ATTENDEE MATCHMAKING From the venture capitalists in the Project & Finance Village, to the visiting sheikhs, Western oil executives, earnest policy types, Yemeni suppliers, Chinese solar vendors, German entrepreneurs, and Emirati students — WFES was a melting pot of nations, interests, and agendas. The diversity reflected the interconnectedness of the private and public sectors in today’s renewable-energy market, and highlighted the chal- lenge that WFES organizers faced in meeting the needs of such a varied audience. “With so many different interests attending, it just means

we have to work very hard to communicate specific messages to each group,” El Haddad said. “We have direct marketing programs targeted to specific people. For academics, we talk about the intellectual parts of the program; for business lead- ers, we talk about investment opportunities; and for politi- cians, it’s how to achieve their policy objectives.” Once attendees are on site, WFES intentionally doesn’t separate them into different tracks. “In order to solve the issue of renewable energy, you’ve got to get three stakeholder groups talking,” said Reed Exhibitions’ Peter McConnell, who is IWS’s show director. “You have to get policy moving in the right direction, you have to have science and technology, and you have adoption of solutions by business. We want to foster a dialogue between those three different stakeholders, so we don’t want to split them apart. Instead, we try to customize their experience within the larger context of the show.” For example, WFES offers attendees a show app and online planner that allows them to search exhibitors by prod- uct and interest. This year, Reed also unveiled a WFES/IWS online matchmaking tool. After logging in, a visitor (attendee or exhibitor) was presented with a list of suggested exhibitors, based on the selected sector of interest. Once an exhibitor

was chosen, the tool sent a meeting request to the other party and helped coordinate a prescheduled meeting. A similar, in-person matchmaking service was also avail- able on site to international visitors. “The international visitors have limited time,” El Haddad said, “and we want to make the best use of their time and offer an experience that will make their visit rewarding.” At a separate check-in desk next to the main registration area, a team of 10 specialists from an outside company contracted by Reed worked with international attendees to locate relevant exhibitors and request on-site meetings. “If they would have to wander around, it might take two or three hours of their time to figure out who is where,” El Haddad said. “This is more effi- cient, and one more way to customize the experience.” And with Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimating that global spending on renewable energy will hit $7 tril- lion by 2030, that experience is only going to become more important. While it’s not yet clear what the coming market will look like, the future seems bright for renewable energy

— and, by extension, WFES. When the curtain fell on WFES 2013, 70 percent of exhibit space had already been booked for next year’s show. Same desert, same oil nation, same green movement. Same time next year.

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Contributing Editor Molly Brennan is a freelance writer and editor based in Highland Park, Ill.

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ON THE WEB To learn more about World Future Energy Summit 2013, visitworldfutureenergysummit.com.

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