In the few weeks since UFI’s members met in record numbers in Singapore, I have been able to attend fascinating industry gatherings in Barcelona and New Orleans. These events have driven home to me that we see wide diversity across our business events industry but that we also share a number of common issues.
In Barcelona, alongside Reed’s vibrant EIBTM fair, the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC) came together to discuss how best we can progress the interests of the multiple forms of business events. JMIC gathers together a real ‘alphabet soup’ of industry associations including UFI, ICCA, AIPC, IAPCO, MPI and seven others.
The businesses that each represents work in quite different ways, but we do share common concerns. Top of the list, and the topic of some lengthy discussion in Barcelona, was how we can more effectively communicate the value of business events to our stakeholders. Whether it is our customers, our local communities or governments, there is a feeling that we could and should be doing a better job of measuring and communicating the value that we represent.
The importance of this was driven home in New Orleans where the IAEE annual meeting kicked off with a stirring speech from Roger Dow, the president and CEO of the US Travel Association. The American business events and meetings industry has been under fire since the banking crisis first erupted in 2008. The industry has come together to try to explain to politicians just how important it is. They face multiple issues including challenging visa application procedures from key source countries like China and India and, most recently, a crackdown on government travel in a combined cost-saving and environmental initiative.
The business events industry, especially exhibitions, adds value in a variety of ways. We bring visitors into communities who spend money in hotels, restaurants, shops, local airports and so on, supporting jobs and businesses. This is quite readily measured in many places and forms the basis of most of the economic impact studies already undertaken. What is much harder to measure, but really important, is the actual business generated as a result of our events.
Professor Michael Enright told the UFI Congress in Singapore that the exhibition industry is under-selling itself because we don’t properly measure the impact we have on our customers’ businesses.
It’s not easy to do and economists may well wish to debate ad infinitum about the best way to do it. But, industry associations such as UFI and our partner associations in JMIC are determined to push this agenda forward. Watch for news from the associations on a planned forum to discuss these issues.
Other topics discussed by JMIC and at the IAEE meeting in New Orleans seem remarkably similar to the agenda outlined by UFI president Eric Everard in his speech to the members in Singapore. Sustainability is on the agenda of every meeting I attend. We all want to be doing the right thing and in a way which benefits our clients and to our businesses. We are all also aware of the new international standards being developed and of the need for our associations to be involved in that development to ensure that the industry voice is properly heard.
Of course, the future role of technology in our business takes a large part of the agenda of these industry meetings. “Hybrid” meetings are the focus of the moment. How will we all combine the unquestionable benefits of face-to-face interaction with the opportunity for people to participate in events from all over the world and without travelling? The industry is full of exciting ideas and it will be fascinating to see which ones really take root.
Finally, there is the issue of globalisation, the continued evolution of international business into new markets. Veteran industry pundit Bob Dallmeyer led a discussion in New Orleans at one of IAEE’s sessions on international opportunities. Sandy Angus told delegates he “never felt there were more opportunities to run events outside your home country than there are today”, while Cancun Messe’s Patricia Farias-Barlow gave the delegates a call to arms saying “now is the time for Americans to go offshore”.
Don’t wait for the business to come to you, go after it!
Picture caption: Paul Woodward, left, with outgoing president Manfred Wutzlhofer, incumbent president Eric Everard and former UFI president John Shaw.
