OPINION
Soon after Hugh Jones joined RX as CEO , he spoke at a conference of industry leaders . Some of the things he said challenged some of the current industry shibboleths . These are direct quotes from what Hugh said that day : “ Things you should never say in an interview : ‘ It ’ s important to make sure to get all the renewals you can at the end of the show so we can lay out the showplan for next year ’ or ‘ I want to put the show metre pricing on the website so everyone knows exactly what the price is to buy a metre at the show .” “ Why would you do that ? You are not selling square metres . You are selling an entire package of digital , webinars , sponsorship , and all sorts of other elements . If you are launching a console against Nintendo , it ’ s an important year for you and I am going to charge you more this year and I am not going to feel bad about it .” ” Start charging for the value you deliver . We should be explaining to everyone that … it is a privilege to come to our show .” Let me say – I concur with much of what Hugh says .
So why do exhibition companies do what they do , the way they do it ? Our models do not generally encourage us to deal separately and in great detail with most of our customers – over a 12-month cycle there should always
Visionary ideas need a renewed focus
Phil Soar suggests that the exhibitions industry should not be afraid to embrace new ideas be an appropriate amount of contact . But there are probably many to whom we could offer more if only we had more staff and more time . I feel very strongly , as Hugh says , that what we offer at our better shows is worth much more to many of our exhibitors than what they are paying . Many of us are beginning to counter this . I can speak only of my own companies ( mainly CloserStill and Nineteen ), but here we are , increasingly working with our larger exhibitors to offer them a range of add-ons . The starting point is a simple question : “ What do you need and what more can we do for you ?”
How basic AI can change the industry The answers can be very revealing . We can and do arrange round-table meetings with potential customers . We can and do set up many one-to-ones . We can create specific webinars to help reach a wide customer base regularly ( this is particularly true in the medical field , where pharmaceutical companies are restricted in their access to end-users ). And we still produce printed and online magazines . Since our deep-dive data analysis allows us to track continuously everyone who has registered or attended a show , we know which stands they visited , whom they spoke to and thus what their major interests are . We also know how long they were on the show floor and which conference sessions they attended . We can speak to exhibitors
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