CloserStill is one of the organising companies that has been at the forefront of the exhibition sector ’ s recovery , and with 22 shows taking place at home and abroad before the end of 2021 , they are in a good place to identify differing trends between sectors .

EN talks to CloserStill ’ s Matthew Butler .

CloserStill ’ s 2021 shows

• London Dentistry Show

• Clinical Pharmacy Congress

• Wild West Vet

• Best Practice

• Respiratory Professional Care

• Care Show

• Pharmacy Show

• Singapore Tech

• DevLearn

• Madrid Tech

• New York Vet

• Learning Orlando

• Acute & General Medicine

• Anaesthesia and Critical Care

• Future Surgery

• Diabetes Professional Care

• London Vet Show

• Paris Tech

• Occupational Therapy Show

• Therapy Expo

• OEB

What is the mood like among exhibitors generally , and have their needs changed ?

It ’ s generally pretty positive , and there is genuine excitement to finally get back to face-to-face engagement at tradeshows . There is obviously a small percentage of exhibitors that can ’ t exhibit due to company policies and again a small percentage that don ’ t want to participate due to the current environment . But , in the main , exhibitors and delegates seem really keen to get back to faceto-face to fill their sales pipelines , buy and sell products , and learn and find that next great idea . Like most organisers , we postponed our events multiple times over the last 18 months , but due to the strength of our shows retained more than 85 % of our pre-Covid business through the postponements

Have you identified any trends in visitor registration ?

while selling in new exhibitors . With the shows we are scheduled to run for the remainder of 2021 , this strategy put us in a really strong position to deliver , and in some cases exceed , the show scale and revenue we expected to deliver in 2020 . Considering the last 18 months , this is an incredible result and the team at CloserStill deserve recognition for this as I know every day has been a battle .

Registration is very show specific . Some are visibly unaffected in terms of numbers versus weeks out , and some are slower and require more engagement . Now more than ever our teams need to be embedded in their markets and this

September — 45