to the 2021 Conference. In 2019, IMS was in Boston, and with that came its usual great event. Boston always delivers – always has always will. 2020 was supposed to be Los Angeles, but COVID made that a virtual conference, and from the exhibition side, it was about as awful as I expected. I felt badly that Tim Lee and his talented team on the 2020 Steering Committee had little to show for their years of work.
Into the breech strides Horizon House and the industry breathes a sigh of relief. If anyone can get the Conference back on track, the folks in Norwood, MA can do it. Up next in the post-COVID world is Atlanta in 2021. There were plenty of rules about masking and distancing. The masking was a 50-50 proposition as far as compliance goes. The distancing was easy; it was a poorly attended conference, and it felt more regional than international. But – if my memory is correct – we had around 200 exhibitors on the show floor, not too shabby considering that we were in the early stages of “getting back to normal.” 2022 brought us to Denver and exhibitor participation increased to around 450 or so. 2023 was in San Diego, and at that point I decided (for what it is worth) that the Conference was “back” – nearly 550 exhibitors. 2024 was in Washington, DC and had about the same number of exhibitors as San Diego. It is not the 600 from pre-COVID, but for all intents and purposes, whoever was going to come back had already returned. Let’s call 550 the new 600. There was a steep upward climb out of the virtual 2020 hole that only a seasoned team of conference managers like Horizon House could have pulled off. On top of that, to my untrained eyes, there seemed to be many more opportunities for exhibitors to get their message out at the Conference. Digital message boards, big stickers on the floors, and the like were more visible than in the pre-COVID conferences.
And then, poof, out they go.
So, the question is “why”. Why did AdCom cast aside the team that brought the Conference back from the dead and look elsewhere? I am just an exhibitor and industry veteran – I have no insider knowledge – but to not reward the team that resuscitated the Conference is strange. Their task had to be to “increase attendance and sponsorships,” (it is like that for every Conference – large or small) and it appears they did just that. I guess there is solace in knowing you did everything that was asked of you. But it is a hollow victory.
Moving on. I have met with and been on calls with the extensive team at HEI. I have no doubt that they will do a fine job as the Conference enters the second quarter of the 21st century. Fear not, exhibitors, they have worked on other IEEE conferences in the past and are well suited to carry IMS onward and to greater heights. I look forward to their innovations to make the exhibition successful and provide a good ROI for those on the show floor. Their pre-Conference efforts have been great with webinars, reminder emails and a consistent stream of opportunities to maximize our time at IMS.
I look forward to seeing you at IMS, please stop by Booth 632 and say hello.
For more blog posts about filters and our industry, please visit https://marylandfilterguy.com/ and if you need to reach me, drop me an email at jassurian@reactel.com.
