The importance of professional development
Development of knowledge shouldn’t stop when you get out of school. The world is changing at an ever-faster pace. Great learning opportunities are out there.
Talk the talk
Agents in all branches of our far-reaching ecosystem need to walk the walk if we are to get where we want to go. Particularly those responsible for promoting their clients to us; we deal in trade, not tourism.
Guild-y by association
Antony Reeve-Crook, Director, ArciMedia Ltd. News that three of the most prominent business event associations are putting ‘collaboration over competition’, pooling their resources to bring greater value to their members, reveals much about the shared paths our industries are following. The global associations AIPC (International Association of Convention Centres), ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) and UFI (Global Association of the Exhibition Industry) have embarked on [...]
TCEB in Europe to Redefine events in Thailand
Sponsored article by TCEB The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) was in the UK in May to promote its latest exhibition campaigns to international event organisers seeking a springboard in South East Asia. A team of representatives from the bureau visited the UFI European Conference at NEC Birmingham to fly the flag for Thailand and secure new business from organisers not yet active in the country, or unaware of the fresh opportunities presented by TCEB’s latest campaigns. The event [...]
The Case for Investing in our Second- and Third-Year Exhibitors and Attendees
Stephanie Selesnick, International Trade Information, Inc. Many interesting facts came out of the UFI/Explori Exhibitor and Visitor Insights over the last couple of years, among them that the largest attrition for both exhibitors and visitors happens from years one to two and years two to three. (LINK: https://www.ufi.org/industry-resources/surveys-and-studies/) It costs significantly more to recruit both new attendees and exhibitors. So, what’s an organizer to do? Here are some suggestions. F [...]
The UFI Digital Debate in Tokyo: Digital Revolution in the Exhibition Industry
Gunnar Heinrich, CEO, adventics GmbH. At the high-profile UFI Asia-Pacific Conference in Tokyo, Stephan Forseilles, Tesi Baur and I had the pleasure to debate several controversial topics about the digital revolution in our exhibition industry. With the help of the audience which could vote in real time, we took a closer look at A.I., customer experience, digital talents and digitization in the exhibition industry. Here is a wrap-up of our discussion. 1. Will A.I. change our industry completel [...]
Making it look EASY
Antony Reeve-Crook, Director, ArciMedia Ltd. Eric Everard, CEO and founder of Belgium’s Easyfairs is a keynote speaker at this year’s UFI European Conference in Birmingham. Before he takes the stage I managed to catch up with him to find out if the company’s model continues unchanged, and to what he attributes the company’s success. Easyfairs operates in 20 countries, manages a portfolio of 218 fully owned events and ten venues. Its revenues and profits are derived roughly 80 per cent from its [...]
Some Things Organizers May Not Know About Japan
Stephanie Selesnick, International Trade Information, Inc. One of my favorite things about attending the UFI Regional Conferences is learning about other cultures and visiting countries for the first time. Here are a few things we learned last week about Japan at the UFI Asia-Pacific Conference - and how you may incorporate them into your exhibitions: 1. Signage. Japan is pretty easy to travel around! Having bilingual signage – Japanese and English - enabled us to easily travel around the co [...]
Not so social media
Antony Reeve-Crook, Director, ArciMedia Ltd. River damming and distrust. Can organisers still use social media to grow show’s attendance? Since 2016 Facebook has restricted its data sharing practice, and regulations such as GDPR in European Union member states have slowed the flow of data to those in search of it. Interfaces between organisers and social media have changed too. Last year Facebook removed the API for automatic sharing, a tool commonly used (perhaps ill-advisedly) to promote tra [...]
Experience is the new economy: How do trade show visitors view festivalisation?
Sophie Holt, Global Strategy Director at Explori. Seated alongside a panel of trade show organisers and live event specialists, I shared some of Explori’s insights on festivalisation with the audience at this year’s International Confex. Experience is the new economy... Callum Gill, head of insight at DRP Group Perhaps driven by the growing popularity of music festivals, or high-budget corporate events raising the bar (remember the accounting software conference that ran a zip line across ExCe [...]