Cover Feature
attractive than meeting the right
people. How can we improve the
matchmaking experience?
may be used to provide temporary
healthcare facilities adding further
delay in their return to service.
• When restrictions are lifted there
is going to be a significant shortage
of both buyers and sellers due to
the economic environment – small
companies closed, larger companies
focused on cost cutting. The harsh
reality of selling space in a recession
will be very real for almost all
organisers.
• In counties heavily impacted by
coronavirus, economic nationalism
will very likely increase significantly.
Companies will seek to shorten,
diversify and localise supply chains
with the intent of building greater
resilience against future supply
shocks – while supporting their
nation.
• There will be many M&A
opportunities and a sparser
tradeshow calendar due to the severe
financial strain on smaller organisers
who will struggle with the combined
impact of a slowing economy and
absorbing cost increases due to a
postponed show.
It’s easy to be downbeat, but I think of
my friends dreaming up new croissants.
The tradeshow business model is not
fundamentally broke, we’re just closed
for a while. With time, restrictions
will gradually ease, shows will start
again and we’ll reboot. This is time
for organisers to work out where the
opportunity exists and capitalise upon
it. Our recommendations are to:
Increase resilience.
The rescheduling of many tradeshows
to the autumn opens an opportunity to
build greater flexibility going forward.
Those organisers who operate shows
every six months (at either the same
or a different cities) can roll over
exhibitors to their next edition with a
lower cost impact. For an annual show
moved from March 2020 to October
2020, do they take the opportunity
to increase frequency in 2021 to seize
market share and provide exhibitors
with more options if there is a need to
postpone again?
Think ‘matchmaking’.
When Buyers for exhibitors’ products
are in short supply, effective
matchmaking and bringing the
community together matters more than
ever. In a world of social distancing,
a busy show floor is significantly less
Expand the local universe.
To capitalise on economic nationalism
and changing buying patterns
organisers need to understand their
local markets in depth – are you sure
you know the universe of potential
exhibitors? In our data projects, it is
common we identify over 500 highly
relevant prospects for a certain show
– exhibitors which are not in our
clients’ CRM systems and are not even
contacted.
Invest like a leader.
Extensive research shows that whatever
position a company has before a
recession, those that emerge as the
leaders afterwards are those that have
invested more heavily (both organically
and inorganically) during the recession.
It takes nerve and balance sheet to do
this, but good talent and cheap deals are
going to be in high supply for the bold
and prepared investor over the next 18
months.
About Mark Parsons
Mark Parsons runs Events Intelligence, a small big data business that
uses machine learning to find similar tradeshow exhibitors at scale.
For the last four years he has supported the strategy and deal teams
at major organisers using data-led origination tactics.
He was formerly an M&A principal at UBM, leading the disposal
program for a period of three years as the business implemented
their ‘Events first’ strategy. Prior to UBM he worked extensively
on deals within the TMT sector for corporates and Private Equity
as professional advisor, latterly as a Director in EY’s Transaction
Advisory practice.
He is a chartered accountant, holds an Executive MBA from
London Business School, and a Masters in Data Science and
Business Analytics from NYU Stern.
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