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.
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 [...]
Are the rarest Digital talents attracted by the exhibition industry?
Stephan Forseilles, Head of Technology and Digital Transformation, Easyfairs. Last month, I had the pleasure to be on stage again with Gunnar Heinrich and Tesi Baur at UFI’s Asia Pacific Conference in Tokyo. With the help of the audience which could vote in real time, we debated several controversial digital topics. Digital is a big shift, both for businesses and people. To face the exponential change, businesses must be able to attract and keep the best digital talent, especially the new prof [...]
An ovation for innovation
Antony Reeve-Crook, Director, ArciMedia Ltd. One thing that has always endeared me to the global exhibition industry is the fact that the events you create foster innovation on a definitively industrial scale. The SMEs that typically comprise the bulk of your exhibitors are more often than not pushing innovation to an audience of buyers seeking competitive advantage through fresh partnership. So naturally when I was invited to take part in a two-day workshop, created by Future London Academy, [...]
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 [...]
Is it time to rethink traditional event KPI’s?
Matthias (Tesi) Baur, Founder and Consultant, MBB-Consulting Group. Financial reward may be the driving force for most businesses, but it is not the only way to measure business success. Our business environment is not the same as it was 20, 10, or even five years ago and the way in which we measure performance should reflect this. Companies assessing their performance by measuring outdated Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) run the risk of performing within an outdated framework. As the basic [...]
What does Matchmaking mean for exhibitions?
Stephan Forseilles, Head of Technology and Digital Transformation, Easyfairs. Matchmaking has been an ‘on/off’ topic in events for at least 15 years. From the ages of manual matching in Excel to the era of artificial intelligence being the promise of effortless and real-time recommendations, things have evolved. But not so much. Most of us are still selling to exhibitors the right to annoy visitors. So, as usual in that situation, I remove my “organiser” hat and look at it from my “frequent vi [...]
UFI Next Generation Leadership Grantee – meet Lilian Burgardt
2018 UFI NGL Grantee - Lilian Burgardt, Head of Digital Products - Informa Brazil. Meet Lilian Burgardt, Head of Digital Products - Informa Brazil, one of the four recipients of the UFI Next Generation Leadership Grant (NGL). Lilian Burgardt, one of the four recipients of the 2018 NGL Grant, and I had a chance to catch up earlier this month. The UFI NGL Grant is awarded to future leaders of the exhibition industry for exceptional initiative in driving change and innovation within their differe [...]
What should/could event engagement tech do for event organizers to survive and thrive in the digital age?
Stephan Forseilles, Head of Technology and Digital Transformation, Easyfairs. Written by Stephan Forseilles When Swapcard's Ilan Goren asked me if I'd be interested in contributing an article to their Blog on "What event engagement tech should /could do for event organizers to survive and thrive in the digital age", I jumped on the occasion. It's not everyday that you can have such a "blue sky" approach to the question. The first remark that often comes up in discussions about the future of th [...]
Insights into the Brazilian Exhibition Industry
Marco Basso, President of Brazil Informa Global Exhibitions Division. Marco A. Basso, is President of Brazil, Informa Global Exhibitions Division, a company he’s been with the last 22 years. Discovered by a head hunter to begin Informa’s operations in the country, he knew nothing about the exhibition business, but had a background in congresses and seminars. Like most of us, he said, “The exhibition business is a very dynamic industry and gets into your blood pretty quickly – but you have to h [...]