business and find out what really matters , and invest in what matters .”
With the pandemic ebbing and most world markets reopening , Jones is even more optimistic about the future , with a definite ‘ what doesn ’ t kill you makes you stronger ’ attitude .
“ We delivered strong revenue growth in 2021 ,” he says . “ The business has been profitable since Q2 of last year and that ’ s pretty incredible . As a major exhibition firm with the business profitable , I rest my hat on that . I ’ d say we ’ ve done a pretty good job .
“ We moved so many shows into Q3 and Q4 , so we had to deliver all those shows with a reduced cost base and fewer people , and we did it profitably . Now going into 2022 we can go into our regular programming . It gives me a great sense of security . If you got through Q3 and Q4 of 2021 there ’ s nothing you can ’ t do .”
The question for all organisers coming out of the pandemic , is how much of the digital pivot will be kept moving forward ?
“ One of the concerns of our industry is if you make the virtual experience too great , then will it affect the physical event ?” Jones asks . “ The [ lifting of ] restrictions imposed by governments , for so long , in so many countries , has debunked that notion .
“ People come to events not just to do business and broaden their network , they also come to learn and for inspiration . ”
“ To me , the data suggests and what I see is the pent-up demand to meet business partners face to face , to go to business events in person , is immense . Our research suggests people will return to in person events just as quickly as they can .
“ People come to events not just to do business and broaden their network , they also come to learn and for inspiration . If they can ’ t get there for some reason they do want to be present digitally . That continues , there is still a home for digital solutions to help .”
RX Global launched their Digital Centre of Excellence in 2021 and created a new role for a chief digital product officer , to implement a broader approach to unifying the technology available to 400 shows in 22 countries .
Describing their digital shift , Jones says : “ We were able to impose more disciplined and repeatable approach to digital product development . So not every little show doing many things , but an oversight globally on how we are going to do this .
“ We now work across multiple events all the time for every one of our digital products . We don ’ t want silos , we want huge platforms . That ’ s a dramatic shift . We take a look at the tech out there and say ‘ we think this is a good bet , everyone on board please .’
RX launched its own registration processor Mercury and developed smartphone app Emperia to capture visitors ’ interests . Its exhibitor dashboard allows businesses to benchmark
40 — May