This year’s IRF Education Invitational, which just wrapped up with 530 attendees at the Conrad Hotel at Resorts World Las Vegas, illustrated how closely this organization listens to feedback from participants—about its research, its operations and its events.
There were a number of changes to the agenda at this year’s event. Instead of a full day of education, people attended two half days in the morning, giving them afternoon time to explore Las Vegas. The gifting experiences that the IRF uses to spotlight incentive merchandise were distributed throughout the event, rather than at one gifting suite on the first day—creating various pops of gifting. The live auction, which is known for its bucket list trips around the world, this year included lower-priced options to be more inclusive to all attendees. The change paid off, too, earning $472,000 to support the IRF’s operations and research in the coming year.
There was a strong nod to wellbeing, with well-attended early morning exercise sessions and an opening day Zen Den, sponsored by PRA, that included massages, a singing bowl meditation and giveaways of Citizens smartwatches that track activity, heart rate and circadian rhythm.
As always, the IRF Education Invitational featured a variety of experiences to spotlight the destination; this year’s ranged from helicopter rides to a hardhat tour of the Fontainebleau to a Lip Smacking Foodie Tour of the Venetian and Wynn Las Vegas. An excursion to the Westin Lake Las Vegas was a wonderful surprise, and included a poolside luau and rides on the resort’s new solar-powered pontoon boat.
The event retained the other elements that are at its core: a strong educational component (years ago, this event was almost purely golf); a trade show at the pool, known as Cabana Day; and numerous networking opportunities. And at the center of everything was the IRF research, which in recent years has been presented in a bite-sized format with infographics and bulleted data to be more digestible.
On the sponsorship side, the IRF’s new Partner Program is a year-long partnership that includes research, event participation, marketing and other activities. There are a limited number of Partners, all of whom gain visibility far beyond the annual event. The program was created with the assistance of Isabel Mahon, Director of Sales Incentive/InsuranceFairmont Hotels & Resorts, who was awarded with this year’s Volunteer of the Year Award. The Outstanding Service Award went to Jeff Broudy, the founder of United Incentives and a long-time leader of the incentive industry, now retired.
Next year’s IRF Education Invitational will be held in May 2024 at Rosewood Baha Mar in the Bahamas.
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