At the heart of the global meetings industry lies a driving force of purpose, resilience, and reinvention. Each year, the IAPCO Innovation Award recognises individuals who go beyond expectations to shape a smarter, more connected and more impactful industry. But the award is more than a trophy — it is a celebration of the human ingenuity within IAPCO’s global Accredited community.
At IMEX Frankfurt 2025, Nuria Fernández Roldán of KENES Group was honoured as this year’s recipient. Yet the spirit of innovation pulsing through every finalist’s story is what makes this award so significant. From AI-powered education and sustainability-led sourcing to creative engagement models and social legacies — these professionals are redefining how events are conceived, delivered, and remembered.
Together, they represent the collective intelligence, creativity, and values that sit at the very core of IAPCO.
🔍 Where Vision Meets Action
Innovation doesn’t always look like invention. Sometimes, it’s a shift in perspective — a daring reframe of what we thought possible.
Take Georgia Menti of Convin SA, who transformed a scientific congress into a cross-generational call for environmental action. Or Virginia Loyola of Arinex, who combined business development with reconciliation, making history as the first in Australia’s event industry to formalise a RAP — and making it matter.
And consider Quentin Alexandre Remy of MCI SUISSE, who addressed one of our sector’s most urgent demands — sustainability — by building a tool that brings clarity and accountability into hotel sourcing. His work gives delegates the power to make informed, ethical decisions. It also gives planners the data they need to evolve responsibly.
Each of these innovators took a challenge and turned it into an opportunity — not just for their companies or clients, but for the industry as a whole.
💡 Creativity That Moves Us Forward
This year’s finalists didn’t stop at solving problems. They sparked movements.
When Kleopatra Giatsou of AFEA Congress asked how to unite 3,000 students from 193 countries, her answer wasn’t logistical — it was emotional. A giant symbolic puzzle, completed piece by piece, became a legacy of global connection. Proof that sometimes, innovation is as much about meaning as it is about mechanics.
And when Nuria Fernández Roldán, our 2025 Award recipient, saw doctors struggling with difficult conversations, she envisioned a better way. Her AI-powered simulation — short, emotionally intelligent, and deeply human — is already improving healthcare communication around the world. Her work is proof that when you combine empathy with technology, you elevate lives.
🌍 The Global DNA of IAPCO
What unites these stories isn’t just innovation. It’s courage. Thoughtfulness. Collaboration. A desire to make things better — and the capability to follow through.
This is the power of the IAPCO community: a global network of professionals whose insights don’t just advance the industry — they advance society. These innovators remind us that excellence isn’t a status. It’s a mindset. And it lives in every continent, culture, and corner of our IAPCO Membership.
Their ideas reflect not just technical skill, but vision. They show us what’s possible when knowledge meets creativity, and when people are empowered to lead with purpose.
✨ More Than a Moment — A Movement
The IAPCO Innovation Award isn’t about a single winner. It’s about the collective brilliance of a community that dares to imagine more — and delivers it.
To Nuria, Georgia, Virginia, Quentin, and Kleopatra: your ideas have elevated us all. And to every Member of the IAPCO community: this is your story too. You are the innovators, the collaborators, the changemakers.
You are the reason we continue #UnlockingExcellence.
📍 Discover more about this year’s finalists, their work, and the impact they’re making across the global meetings industry in the #117 issue of IAPCO's PCO Magazine, pages 14-19.
