Case Study: GMIS
Think
global
Earlier this year, a group of
fledgling organisers launched a
world-first event for the global
manufacturing industry
IN BrIEF
What: Global
Manufacturing &
Industrialisation
Summit (GMIS)
Who: UAE Ministry
of Economy, United
Nations Industrial
Development
Organisation
(UNIDO) and GMIS, in
partnership with GES
Where: Paris-Sorbonne
University in Abu Dhabi
When: 27-30 March 2017
12
engage
T
he first ever Global Manufacturing &
Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) had
backing most event launches could only
dream of. In the UAE government and an array
of big-name sponsors, it had some of global
business’ most powerful advocates.
The show was designed to bring professionals
from the global manufacturing community
together for the first time in one all-
encompassing event, comprising an exhibition,
a thought leadership summit and a cross-
industry forum designed to unite governments,
businesses and civil society. It also featured over
90 high-profile speakers, industry leaders and
government ministers.
The location decided on for this world-first
launch was the state-of-the-art campus at Paris-
Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi. The team
organising the event, says commercial director
Namir Hourani, were pretty new to the world of
live events.
“We’re around 12 people,” he says. “I’m not
kidding when I say that not one of us has ever
put an event together, so we didn’t really know
what to expect in terms of what goes behind it
and how much it takes.”
For a summit run by event industry novices,
it was ambitious to say the least. Not only did
GMIS encompass the summit, exhibition and
forum, the organisers also wanted it to be an
immersive and interactive experience for guests
and visitors. Full service provider GES partnered
with the organisers of the summit to ensure
that the visitor experience was consistent and
inspiring throughout.
“The opening ceremony was split into three
parts; a networking reception, the inaugural
address and a live conference featuring an
interactive hologram offering insights into
technology and innovation,” explains Mike
Honzik, head of design, GES Middle East. “This
project was a real team effort from all involved;
our operations team delivered interior fitout and
event build utilising temporary structures as
well as all core services.”
The event not only welcomed top professionals
in the global manufacturing industry, it also saw
attendance from the UAE royal family and an
endorsement from UN secretary general Ban Ki-
Moon. So it was vital that everything, from the
opening ceremony to the final moments of the
event, went without a hitch.
“What we loved about GES is they took the
initiative,” says Hourani. “The fact that we were
busy – and perhaps not very responsive a lot of
the time – didn’t create a bottleneck. They rolled
their sleeves up and got the job done.”
As the event was held at a university, it
was important to transform the space into a
functioning exhibition and conference venue.
“I think we’ve really raised the bar for other
events in Abu Dhabi,” concludes Houran. “I don’t
think Abu Dhabi has ever seen anything like this
before. It has really been the talk of town.”
Winter 2017/18 in association with GES