OnePlus 0512.pdf - Meeting Professionals International

The event’s growth is not only measurable
in square feet being added to its footprint
and the increasing amount of industry
hardware it is actively showcasing, but
also notably in its attendee and speaker
profi le, which is attracting some of the
biggest names in the world of animation,
such as securing Academy Award-winner
and visual effects specialist Rob Legato as
a speaker for 2012.
“There are so many amazing luminaries
attending FMX that I wouldn’t want to list
them for fear of forgetting one of them,”
Blottiere said. “This year, I was looking at
the list of registered attendees and I saw the
name of a CTO [chief technology offi cer]
of a major American studio who could easily
have reached out and asked for a free
pass or a speaking opportunity, but instead
just registered. This was a strong signal to
me. It is clear that FMX is able to attract
senior people not just from Europe, but
from across the world.
“With our ‘production orientation’
they know they will hear talks that are relevant
to their everyday issues, and speakers
know they will hear about topics that
are key to them,” he added. “They also
know that they will have a lot of social
events that will allow them to network at
a very high level.”
A rich and coherent program alloyed
to strong organizational connections and
a broad range of key industry fi gures is
topped off by the FMX after-hours parties,
social gatherings arranged to trigger
networking possibilities for key industry
fi gures as well as those starting out and
curious about how to enter the industry’s
inner sanctums. This is particularly the
case with several invitation-only VIP dinners
for a select group of 150 key people,
including the day’s speakers, VIPs, partners
and executives—functions orchestrated
with great attention to detail to encourage
levels of idea generation that can
really help the industry to fl ourish.
One of Sheriff Woody Pride’s most
memorable pull-string lines in Toy Story
is “Reach for the sky.” Perhaps infl uenced
by this fi rst breakthrough in CGI fi lm production,
the organizers of FMX appear to
be taking Woody’s words very much to
heart for their event’s goals, as they are
clearly pulling out all the stops to ensure
that it year after year continues to do just
that.
ROB COTTER is a frequent One+ contributor
based in Berlin, Germany.
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