Taking place from 9 to 11 February 2026 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), AIME 2026 will be the largest show delivered to date by Event Director Silke Calder and her team at Talk2 Media & Events.
The event will welcome more than 700 exhibitors and 700 hosted buyers and 20,000 pre-scheduled appointments — figures that underscore AIME’s reputation as a powerhouse of international collaboration and deal-making. More than 80 per cent of exhibition space has already been sold or reserved.
At the heart of AIME’s success is the Hosted Buyer Program — a cornerstone of the event’s enduring appeal. Designed to ensure quality engagement and tangible outcomes, the program delivers carefully curated appointments and exclusive networking opportunities. In 2026 there will be even greater flexibility for hosted buyers with time for impromptu meetings on the showfloor that augment AIME’s sophisticated meeting-matching technology, which ensures the right buyers and exhibitors meet during the event.
“What excites me most about AIME 2026 is how the show is evolving,” Calder says. “We’re growing in scale, yes — but also in depth. As a team, we are always striving for perfection, and we have been working hard to finesse our meeting matching methodology for our buyers and sellers, using the latest advances in AI, blended with our team’s expertise and knowledge.”
AIME’s signature thought-leadership platform, Knowledge Monday, will also return with a renewed sense of purpose. Following the introspective 2025 theme, “We Matter,” the 2026 program — “Expertise Matters!” — will explore the role of professional mastery in a world increasingly influenced by AI and automation.
Curated in partnership with El Kwang and the team at BEAMexperience, the Knowledge Monday program will bring together leading voices from across the global events industry to examine how expertise builds creativity, credibility, and impact. An eight-member Advisory Committee of senior industry leaders ensures the content remains deeply relevant to all corners of the business events ecosystem, including associations, convention bureaux, and suppliers.
“Expertise is the cornerstone of our industry’s future,” Calder says. “At AIME 2026, we want to celebrate that, to create a platform where insight and experience are recognised as the forces that keep our industry credible, confident and connected.”
Managed by Talk2 Media & Events on behalf of the Melbourne Convention Bureau, AIME continues to define the business events calendar for the Asia Pacific region. Beyond its role as a marketplace, AIME serves as a global meeting point — uniting association leaders, corporate decision-makers and event professionals in an environment where ideas, innovation and impact intersect.
For more information, visit aime.com.au.