Since launching their first live event in 2013 , visitor experience has been the heart of Step Connect2 ’ s philosophy .
Trade shows do not have to be boring , says founder James Lee , from their graffitied office in the former Subbuteo factory in Tunbridge Wells , Kent . The 10th edition of Education Estates will be back at Manchester Central in October . They are also launching two news shows ( the Inclusive Learning Environments Show in June and Education Buildings Ireland in September ) this year – with more to come in 2023 .
“ Visitor experience is incredibly important ,” says Lee .
“ We have three core values : exhibitor experience , attendee experience and content-rich .
“ The attendee experience last year was very different to pre-pandemic and it will be different to living with Covid-19 .”
However , the most important thing the exhibitions industry can do to return to pre-pandemic confidence levels is bring in first class experiences , says Lee .
As we come out of pandemic survival mode , the feel of shows is going to become more and more important , he believes .
“ Live events are inherently fun ,” he says . “ They bring communities together . They facilitate business . Hopefully that continues .
“ There is a really sense of togetherness in the [ exhibitions sector ] and real
Business not boring
With dynamic events focused on the build environment , visitor experience is at the core of everything Step Connect2 do . Founder and managing director James Lee told Emily Wallin how important it is to make trade shows fun sense of optimism .
“ It ’ s been a whole reeducation project to get your community going back . The experience bit is going to be how you do that .”
Looking forward to the Education Estates show at Manchester Central , Lee says , “ With that we are thinking ‘ how can we make it fun ?’ For me events should all be fun , engaging . People go there and feel they ’ ve come away with two or three maybe more learning points .
“ We have just booked Josh Widdicombe as our comedian for our awards dinner . In 2019 we had Tom Allen .
“ We have a thing called EduFest . It ’ s a networking drinks , but we try and get people there at the end of a busy day at the exhibition .
“ A couple of years ago we had a school band playing , we called it School of Pop . We are looking at getting a local school band , we had one a couple of years ago who were awesome , and get them to play while the festival ’ s going on .
“ We ’ ve been in collaboration with
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