“ e ’ ve always done it
W this way .”
“ I ’ ve been in the industry X years , so I know best .”
These are two sentences that make me shudder , and anyone reading this may kick me up the arse if I ever utter them . It ’ s progress-resistant , stagnating and self-preserving garbage that will be the ultimate demise of many in this great industry .
It was sad to see so many taking pleasure out of recent announcements of redundancies at Hopin , Bizzabo and other virtual suppliers . Now it doesn ’ t take a genius to have predicted that virtual events would shrink post-pandemic , but to take pleasure out of people losing their jobs must come from a very insecure and vulnerable place . Think about the uproar if technology providers celebrated a similar outcome at an event organiser ?
Face-to-face exhibitions are more vulnerable now than I ever imagined they could be . I had a simple , relatively logical belief that serving all industries gave absolute security ; when one sector fades , another emerges , and exhibitions carry on . But the pandemic has shown that face-to-face is vulnerable , and there are potentially better , more rewarding , lower effort and more environmentallyfriendly alternatives .
Now I ’ m sure many reading this will present the age-old argument , there ’ s nothing that beats face-to-face , picking up the product , speaking to the people from the company , touch , feel , smell , yadda , yadda , and to some extent , I agree . But , putting myself in
Change is inevitable
the exhibitor ’ s mindset , is it all worth it ? I ’ m not so sure .
Firstly there ’ s the cost without any guaranteed return ; not just the stand , but electrics , wi-fi , stand design , catering and more . Then there ’ s the hassle , pre-show compliance and paperwork , coordinating contractors , committing staff to days or weeks away from their desks , collating leads from varying sources and trying to contact them all post-show with little to qualify them . Then there ’ s the corporate social responsibility , which companies are rightly building into their decision-making ; this alone could be the
CEO and CPO at exhibition platform FFAIR , Adam Jones , says narrow-minded individuals will stifle progress in the exhibitions industry unless we can embrace change
Adam Jones
most significant risk to the exhibition industry , removing face-to-face exhibitions as a marketing option entirely .
Throughout my career , I have encountered people who stand in the way of progress for personal gain or individual security . They rarely hold positions of power yet still manage to stifle progress , make change hard and sabotage sound business strategies . Having been glued to the recent BBC documentary Big Oil v The World , I can ’ t help but draw parallels with Exxon Mobil ’ s rejection of the impact of CO ² on climate change , valuing personal gain over the future of the world . I see similar motives at play , with dire consequences for exhibitions .
Change is inevitable , so , as an industry , it ’ s better to embrace change and nurture it than allow narrow-minded individuals to stifle progress to more sustainable , scalable and rewarding exhibitions . EN
50 — September