CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND BRAND LOYALTY FOR YOUR EXHIBITORS
The trade fair industry is in the starting blocks: After months of Corona inflicted standstill, organisers and exhibitors are preparing for the long-awaited new beginning. In order to be able to guarantee this in the best possible way, everyone is working flat out on events with a suitable hygiene concept. And this can receive digital support from various sides. Here we present the questions that organisers currently have to clarify before the new start with regard to their digital helpers.
HOW COMPREHENSIVELY CAN ALL THOSE INVOLVED USE THE DATA OBTAINED?
We are convinced that data will gain much more value when fairs start again than we could have imagined before the pandemic. With the scan2lead app, we are ideally positioned for this. If fewer visitors go to trade fairs than in the record years 2018 and 2019, every new customer contact acquired will be all the more important for that. And even before the contract is signed, there are already numerous data treasures on trade fair stands that exhibitors only need to uncover: The start and reason for the stand visit, contact details, conversation details and follow-up actions for individual contacts are just a few examples of revealing information that can contribute to business success. The only thing is that exhibitors must also be able to work with it. Unfortunately, this is not possible with many other applications. This rapidly reduces the motivation to collect data at all. And that, in turn, leads conceived hygiene concepts ad absurdum, which depend on the collected data.
WILL ENOUGH VISITORS BE ABLE TO USE THE CONTACT APPS AVAILABLE?
There are some contact apps that are currently and frequently covered in the press in Germany, but by far not all mobile phone users have installed these tools. For the federal government’s Corona warning app, for example, the number of downloads exceeded the 25 million mark in the first quarter of 2021. And these are only mobile phone users from Germany. Making the installation mandatory is more complicated than expected, especially for those with company mobile phones, as visitors often lack the appropriate rights to run the mandatory setup. On the other hand, 100% of visitors have a badge with a barcode, because otherwise they are not allowed to enter the exhibition grounds. And scanning the badge is very easy – for example with applications from scan2lead.
AND WHAT ABOUT INTERNATIONAL VISITORS?
With the easing of travel restrictions, foreign trade fair visitors should also come more into focus again. But even for this group, some specialised app applications quickly reach their limits: even Corona warning apps from other EU countries are not compatible with each other and even if an EU citizen travels to another country, in many cases he remains bound to the offer of the app store of the respective home country. Scan2Lead is the exclusive service partner for lead tracking for leading European trade fair organisers from Stockholm to Verona. More than 100 trade fairs already offer their exhibitors Scan2Lead as a system for digital lead capture. There, more than 10,000 well-known customers have already used our applications for their data in the past and will be happy to do so in the future.
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“TRADE FAIR TICKETING: THIS IS THE TIME FOR INNOVATIONS”
Trade fair organisers in Düsseldorf, Munich, Stockholm, Basel, Zurich, Karlsruhe, Nuremberg and many others are already on the reference list. And more will follow soon. The new Vice Chairman of the UFI Digital Working Group Gunnar Heinrich, who is also adventics CEO, talks about ticketing systems for trade fair organisers in an interview. These systems are like a match on home ground for the consulting company …
WHY SHOULD EXHIBITION COMPANIES RETHINK THEIR TICKETING SYSTEMS NOW?
I clearly see a positive side to the current exceptional situation. Because now is the time for innovation. If a trade fair company wants to implement innovations at the moment, it will find optimal conditions. The lack of day-to-day business makes updates of any kind easier – if you don’t have to sell tickets at the moment, it’s easier to convert your ticketing system. In addition: exhibitors and visitors are very sympathetic to changes at the moment. I would even say that they formally expect it.
WHAT DOES AN IDEAL TICKETING SYSTEM LOOK LIKE THAT CAN FULLY EXPLOIT ITS POTENTIAL?
(laughs) This is a question, that can definitely only be answered in the context of the requirements of the respective trade fair company. Simply because a “one size fits all” system does not exist. Functions and features depend very much on the respective requirements: How small or large is the trade fair, how internationally oriented is it, are trade or public fairs primarily organised? Is the congress business to be managed as well? Should foreign subsidiaries work with the system? There is always the right ticket system according to the application. You just have to find the right solution. A modern ticketing system should definitely be capable of integration and interaction in the future. It must also definitely be able to grow with the requirements of an exhibition company. Especially now, many people want to be able to incorporate new possibilities: Ticket allocation due to visitor limitations or registration for hybrid or virtual events are two popular current examples. If you have the right systems, it is easy to do so. Others can quickly run into problems if partners do not follow suit, expensive programming becomes necessary or systems simply cannot grow with the event.
WHAT POTENTIAL IS THERE FOR EXISTING TICKET SYSTEMS?
There is enormous pressure for innovation in the entire field of registration and ticket systems. Up to now it was sufficient to sell tickets and let people in, now the market requires more. The most important formula has been for a long time: Tickets are available in exchange for data. And registration is still the most important system to get to the basis of participant data. At the moment there is already a lot going on in Europe and also in Asia, there are a lot of interesting new projects. As already mentioned, ticketing systems must always be considered very much in the respective business context. Nevertheless I see the main pressure for innovation especially in the area of data handling. Invitations and the whole issue of monitoring are crucial here. The generation and administration of profiles, data management and data connectors and things that have long been considered solved such as invitation and guest card management will occupy the industry for a long time to come. Personally, I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on the implementation of different payment systems, which some consider crucial. I see the second major field for innovation pressure in the integration possibilities for virtual platforms. This is a very important issue, especially for hybrid events, when existing events are expanded into the digital space. Some systems are already prepared for this, but are the providers? In the past, some have found it easier to do so if only requirements were implemented and no innovations were brought in. Therefore, to the question “Where is the pressure to innovate?” I would always want to add “Where is the innovation potential of the systems? Which then of course also applies to their operators.
DOES CORONA ACCELERATE THE SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW TICKET SYSTEMS?
Definitely. For one thing, there is much more data available due to official constraints. For example, all public exhibitions must now be fully registered. This is a requirement that many people previously thought was not possible or in any case not necessary, and secondly, virtual and hybrid elements will remain in the medium and long term thanks to Corona. To carry them out successfully, you need perfect data. The better the data, the more and more suitable participants and the more successful the event. Corona is currently accelerating the pressure to innovate. Organisers have to guarantee official requirements or need support for virtual events. We are all observing a strong shift towards additional digital business models. Digital business will remain and be continuously expanded, but without a system basis it is difficult to operate it successfully. The only drawback is that the budget situation is unfortunately under pressure. Colleagues on short-time work, budget discipline and pressure to cut costs are hampering the implementation of urgently needed updates. Nevertheless, I stick with it: now is the ideal time for system change. Now we have fewer events and when they take place, they are smaller. By 2023 it will be too late when business has restarted and my competitors are far ahead from my own organisation.
WHAT WILL THE TICKET SYSTEM OF THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE?
If we knew that, we would have built it already (laughs). There are already a number of theses around the world on the ticket system of the future, including one from the digital working group of the International Federation of the Exhibition Industry (UFI). The market expects various elements of the ticket system of the future. One is the controversially discussed face recognition technology, which will eventually replace registration and admission control completely. But it will also be possible to minimise registration questions in advance. The signs are generally pointing to acceleration: Important profile information such as interests can be collected during the Visitor Journey after entering the trade fair event. In the best case, those who are well-positioned in terms of 360-degree visitor management will have optimised the admission process in a customer-friendly manner and still have the best possible data situation.
THE TOPIC OF TICKET SYSTEMS SEEMS TO BE A MATCH ON THE HOME FIELD FOR THE COMPANY ADVENTICS.
Yes, indeed it is and has been since the company was founded in 2006. Our experience with ticket systems is even in the company name. Adventics is made up of the words “adventor”, Latin for visitors, and “tics”, the short form for tickets. Before we founded adventics, we had all gathered experience with different ticketing systems since the early 90s. We then bundled this experience under the company roof. This match on our home field is with many renowned partners on the European trade fair market such as ADITUS, dimedis, axess and many others. In the course of this long time we have already been able to implement many European projects, both in terms of consulting, supplier selection and support during the introduction. We have also developed our own methodology for ticketing systems. Over the years, our client requests have resulted in a comprehensive catalogue of requirements, use cases and international best practices. For our European trade fair customers, who often have public sector companies, our expertise with EU tenders is also a reassuring advantage. This has made us the supplier with the most comprehensive range of possible building blocks on the market, from which we can then offer our customers the right elements to suit their needs. The amount of know-how means that we can work faster and more cost-effectively to the point and in the interests of our clients.
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“TAKING PART IN A TRADE FAIR WILL HAVE A MUCH MORE EXCLUSIVE CHARACTER IN THE NEAR FUTURE”
Adventics CEO Gunnar Heinrich on a new start strategy for trade fair organisers and the associated success tool, “360 degree visitor management”.
WHAT IS 360 DEGREE VISITOR MANAGEMENT?
360 Degree Visitor Management, or Community Management, as it is sometimes called, offers organisers the basis for understanding their visitor target groups, interacting with them and providing them with tailor-made offers. Some still know the term exclusively as “visitor management”. But in my opinion, it does not completely cover the whole scope of the term. After all, community management for trade fairs really does mean all participants, i.e. visitors as well as exhibitors, staff, representatives of associations and the press and all other stakeholders who are involved with the event before and during a trade fair. And it also covers the entire life cycle of a trade fair event. From interest and profile management to invitations and the entire Behaviour Management with questions such as “Which stands do you prefer to visit? Which surveys are answered? How is the general interaction structured?” – Community Management optimises the value of the entire event as a 360 degree analysis method.
WHY DOES A TRADE FAIR HAVE TO ASSUME A MORE HOST-LIKE ROLE IN THE FUTURE?
Organisers should always be aware of their role as host, not only when considering 360-degree visitor management. Which host would not look after his guests once they have entered his home? Those who invite guests to a private barbecue usually know what their guests do for a living, what their hobbies are, what they like to eat and react to them accordingly. Both on a small and large scale, there are immense advantages in the optimal use of these guest profiles. But I always find that exhibition companies could know more about visitors. Because even if the square metres of stand space end up on the exhibitor bill, the right visitors to the stand are the actual product for which exhibitors are ultimately willing to pay. But what company could afford to know as little about its products as trade fairs know about visitors?
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF 360 DEGREE VISITOR MANAGEMENT?
In my opinion, 360 degree visitor management has countless advantages. Because, as already mentioned, the visitors to a trade fair are not just another customer group, but also a special “product” which, in case of doubt, is the decisive factor in an exhibitor’s booking decision. After all, trade fairs compete with many other marketing opportunities for a significant role in the marketing mix and thus for their share of the budget. Moreover, every visitor and every exhibitor has different roles at a trade fair. In addition to their professional profile and the motives for their visit, they are always private individuals, members of a certain age group, influencers for their professional and private networks and much more. This holistic community management holistically depicts this immensely important multi-role theme. It enables precise communication with visitors and their individual interests. In the ideal case, I can accompany participants throughout the entire customer lifecycle and make exactly the right offers according to the situation.
WHAT ROLE DOES CORONA PLAY IN IMPLEMENTING 360-DEGREE VISITOR MANAGEMENT? CAN THE CURRENT SITUATION SPEED THINGS UP?
The pandemic and the dramatic effects on the events industry are leading to opposing conditions for community management projects. On the one hand, the data basis and legal requirements have never been more conducive than they are now. On the other hand, some trade fair companies are hesitating to implement them because the slump in sales has initially frozen many project budgets. However, Corona should definitely accelerate the initiative towards 360-degree visitor management. The current global situation offers good reasons for this. Trade fair companies must now by law record all profiles of all participants, whether visitors, exhibitors or, for example, suppliers. And they must manage visitors very precisely. At the moment, for example, rush hours must be avoided because of the minimum distance regulations, but visiting times and the most popular areas must be known. Corona also increases the number of hybrid or digital events. At the moment, certainly inevitably, but in the future digital components will continue to play an important role in supplementing presence exhibitions. And good, content-rich data are an absolute prerequisite for this. If I don’t have that, I don’t need to plan, hold and try to organise completely digital events.
ARE THERE RISKS AND DISADVANTAGES?
Basically not. All data protection aspects must of course be planned and adhered to precisely in advance. I see insufficient organisation and inadequate use of digital solutions as decisive risks. If you do not plan this properly, you will not have the data quality that is needed and unnecessarily high costs. Good advice can quickly minimise these risks and also has the advantage of being able to reliably incorporate proven experience and national and international best practice examples. The wheel does not always have to be completely reinvented.
WHAT DO THOSE INVOLVED HAVE TO DO TO MAKE 360-DEGREE VISITOR MANAGEMENT WORK RELIABLY?
Only if the entire process chain constantly uses and enriches the information generated by the management process will it show its true value. This starts with the management, which must recognise the value of the information and promote it throughout the entire organisation. Because 360-degree visitor management is a topic for the various organisational units. It doesn’t just affect marketing or project management and certainly not just IT.
WHY DON’T MORE COMPANIES IMPLEMENT A 360-DEGREE VISITOR MANAGEMENT CONCEPT?
A good question. It has been discussed for many years and is also recognised as a need for action. Nevertheless, many trade fair companies find it difficult to implement it. There are already drivers for this topic in the individual event areas of a trade fair. However, successful implementation requires a company-wide effort to implement it consistently across different events.
WHY SHOULD EXHIBITION COMPANIES INVEST IN A 360-DEGREE VISITOR MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AT THIS PARTICULAR TIME?
Quite simply because it pays off in the short term. Yes, setting up a stringent 360 degree visitor management system is an investment. But the effects will already be noticed at the next events, whether virtual or live on site. Not to mention the benefits to be expected in the long term. When trade fairs can start up again, we will see fewer exhibitors and visitors on site. This need not be a disadvantage at all, if you can manage the quality with a 360 degree visitor management process and the available information. On the contrary, the individual data gathered there will be worth more. Participating in a trade fair will have a much more exclusive character in the near future.
Cost awareness is understandable right now. Nevertheless, decision-makers now have it in their hands to create a central basis for success, especially in the near future, with integrated 360-degree visitor management. And what do fishermen do when the sea is too stormy? They stay in port and mend their nets. I think it is an advantage that the organisation currently has time for such innovations, which go far beyond the introduction of a technical system. We should seize this opportunity.
Whether advertising budgets, planned events or trade fair appearances: The sales and marketing world has not spared Corona either. In recent weeks, countless companies have rescheduled, cancelled and tried out a lot. Those responsible have asked themselves numerous questions: How much cutback can my advertising budget take? How much potential would my trade fair appearance have in a completely digital version? How can generated leads become paying customers as efficiently as possible? The question marks will remain with us for some time to come. But already now we can be sure that post-corona leads will be worth much more than generated new customer contacts before the pandemic. We will tell you here how you can deal with them …
A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE
Trade fairs act as a driving force for the economy – before, during and after the pandemic. And Germany as a trade fair location is not only of great importance in terms of sales figures in a global comparison. The industry association AUMA assumes that in the last two years, around 180,000 exhibitors have courted the favour of around 10 million visitors annually. One does not have to be a prophet to predict that these figures will be lower in the near future. And we all know: When something becomes scarcer on the market, its value increases.
THE NEW GOLD
If fewer and fewer visitors can be expected at trade fairs in the future, every new customer contact acquired will become all the more important – we think almost like the popular precious metal. Now it is time to promote the popular “raw material” lead. But can this be done effectively? This is precisely where there are extensive possibilities for questioning existing processes and, if necessary, optimising them before the next upcoming trade fair appearance. We show you here how you can best proceed:
LIFTING DATA TREASURES AT YOUR OWN EXHIBITION STAND
Marketing and sales staff are familiar with this: “Should we exhibit at trade fairs at all?” is a question that is asked far too quickly, mostly by budget allocators. In the meantime, similarly precise figures can be generated from trade fair appearances as from digital campaigns. Resourceful marketers or their sales colleagues have the start and reason for a visit to the stand, contact details, discussion details and follow-up actions for individual contacts just as quickly at hand as precise insights into the total number of visitors to the stand.
And the tools for this are extremely easy to use. Individual leads are quickly qualified by scans, voice or electronic notes and with the right electronic means, the “Thank you for visiting us” newsletter is guaranteed to get out faster than the one of your competitor´s company. To cut long things short: there are real data treasures on your own stand ready to be unearthed. In future, these will not only help you to effectively optimise your own business processes. The next discussion about future trade fair budgets and the corresponding data will also take place under completely different circumstances.
ORGANISER: STRIVING FOR LONG-TERM BRAND LOYALTY
Let’s assume that you are organising any sports and leisure fair. A person in their early 20s visits this fair because they can get fashion items or sports equipment there before anyone else. The years go by and the person successfully completes his or her studies and makes a career. Fifteen years later, they have long since built up a close brand bond because of the positive experiences at the sports and leisure fair and countless interesting newsletters and social media posts. In the meantime, the role model is in a decision making position in a large company. And it is a particular concern of hers to close the decisive deals at her sports and leisure fair. This is why the outlined company has long become a regular exhibitor at the instigation of the former student.
Sounds too good to be true? We think that the scenario described can become reality if trade fair organisers now also use the time sensibly and ask the right questions: Do I record all visitors and their interests? Do I do this only at the entrance and exit or do I also want to know the exact frequency of visitors per hall? Do I have the right IT infrastructure in place to process the acquired data sensibly and effectively? And once the technical side has been clarified, is there a comprehensive data utilisation strategy?
MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN EVER BEFORE
Corona has already forced the world – just like the trade fair industry – to rethink. So why not take the current situation as an opportunity to bid farewell to old, entrenched processes? Right now is the time to learn how to use digital tools sensibly. So that you will soon be more successful than ever before.
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Mouth and nose protection and 1.5 m safety distance as well as comprehensive hygiene measures were and are indispensable in the Corona era. But how do you as a trade fair operator make sure that contact tracing in the event of a corona disease is smoothly guaranteed and can be passed on to the responsible authorities in an emergency? Find out here how this important step towards reopening the fair for exhibitors can be successfully completed with our help.
Until an effective vaccine against corona has been found, the health of visitors and exhibitors is the focus of the trade fair organisers, not least because of official regulations. In particular, the official reporting regulations that apply in the event of an infection pose a particular challenge. With simple visitor tracking at the entrances and exits, it is sometimes difficult to reconstruct a chain of contacts in an emergency. But what would be the case if the required data could be collected as accurately as possible and, of course, in compliance with DSGVO?
With the FairTracing procedure this is possible. It is based on the Scan2Lead technology and can trace the path of the visitor at a trade fair very precisely on the basis of the visited touchpoints. All that is required is regular contactless data acquisition of the respective visitor via a scan on the exhibition grounds. After the entrance control and the first registration, the Scan2Lead App calculates with the FairTracing method probable time windows with each transaction, which precisely reconstruct and narrow down the paths and possible contact persons of visitors. This works via influencing factors such as stand size, the number of stand employees and lead sheet activities. In the event of an emergency, the health authorities will receive the data securely, digitally encrypted and at the required speed. Trade fair organisers can thus supplement their hygiene concept in a meaningful way and thus demonstrate that a trade fair visit is safe. Unlike other applications, the FairTracing procedure can be used internationally.
Do you have questions about the FairTracing method and the Scan2Lead App? Then please contact us! Our team will be happy to answer all your questions and provide you with further information. Just send us an e-mail to contact@scan2lead.com or call us: +49 89 4444 33 111.
Artificial intelligence, Augmented Reality and many more digital technologies have matured to useful tools in the exhibition industry over the past twelve months. But still there is a uneasy feeling when talking to exhibition industry executives about digital transformation. Stephan Forseilles, Tesi Baur and Gunnar Heinrich from the UFI Digital Innovation Committee discussed this topic with lots of executives during plenary sessions at UFI’s Global Congress in Johannesburg and European Conference in Verona, asking them to vote in real-time for or against bold statements related to Digital Transformation in the exhibition industry. Here are some of the most heatedly discussed topics and why there is still a concerning wait-and-see attitude.
MAIN TOPICS REGARDING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE EXHIBITION INDUSTRY
Privacy laws, even though they make everybody’s life (a little bit) more complicated, should not massively slow down the Digital Revolution. On the contrary, they may prove to be a way to develop a new type of relationship with the customers, one based on trust and transparency. The big losers in this game will be the ones clinching to the 20th century marketing habits of sending as many emails as possible, preferably with the ‘unsubscribe’ button in a tiny grey-on-white font in the middle of a kilometer-long footer.
The spectre “Virtual Trade Shows” replacing live events can definitely be buried: Virtual Reality will not at all be a serious threat to the exhibition industry, it might just be a useful complement. People will continue to want to meet face-to-face.
Millennials are a game-changing generation. They’re also the “Selfie Generation”, more attracted to the experience than to the brand. They have grown with amazon and Facebook and expect every experience to be as easy, fast and enjoyable. Is the exhibition industry providing that? (See further, but here’s a spoiler: they are not). By 2020 millennials will represent 50% of the workforce. Everyone should definitively aim to have more of them in key positions in their organisations. 75% of executives agree.
SOME ALARMING NEWS FOR THE EXHIBITION INDUSTRY
Amazon, Facebook, Google, Alibaba and all the others, they have spoiled us with everything quick and easy: registering, buying, recommendations, search… Even in physical locations, like amazon’s “Go Store” in Seattle where there is no cash register: Grab your groceries and just walk out! Does the exhibition industry provide the same level of incredibly easy experience? Well…
82% of the executives who’ve answered, think the exhibition industry is providing an outdated customer experience from 30 years ago, far from the convenience and speed of Google, amazon or Facebook. From registration (89% think a registration revolution is urgently needed!) to queuing, finding one’s way, communicating with each other, booking a stand or getting furniture or an electrical connection on a booth… Everything is still much too painful and slow! Especially the registration process has to be revolutionized since it barely changed since it came online a couple of decades ago. With new technologies, like face recognition and AI, cannot it be made convenient and user-friendly?
Some might think: However, we’re taking steps: We’re embracing new technologies and improving the customer experience to match the best companies, aren’t we? At least we’re working on it? Well, 95% of the executives, who have been asked, think that the exhibition industry is only doing a pseudo-digitization. Yes, they do play with technology and they all boast that they are revolutionizing customer experience, but they are only pretending. Under that fresh coat of A.I. / IoT / Big Data / VR / AR paint, they are still the old-fashioned exhibition organizers, venue operators and service providers motivated by one thing: turnover. Satisfaction surveys, besides being hated by everyone who has to experience them, are just statistics, not the eye-opening, butt-kicking wake-up call they should be.
IS THE EXHIBITION INDUSTRY REALLY NOT THE NEXT INDUSTRY TO BE UBERIZED?
So, 80% think the exhibition industry provides a crappy customer experience. 90% think some of their old-fashioned processes like registration need to be revolutionized because they might turn customers away. 95% think they are just pretending to do something about it. They are in a dark corner but they know about it! They are aware that, if a game-changing competitor was to enter their industry with an amazon-like customer experience, Netflix-like curated content and Uber-like convenience and pricing, they could see a tectonic shift of customers toward these new entrants. Or aren’t they?
Here comes the uneasy feeling: Almost 70% of exhibition industry executives still think that, despite the numbers above, there is no risk of seeing their industry being “Uberized” either by a new entrant or by an existing player who would turn the business model and experience upside down, like amazon, Tesla, Uber, SpaceX or AirBnB did for other industries. Move along. Nothing to see here. We’re kings of the hill. We’re safe for any foreseeable future. Executives from the music industry, the hotel industry or the automotive industry probably felt the same several years ago. Guess Nokia executives felt the same in 2006, one year before the iPhone was released.
However, the awareness is growing. More and more millennials are acquiring key positions. Artificial intelligence is now used daily for marketing and sales optimization and other A.I.-based applications are becoming very good at matchmaking, for example. AR is used as a sales tool, as in Suntec Singapore’s HybridD tool which recently won the UFI Digital Innovation Award. Also, lots of highly innovative startups are reaching the spotlight, aiming to improve the attendee experience. More and more people are feeling that a change is needed. Reverse mentoring programs are being implemented, where experienced but ageing executives are coached by digital natives about what younger generations expect as a customer service.
It seems as if the exhibition industry is on the verge of an inflexion point. Everybody knows things are coming but they see the wall far away and think that they still have time to correct course or even that the wall will have vanished by the time they get there. But it might be closer than it appears and, in any case, working at giving attendees and customers a better and revolutionized experience will never be a bad thing!
KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE UFI DIGITAL INNOVATION COMMITTEE
This article is based on Stephan Forseilles’ post “Why discussing digital with the exhibition industry makes me scratch my head” in the UFI Digital Innovation Group on LinkedIn. Keep in touch and stay updated on digital innovations in the exhibition industry.
Come and join us on our LinkedIn Group (“UFI Digital Innovation Group” or http://www.ufidigital.com) or follow us on Twitter (@UFIDigital). Join your expert peers in the event industry and be part of the community shaping the future of events.
Join the Digital Innovation Group’s next Focus Meeting: Once a year, we invite CIOs, marketers, IT specialists and anyone else interested in the digital transformation of our event industry for a focus meeting. Packed with interesting sessions and presentations, the focus meeting is also where the three finalists for the Innovation Award will showcase their solutions. Attend our meeting and vote for the winner.
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UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has named Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre as winner of the UFI Digital Innovation Award 2018, thanks to its cutting-edge HybriD solution.
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Watch the entire session about “Digital Transformation” which Gunnar Heinrich (CEO adventics & Scan2Lead) held with his colleagues from the Digital Innovation Committee Stephan Forseilles (easyfairs) and Matthias Tesi Baur (MBB-Media) at the last UFI European Conference 2018 in Verona. The panel asked the audience, composed of event organisers, venue operators, associations and service providers, to participate and give their opinion in real-time using a polling system.
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Exhibition World: Enrico Gallorini, CEO, GRS Research & Strategy, discusses Blockchain and its key role within the global exhibition industry. During the recent UFI European Conference in Verona the Digital Disruption Section introduced, for the first time, the theme of the Blockchain in the exhibition industry. In order to have a clearer introduction about this important theme, Exhibition World interviewed Enrico Gallorini (www.grsnet.it).
https://scan2lead.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Scan2Lead_Logo_2018_quadrat_1c-RGB_pos.png00memediahttps://scan2lead.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Scan2Lead_Logo_2018_quadrat_1c-RGB_pos.pngmemedia2021-12-20 14:39:012021-12-20 14:39:01WHAT IS BLOCKCHAIN AND WHAT WILL WE DO WITH IT?
Google, amazon etc. are fast, convenient, personalised and secure. The exhibition industry tends to have slow websites, in average five times slower than a standard Google search, and rejoices when events successfully attract lots of visitors and has big queues while amazon has a shop where you can walk in, take whatever you want and walk out without ever being hampered by a cashier desk. Registering to an amazon account, for example, takes less than a minute. Registering as a visitor to an event sometimes takes 30 minutes, answering 15 or 20 seemingly useless questions. Some organisers are working on their interfaces, but very few really work on providing a significantly better customer experience.
SESSION ABOUT DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AT UFI EUROPEAN CONFERENCE IN VERONA
At the last UFI European Conference 2018 in Verona, Italy, Gunnar Heinrich (CEO adventics & Scan2Lead) again held a session about “Digital Transformation” with his colleagues from the Digital Innovation Committee Stephan Forseilles (easyfairs) and Matthias Tesi Baur (MBB-Media). The panel asked the audience, composed of event organisers, venue operators, associations and service providers, to participate and give their opinion in real-time using a polling system.
THE AUDIENCE VIEW ON THIS TOPIC
It could not be more obvious than that the UFI members and attendees in the room agreed with the fact that the exhibition industry is providing an outdated customer experience. But then, why do not things change? Why does everyone stick to their old ways, putting “doing business as usual” before customer experience? As the feedback shows, it is a mix of habit, fear and lack of communication.
Habit because “We’ve been doing it this way since twenty years!” is one of the most common rebuttals received by those who want to improve the life of the attendees. Quickly followed by the “If we change this or that, my event might not be a success” excuse, the ‘fear’ aspect of it. And lack of communication when they realise that, for example, the event manager thinks marketing does not want to shorten the registration questionnaire, that marketing thinks the top management absolutely want the data and that top management is persuaded that the event manager has a good reason to have such a painful registration.
KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE UFI DIGITAL INNOVATION COMMITTEE
This article is based on Stephan Forseilles’ post “As event organisers in the 4th industrial age, we are providing an outdated customer experience…” in the UFI Digital Innovation Group on LinkedIn. Keep in touch and stay updated on digital innovations in the exhibition industry.
Come and join us on our LinkedIn Group (“UFI Digital Innovation Group” or http://www.ufidigital.com) or follow us on Twitter (@UFIDigital). Join your expert peers in the event industry and be part of the community shaping the future of events.
Once a year, we invite CIOs, marketers, IT specialists and anyone else interested in the digital transformation of our event industry for a focus meeting. Packed with interesting sessions and presentations, the focus meeting is also where the three finalists for the Innovation Award will showcase their solutions. Attend our meeting and vote for the winner.
https://scan2lead.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/UFI-Verona_s.jpg2391064memediahttps://scan2lead.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Scan2Lead_Logo_2018_quadrat_1c-RGB_pos.pngmemedia2021-12-20 14:37:312021-12-20 14:38:07IS THE EXHIBITION INDUSTRY PROVIDING AN OUTDATED CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE?
