Paul Woodward, UFI Asia/Pacific regional manager since 2004, has taken the reins as managing director of global exhibition industry association UFI, following the retirement of Vincent Gérard.
In 2000, Woodward founded BSG Asia, a business intelligence and strategy consulting firm specialising in business media, information and events in Asia. He has been based in Hong Kong and involved in the development of business media and events in the Asia Pacific region since 1985. Since 1990 he has conducted more than 500 business intelligence and strategy consulting projects.
Prior to founding BSG he was MD of Asian Strategies Ltd, the research and strategy consulting division of Miller Freeman Asia. He was also a director of Miller Freeman Asia, which now trades as UBM Asia.
Tasked with leading the UFI teams in Paris, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong, Woodward’s new role is to ensure UFI pursues its various programmes and services, and continues to successfully support the business objectives of not just members but the exhibition industry worldwide.
UFI president Manfred Wutzlhofer said of his appointment that UFI members will appreciate the “seamless management transition” facilitated by Paul’s move from east to west”. So here, in an exclusive interview for EW, he speaks out on the key challenges and opportunities he is looking to address and exploit as the association moves into a new phase of post-recession growth.
EW: What are the key challenges that face UFI in the next 12 months?
PW: “I prefer to see them in terms of opportunities and there are, as I settle into my new role, obviously a huge number of these opportunities. They range from ensuring we are properly engaged in the issues emerging for our industry around sustainability through regulatory issues in Brussels and Beijing to supporting the development of the next generation of leaders through our education programmes.
“Balancing the differing needs of our members in various parts of the world is quite a challenge and one which requires serious thought. At the same time, we have the ongoing challenge of ensuring that UFI membership represents top quality in our industry.
“That's one of the reasons we've tightened up the UFI Approved Event criteria and that is engaging the UFI team in quite a lot of work right now. But it's very worthwhile and presents us with a great opportunity to demonstrate to the world just how good UFI members are.”
As you take the baton, what are the key objectives that you have set yourself?
“Firstly, I would like to ensure that we are really well focused in all that we do on how we are adding value to our members' businesses. At the end of a year of UFI membership, I would like them to be able clearly to see how we have helped them.
“Secondly, we need to ensure that our membership represents the most important, top quality organisations in our industry all over the world. Of course, among the 550 member organisations in 83 countries we have today, most of the key ones are already involved. But there are a few missing and I'd like to see them active in UFI as well.“
Using your background in corporate research, do you have any plans to introduce new research projects with national associations such as AUMA, AFIDA or SISO?
“There is a lot to be done in the area of research. Until very recently, although some national organisations were doing work, the industry was woefully under-served by good quality research on an international level. UFI has already been working hard to rectify that and we have invested in additional resources with that goal in mind.
However, there is really still a lot that we should be doing. And we can't do it all by ourselves.
“We must draw on the excellent work being done by the associations you mention, as well as others like CEIR in the USA and some of the national associations in Asia.”
Are there any geographic regions you'd like to see increase their UFI membership? Will there be any regional campaigning to this end?
“The types of companies I already mentioned that I'd like to see coming into UFI are all over the world. We are having some success right now in Western Europe with a number of really important organisers who were missing. There is still some work to do in Asia where the industry continues to grow strongly and in the Middle East and Africa.
“We are really excited, though, by the opportunities we are seeing in Latin America. There is really a lot going on in Brazil and some of the countries in that region. We're seeing a lot of interest from the national associations and some of their key members and one of UFI's vice presidents was just recently in Argentina, meeting the industry there and speaking at their annual conference.”
What are your views on promoting the uptake of new technologies (RFID etc) in addition to existing and widespread tech such as social networking?
“This is a really interesting area and one where a global association like UFI can make real contribution by helping to showcase the best of what is happening in different parts of the world. I think you'll be seeing lots of interesting technologies being discussed at our meetings and, I hope, used at them too. We should have one or two innovations on show in Singapore (the venue for this year’s 77th UFI Congress) and much more to come.
“The other area where I'm really interested to see technology being put to use is in opening up our meetings and events more easily to global participation. Many people do, of course, travel from all over the world to UFI events, particularly the Congress and our bigger seminars, and they'll continue to do that. We have lots of working committees and shorter focus meetings, though, for which it's not always easy to justify travel, especially inter-continental.
“So, although I don't anticipate we'll replace face-to-face meetings with technology, I do anticipate that we'll be facilitating virtual participation in a number of our meetings to open them up to wider group of our members. Watch this space!”
As you look at the year ahead, how do you see the state of the industry and corresponding state of UFI?
"The past couple of years have been tough in most parts of the world and we’re tracking that with the UFI barometer research. There are encouraging signs now, though, that the industry is picking up well in exhibitor and visitor numbers.
"It will still be a year or so before we’re back to full health everywhere, but in many parts of the world it’s already “full steam ahead”. In good times or bad, the industry needs the services that an association such as UFI can offer and we’re here, standing by and ready to help our members manage the tough times and take maximum advantage of the upturn."
