venueScout : the one-stop shop for organisers
Jochen Witt , Dr Gerd Weber , and Jimé Essink explain how their new platform will be the TripAdvisor of the events industry
venueScout is the future one-stop-shop for event organisers and planners ... Sounds too good to be true ? Not according to founders and long-term event industry stalwarts Jochen Witt , Dr Gerd Weber , and Jimé Essink , who banded together and combined their expertise towards launching the jwc initiative venueScout .
It is the global platform connecting professionals looking to organise and host events , and venue operators and service providers looking to capture more business . venueScout will provide an exceptional user experience beyond any event directory or venue search tool currently in the market . The platform ’ s uniqueness stems from the extensive information presented by each venue and the ability to also search for event service providers . Furthermore , venueScout will also introduce a feedback and evaluation function for both venues and service providers . The early concept of venueScout was the brainchild of Witt and Weber , which developed throughout their work with major stakeholders across the events industry and value chain . As former president and CEO of Koelnmesse and former president of UFI , Witt started jwc GmbH in 2007 . With former executive vice president of Koelnmesse Dr Gerd Weber later joining jwc ’ s board , the two have amassed an extensive repertoire of clients and projects ranging from the master planning of the Kuwait International Fair to the master planning of Expoforum in St Petersburg to the master planning of Shenzhen World making jwc the leading advisory services firm for the trade fair and conference industry .
Valuable insight “ Working with hundreds of event professionals including venue operators , organisers , and governments , we gained invaluable insights on how these groups relied on and interacted with each other ,” said Witt . “ We began to see patterns , then eventually solutions that could benefit organisers and planners searching
for and evaluating different venue locations for their fair , conference , or meeting . At the same time , we created a better framework to showcase all the details and schematics for every venue ’ s exhibition halls , conference rooms , indoor / outdoor spaces , onsite services , surrounding areas , and overall facility capabilities .” venueScout takes into consideration the user journey of an event organiser or meeting planner from start to finish . An organiser may already have some criteria in mind in terms of destination , number of delegate capacity , or number of rooms they require when they begin the search for an event location . Or perhaps they may also like to get inspired by being presented with unique venues , destinations , and ideas . The planner will typically have to gather information on all these different venues separately , then check the feasibility and interests of the surrounding area , and eventually contact the venue for additional information and pricing . In addition , the
18 Issue 4 2022 www . exhibitionworld . co . uk