The IMEX Association Day will probably be the largest encounter of international event planners of associations and organisations in Europe. It will take place on 21 April 2008 at the congress centre of Frankfurt Fair, one day before IMEX - incorporating Meetings made in Germany - The Worldwide Exhibition for incentive travel, meetings and events kicks off. A German-speaking programme, for which MCI Germany is responsible, will accompany the international event and the German Convention Bureau e.V. (GCB), with the support of the German Society for Association Management (DGVM), will invite event planners from associations and organisations.

"Despite the international flair of our industry, there are many topics that are particularly pressing for German association planers. We have found the right platform for them with our contributions," explains GCB director Lutz P. Vogt. This year topics such as fundraising and strategy will be the focus of discussions and lectures.

New for 2008: In addition to the planned four lectures of top-notch speakers on Association Day, the GCB will offer two lectures specially tailored to event planners from German associations as part of its IMEX seminar programme: One will be on member bonding and the other on sustainability and positioning of associations. Unlike the programme of the IMEX Association Day to which only invited guests are admitted, these seminars are open to all IMEX visitors.

The German-speaking programme at IMEX Association Day

The German-speaking programme of the Association Day on 21 April 2008 will start after a joint lunch with a lecture on the topic of fundraising. Speaker Michael Strubin of MCI Brussels will highlight the development of fundraising into "friendraising" by presenting various fundraising and sponsoring models and providing ideas on how to win commercial and non-profit sponsors. This will be followed by a lecture by Dr. Harald Schotenroehr, of the Dusseldorf-based CPA firm HSMV, who will talk about "sponsoring, donations, and co.". He will explain various types of funding and their fiscal treatment, how to distinguish between sponsoring and donations, the sponsoring agreement, international donations (European Court of Justice) and the new law for the strengthening of the civil society.

Thomas Reiser, director of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN), will start the first part of a lecture on strategy by discussing the necessity of strategic planning for associations, the basic requirements and fields of action. In the second part Martin Then, director of EndoScience, Endokrinologie Service GmbH, will present various concepts on how to successfully implement the developed strategies despite limited resources.

Attendees of the Association Day can talk more intensively about individual aspects of two topics of their choice in further discussions. The event will end with an evening reception at Intercontinental Hotel Frankfurt.

The new GCB association seminars on the first day of the fair

On 22 April 2008, the first day of the trade show, Stefan Eser, authorised signatory and head of the members' research department of forum! Marktforschung GmbH, will talk about "Success Factor Emotional Member Bonding". In the afternoon, in the second new GCB seminar, Professor Axel Uhrmacher will hold a speech on "Sustainability Powers Brands - How Can Associations Position Themselves in the Future?". 14 other free German-speaking GCB seminars on a wide range of topics will be offered on the other days of IMEX trade fair.