Posted by
Barry Siskind
Community manager
On March 14 – 16, UFI will be conducting its 2011 Middle East Open Seminar in Sharjah, UAE. The theme of the three days is, “Discovering Regional Opportunities.”
http://sharjah2011.ufi.evenium.com
Amongst the high-profile rostrum of speakers is Simon Parker, Group Director for UBM of London. His presentation is called “Successful Partnerships.” I had a chance to ask Simon a few questions pertaining to his presentation:
Barry: What are the essential strengths a company should have before they think about partnering?
Simon: Not necessarily “strengths” but some of the key questions they should consider are:
- Why do you need a partner?
- Do both parties bring something to the table and would the partnership be equitable?
- Are the cultures/ personalities/ systems compatible?
- Who is going to do what?
- What is the long term plan – what happens if it goes wrong?
Barry: What are the major pitfalls that companies have experienced with their local partnering initiatives and how can they be minimized?
Simon: I can articulate five areas:
- Lack of knowledge of each others business – Visit offices, shows, meet a wide cross section of the team
- Unexpected surprises – Do as much due diligence as possible
- Confused responsibilities – Agree to clear “rules of engagement”
- Unhappy marriage – Ensure clear exit strategy
- Unrealistic expectations – Agree on a clear “combined” strategy
Hello
If ever in this discussion you would talk about partnerships between two suppliers – contractors in the exhibition industy – you should know that Ifes is preparing a code of Conduct ( Code of Ethics) for their members.
On the Ifes stand in Euroshop the V.2 of Expopedia will be launched. Expopedia will show much more suppliers then only the Ifes members. So the big issue will be how to make sure that partners all over the world have the right understanding of the expectations , the requirements and the correct behaviour .. In Expopdia there will be the possibility to find more information on a partner than just the company profile- there will also be the possibility to find webpages – news and the possibility to recommand a partner from the suppliers community.
Fact is that companies still have to take their rsponsabilities on a one to one basis and this has to do with experience and a good network.
Koen Bogaert Publiganda nv