Guest editor ’ s comment |
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( MIA ) with 850 members and the Association of Event Organisers ? How can we represent our industry effectively when our names are indistinguishable from numerous other organisations ? But no one else uses the word ‘ exhibitions ’.
The words meeting and events are surely synonymous The word ‘ exhibition ’ is completely absent in all of the many associations named in the Mash publications . There are a couple of worldwide groups which mention the word – IAEE for instance , but only as Events and Exhibitions , and UFI refers to ‘ exhibitions ’ in its sub-text , but not as part of its title .
For 90 % of its 100 years of existence , the AEO was
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“ The word event can mean so many things to so many people It ’ s time to go back to the word ‘ exhibition ’ We are still primarily a group of broadly the same exhibition companies .”
known as the Association of Exhibition Organisers . During Trevor Foley ’ s reign it was decided to change Exhibition to Event in the hope of attracting a wider group of members – maybe conference organisers , festival organisers etc . I don ’ t remember there being much discussion about the proposal , but the AEO has fewer members today than it did then .
At the same time , the Events Industry Alliance was born , being a combination of venues , suppliers and organisers . The idea was not a bad one , but in practice it has been hard to get traction . During the 19 months of Covid hiatus , how often did you hear the EIA voice ? While from the organisers ’ point of view there is great synergy with
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suppliers and venues , this does not apply in the same way to the other two – who have a wide range of other clients ( inevitably the case as the number of square metres sold by exhibitions has been in decline since 2000 ).
Why are we ashamed of the word exhibition ? Covid also showed the AEO to be struggling with another issue around nomenclature . It represents ( mainly ) trade show organisers , but also a number of consumer show groups . In terms of turnover , trade shows are circa 74 % of our industry , consumer 26 %. But when representations were being made to government , the AEO was not able to make the distinction . It was obliged to represent a trade show with 5,000 visitors alongside a consumer behemoth such as Ideal Home or Comic-Con . At that moment , the obvious differences were not helpful .
In many ways it is a good thing that the likes of Glastonbury have never become members – or the confusion and lack of comprehension would have been worse . Talk to a government minister about events and they instantly ask : “ Like Glastonbury you mean ?”
Time to rethink the names of our associations So now for my heretical and possibly unpopular conclusion .
It ’ s time to go back to the word ‘ exhibition ’ in both the AEO and EIA .
Trevor ’ s attempt to expand the membership never gained real traction – and not for lack of trying . We should praise the
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efforts of the AEO staff who have tried to follow this route .
But after a decade we are still primarily a group of broadly the same exhibition companies – just look round the AEO Board . Many of us do other things – conferences , one-to-ones , festivals like Car Fest – but we are at heart exhibition companies . Even this phrase has its problems – in most major markets ‘ trade shows ’ and ‘ Messen ’ are more common and ‘ exhibition ’ is a generic . My personal view is that the term ‘ trade show ’ is more comprehensible and would position us rather better with government and the business community .
I believe we are weakened by not having trade in our titles . I would certainly make a pitch for Association of Trade and Consumer Exhibition Organisers ( ATCEO ) as being a better title for the AEO – primarily because it gets ‘ trade ’ into the title .
The word event can mean so many things to so many people – if you organise events you can be a member of a truly alphabet soup of options – SISO , UFI , MPI , EMA , PCMA , ICCA , ILEA , ASEA , EIC , IAEE , MIA , NACE , IAPCO , SEMA , ESPA , AMP – I ’ ll stop there . There are plenty more and I might even have made some of them up ( I haven ’ t ).
So we should reclaim the title ‘ exhibition ’ or decide to change the titles completely . This seems to me a clear lesson from Covid . I haven ’ t pitched this to my colleagues on the AEO Board , but I will . Time to at least reclaim the almost unique name which better represents who we are and what we do . EN
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Winter — 15 |