Interview
exiting the UK ’. Ultimately that will have a very detrimental effect on UK plc , especially in these post- Brexit times when we need to stimulate our industries and grow the economy from within .” Parker says that he and the AEO have been having “ daily , almost hourly conversations with the DCMS ”, to try and convey this message . But securing permission to run shows is only one part of the puzzle . “ The second part , once we have permission , is getting [ attendee ] confidence back . That is going to be a really important task for us . What ’ s obvious in our markets is that there is pent-up demand . Other industries are suffering because they ’ re not exhibiting . What the pandemic has done is illustrate exactly what our shows do , and how they create value for industries . If you take them away , that value is diminished , people can ’ t transact , they can ’ t get new business . That ’ s a really powerful message . We want to be seen as the catalyst to growth , to get us out and put us on the road to recovery . But at the moment – we can ’ t .”
Rallying the industry In the absence of physical shows , Informa Markets has been exploring the possibilities in hybrid and virtual events . Parker says the ‘ pivot ’ is a process they had already started , but was accelerated by the pandemic . “ I do think digital events will outlive COVID , because
Informa Markets ’ IFSEC International at ExCeL London
“ We need to understand why we ’ ve been separated from other industries and made a special case .”
I think that is the way our markets are transacting ,” he says . “ We need a product that will help them do that , and I think this is going to be absolutely the way forward for our business . “ We ’ re investing heavily in data . One of the good outcomes of this is that we ’ re interacting with different data sets than we did with our physical events . Something in the region of 40 % of attendees to our digital events don ’ t necessarily go to our physical events . That gives us a bigger data pool , and also an opportunity to convince those people to go to our physical events . However , I don ’ t think you can convince sponsors to pay big money without really exceptional production values .” Sounding an optimistic note , Parker points out one more positive to the chaos of 2020 – it has unified the exhibitions industry in a way we have never seen before . “ It ’ s a great testament to the industry that we ’ ve managed to come together and coalesce around the ‘ getting us back working ’ message ,” he says . “ Contractors , venues and organisers are all coming together in a really joined up way that I ’ ve never seen before to such an extent . We ’ re realising that we ’ re all inter-dependent , and pushing for the same outcome .” And how will all this impact the future of exhibitions , as we move out of a chaotic 2020 and into 2021 ? “ I think that we ’ ll see strong brands surviving and prospering ,” says Parker . “ You really do need to focus on your value proposition and what you are delivering in terms of value . Clearly there is going to be a focus on domestic and national events for the foreseeable future . “ A the final point would be around quality of attendee . We ’ ve talked about quantity versus quality for many , many years , but I think now more than ever our exhibitors are going to be really demanding of us that everyone that goes into that exhibition is the right type and quality .”
18 — December