“ I am , I guess , slightly different to other CEOs in terms of being female , I can be myself , I don ’ t have to compete with other CEOs in the same way that perhaps they ’ ve had to , to get to where they are . I ’ ve actually found that quite an advantage . But then I do hope that that also means that others can find a pathway through in a different way in future . So I generally think there ’ s a shift coming .
“ As an industry we ’ re very good at getting female leaders to a certain point , but now it ’ s up to us an industry to get them from mid-senior to C-level . Opening that net much wider , is just a really positive thing . It ’ s what the
“ We ’ re very good at getting female leaders to a certain point , but now it ’ s up to us an industry to get them from midsenior to C-level ”
industry needs .
“ There ’ s a real responsibility on the organisation and hiring managers to think about who they bring into the business . You ’ ve always got the debate around hiring for experience or hiring for potential . It ’ s very attractive to hire for experience , but you are not necessarily going to be able to have the longevity out of those individuals all the time . So I ’ m really drawn to hiring for potential . But that does take time , and it does take money . And it does take investment .”
Value Hannant sees the pandemic as having accelerated some trends – and measuring the success of shows by volume is the starting block .
“ We ’ ve got a lot of work to do to be able to make sure that exhibitors and visitors are able to get the highest value out of every single show . We are going to have to help the customers to be able to demonstrate value .”
For Hannant that comes down to the data feedback shows can provide .
“ We are just a very small slice of their spend , when it comes to exhibiting at a show , the time , travel , accommodation , staffing , the build , all of those additional costs are not insignificant and are increasing . You can [ show value ] in two ways . You can clearly keep the cost at bay as much as you can , but if you can demonstrate the return they ’ re getting , if you ’ re creating something that ’ s better value , the old measurement methods of square meters are irrelevant .
“ We ’ re spending a lot of time in Clarion , looking not just at post-show information , but doing a lot of the insight work pre-show on a constant basis . If we ’ ve got a large show that is effectively targeted at four or five key customer groups from the exhibitor side and hopefully matched on the buyer side and visitor side . Well , how about we spend as much time and money understanding from those exhibitors who they want to meet , why they ’ re there . Through that insight , that we ’ re gaining at scale , you can actually design a show that really gets much closer to meeting exactly what they ’ re trying to achieve . Which means that there ’ s no surprises and then you can go on and build it through to the next show .” EN
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