UFI Conference
UFI European Conference
in overdrive in Birmingham
lobal exhibition industry
association UFI gathered
300 participants from 30
countries to its European
Conference 2019.
The event, held at The NEC,
Birmingham, UK, 15-17 May, saw
a mix of speakers from inside and
outside the business events industry
address the main theme of ‘The
Organisers’ Future: Challenging
Business Models’.
UFI Managing Director/CEO
Kai Hattendorf said sessions and
conversations clearly showed that
organisers were evolving and
expanding both their strategies as
well as their geographical presences,
entering into new markets and
business areas.
“Holding our European Conference
in the UK this year also allowed the
UFI community to get ‘up to speed’
on political developments around
Brexit and the upcoming European
elections,” he said.
The conference was opened by
keynote speakers Robert Peston,
Political Editor, ITV (UK) and Nick
de Bois, Former Chief of Staff to the
Secretary of State for Exiting the
European Union and Chairman of the
Events Industry Board (UK).
Peston sprinkled his usual dose
of healthy cynicism but provided a
compelling overview of the current
complex political scene in the UK
and outlined some possible scenarios
and consequences of Brexit for the
exhibition industry.
De Bois took a more positive
view, that Brexit must mean the UK
opening up beyond its immediate
neighbours and said it could lead to,
“a global Britain looking to succeed”.
The former MP underlined that the
UK economy was equal in size to that
of 10 of the existing EU countries and
that 80% of British MPs had agreed to
implement Article 50.
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk
Eric Everard, CEO and founder
of Easyfairs (Belgium), shared his
experience in a session entitled
‘Launch, clone, acquire’ on how to
succeed in the exhibition industry. By
sharing his own expertise in pursuing
various models for development, he
well illustrated how to plan for the
future.
Eugen Alles, Managing Director,
Messe Frankfurt RUS OOO (Russia)
and Vasily Grudev, Chairman of
Belt and Road Initiative Russian
Committee (Russia) illustrated
opportunities for European countries
– and indeed the exhibition industry
– from the China - One Belt One Road
(OBOR) major transport initiative.
Grudev used the example of
Chinese porcelain manufacturing and
export over centuries to illustrate the
impact for business and trade from
the Old Silk Route.
Another panel explored how US
organisers were looking to grow
their business outside of their home
market. It included Mary Larkin,
Executive Vice-President, Diversified
Communications; Cassandra
Farrington, Co-Founder and CEO,
Marijuana Business Daily; and
Dianna Steinbach, Vice-President,
International Services for ISSA.
Katie Crocombe, Director, 52eight3
Limited (UK) and Adam Parry,
Director, Event Tech Live, presented
some of the latest applications of
innovative technology, while Denzil
Rankine, Executive Chairman, AMR
International (UK), offered insights
into how organisers could move
Left:
UFI European
Conference 2019
opening session.
From left: Nick
Dugdale-Moore,
UFI Regional
Manager for
Europe; Robert
Peston, Political
Editor, ITV (UK);
Nick de Bois,
Special adviser
and former
Chief of Staff to
the Secretary
for Exiting the
European Union.
Right:
Kathryn James,
Managing
Director, the
NEC Group,
Conventions
& Exhibitions,
receives UFI
Silver plate
from Kai
Hattendorf, UFI
CEO/ Managing
Director.
to ‘Exhibition 2.0’ as a way to keep
events highly relevant and improve
their performance.
All talks will be made available to
UFI members via the website (www.
ufi.org).
Prior to the conference, UFI held an
UFI Operations and Services Forum,
a two-day event for professionals
in operations focusing on areas of
logistics, security, safety, navigation
and mobility, with industry specialists
from a dozen countries attending.
In parallel, a packed one-day
Digital Innovation Forum looked at
how to implement the right digital
innovation strategy, focusing on new
solutions and sharing best practice
examples from leading organisers
like Reed and ITE.
The UFI Board elected Anbu
Varathan to be the association’s
2020/21 President. Varathan is
Director General & CEO of the
Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’
Association (IMTMA), organiser of
the IMTEX exbititions. He is also the
CEO of the Bangalore International
Exhibition Centre (BIEC).
Other onsite activities included a
tour of the The NEC venue, and the
UFI Running Club.
There was also a welcome
reception for all delegates at The Vox,
a dinner at Warwick Castle, as well as
city tours.
The UFI European Conference
2020 will take place in Gothenburg,
Sweden, 13-15 May 2020, and will be
hosted by Svenska Mässan.
Issue 2
3 2019
27