MIPIM Conference to Return as Hybrid Event at Cannes in September
By Celia Young May 6, 2021 1:39 pm
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The annual MIPIM conference in Cannes, France, is back — sort of.
The real estate conference will hold its regularly scheduled program on Sept. 7 and 8 in a hybrid in-person and online event, after being canceled and rescheduled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Calling the event a “phygital experience” — part physical, part digital — MIPIM will offer an in-person portion with conferences and an exhibition area, while some attendees and speakers will join virtually. The topics will focus on sustainability, and how the pandemic and social distancing will affect real estate classes.
“The safety of our clients, partners and staff is always our top priority,” MIPIM spokesperson My-Lan Cao told Commercial Observer. “A temperature check should be carried out, and we are awaiting the latest instructions from the French government regarding the implementation of the health pass, which may include [a] vaccine or [a] test.”
The conference does not yet have an estimated number of in-person attendees, and will follow French guidelines on social distancing, said Cao.
The conference is shorter than the four-day event originally planned for 2020, which was rescheduled from March to June, and then shortened to a two-day September summit in Paris last year. The conference also announced a virtual component, MIPIM Connect, to connect real estate professionals, CO reported.
More than 25,000 people were expected to attend the 2020 MIPIM conference, and it’s doubtful that this year’s hybrid conference will reach those attendance levels.
The real estate industry conference will include a new digital platform alongside the two-day event, accessible all year long, for the MIPIM community. The physical portion of the conference will be held at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes.
Speakers at this year’s conference will include Sophie Boissard, CEO of Korian; Yvan Bourgnon, chairman and founder of The SeaCleaners, and Betrand Piccard, chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation, according to the schedule.
