Partner comment
Seeing thousands of visitors coming through Olympia London ’ s doors in the past few weeks has been amazing . Our staff , organising teams , service partners , and suppliers have given their all to bring shows to life .
The excitement of successfully delivering shows also comes with relief . Some events have lost exhibitors , international visitors , and faced shortages in the supply chain . It has been really challenging but , together , we have done it . Events , both trade and consumer , are finally up and running .
I am incredibly grateful to our industry , organisers , staff , and suppliers for ensuring we continue to deliver a smile on the faces of our guests , one we can see all over the show floor and social media . It says : ‘ we ’ re back home ’.
The ability to continue to provide a great experience is crucially important for Olympia London . This is not only because of the industry ’ s closure and challenges with reopening , but also because our venue is advancing with an unprecedented , ambitious redevelopment plan while remaining open to host events . People can see that there is a lot of change outside but , once inside they say : “ Oh , the beautiful arches are still here and so is all the sunlight ”.
The show floor is buzzing again
Anna Golden , commercial director at Olympia London shares how collaboration and unison overcame the most difficult challenges to bring smiles all over the show floor
Build-up and breakdown have been running smoothly too : a massive achievement , considering we have changed everything we do logistically . The last few weeks have been instrumental in fine-tuning how construction and live events co-exist . We admit this is a challenging goal , but then we are doing something unprecedented and bold with the biggest redevelopment of a London venue .
Challenges Through all the challenges , I found a renewed feeling of unison . I believe this has been nurtured by deeper empathy developed during the pandemic , enhanced by the recognition that ‘ yes ’ we really do need each other . It has been tough to watch some of our industry ’ s
Anna Golden
businesses fail over the past year but equally inspiring to see businesses that have thrived . Some have been able to pivot , change and work virtually . As businesses , we may have experienced the challenge differently , but we all communicated and collaborated more . It was heart-warming to speak to people and just see how they were coping . It ’ s not a secret that it may take several years before we ’ re back into a position of strength , my hope is to maintain the unison , empathy , and communication levels we have seen during the past months .
Moving forward , I believe there are three things we should continue to develop : build on the foundations laid with regards to government recognition and public awareness and understanding of our industry , find the sweet spot for digital to complement live events extending content availability and business opportunities throughout the year ; and crucially , the key ingredient to keep us stronger : nurture the collaboration and closeness that we have developed .
Autumn — 55