Exhibition News June 2019 | Page 39

Feature they know the show and it’s quite hard to get them to stuff like that. Burns comments that there is still a perception that getting visitors in is the job of the organiser, and that exhibitors can simply pay money and turn up. At Construction Week, says Garnett, in the first year there were big brands on 3m shell scheme ,with a pop up, next to competitors with 150m. “Unfortunately, that probably put that brand off for two or three years, because they know they didn’t do it properly,” he says. “We need to explain the value of exhibiting.” Cathy Oates, strategy and business development director at Telegraph Events, asks if the group feels there are any grounds for organisers taking control editorially of how exhibitors appear and arrive. “It would be more risk, but we would enforce that more strictly so that you wouldn’t get those situations where people are sitting with a table and a chair,” she adds. “We’re responsible for the look and feel.” “It was always about the visitor at the heart; let’s make it easy for them to find what they need at the show” – Nathan Garnett Growth for growth’s sake The discussion turns to providing the best value for exhibitors and visitors, with James Samuel, portfolio director – tech at GovNet Exhibitions, wondering if there was a way to reduce overall costs for exhibitors while providing more profit for organisers, whether through sponsorship of satellite events or content. “We know 25p of every pound might go to us, how about being more clever? We could get more from them and they could spend less,” he argues. “And then you get that customer experience,” adds Rudkins-Stow. “They’re having a better time because those companies are still there and they’re being more engaging.” Oates comments: “The big thing is that the KPIs our industry has been built on are driving behaviour. It’s growth for growth’s sake, but there have been shows that I’ve been involved in that haven’t been growth for growth’s sake and they’ve lasted many years and have been aspirational to get into. That’s Dean Linehan Commercial director GES EMEA “With more and more organisers focusing on visitor journey, content and personalised experiences, the festivalisation trend isn’t going away anytime soon. The challenge the industry faces lies around the dependence on selling ‘real estate’ and industry KPIs, such as yield per metre and rebook rates. It was evident from our discussion that there’s a need for suppliers and organisers to work together to find solutions to perennial exhibitor ROI issues and collaborate on activations that add real value to visitors.” an amazing place to be, it doesn’t mean you have less exhibitors, you have the right exhibitors and strong brand values. “It’s a tough place to stay in an industry that’s enjoyed such fast growth.” Martin adds: “Our experience is that a design and build customer will spend three to five times what they spend on the show floor to get their stand realised. “However our best client is Boeing and we’ve had them for 21 years, if we don’t deliver on them meeting their objectives then we don’t keep them. “If we’re just doing build and burn then that’s not good for us. There’s potential for collaboration with construction companies who will look for a three-year deal and want to ensure that whatever we build isn’t just good for one year.” EN If you’re interested in taking part in a future roundtable debate, email EN editor Nicola Macdonald on [email protected]. June — 39