Exhibition World Issue 2 – 2021 | Page 5

Editor ’ s Note

Event pilots reopening exhibition doors to manual

Finally , we are seeing the return of more and more in-person shows around the world . The trend , largely begun in Asia , is now reflected in the United States and parts of Europe , where major events have been staged either under pilot schemes , as the UFI Connects feature on p49 highlights with the Dutch Fieldlab project , or via full-blown in-person shows such as HIP in Spain . Russia ’ s MosBuild show was the latest big one to get the green light and our reports in this issue from Stateside also show programmes resuming , including in Florida ( p . 37 ).
Meanwhile , the planning doesn ’ t stop and we have a four-page section on new builds and extension work underway and completing in parts of the world – testament to faith in the ultimate venue model for large in-person events .
The exhibition model will be surely modified and evolve , however , and we offer an exclusive preview of the major new research piece from Jochen Witt ’ s Consultancy ( jwc ), the Global Industry Performance Review ( GIPR ) on pages 18-21 . This year ’ s study is previewed by its lead researcher Julien Schmetz , and
the highlights to note are a new section on China , as well as a new business paradigm for ominichannel delivery and how it can borrow from successful models already up and running in the retail sector .
We also review Denzil Rankine and Marco Giberti ’ s Reinventing Live : The Always-On Future of Events , book , which is an insightful guide to action for every organiser . It is packed full of expert analyses based on strong data and two long careers at the cutting edge of the industry ’ s brain trust .
We interview two leading organisers , legendary CloserStill chairman Phil Soar and Reed Exhibitions UK ’ s new Russian CEO , Anna Dycheva-Smirnova .
This EW edition holds plenty more words of sage advice for navigating these extraordinary times and , at least , the markets are returning slowly and giving us plenty of examples to pick over and hopefully inspire .
Paul Colston Managing Editor Twitter : @ ExhibitionWorld @ paulcolston
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