REGULAR
THE SHOW MUST GO ON
In his column this month, Lee Baker, PR and Media Manager for the British Cleaning Council, looks at the importance of trade shows and exhibitions, and the good that they can have for the industry.
A few years ago many business analysts were starting to write off the trade show as a relic of a bygone era, but their continued growth across all business sectors show that the announcement of their decline may have been a little premature.
Although they have undoubtedly had to adapt to the digital age we all now find ourselves in, the trade show, or convention, is still a fundamental part the business landscape.
And it’s easy to understand why; they provide an excellent opportunity to make sales, collect leads, build relationships, and to let the whole industry know about your company.
Trade shows are as much about people as products, and they remain popular with buyers as they get the chance to see and feel the product, perhaps test it, and have any questions answered straight away.
For exhibitors, there are multiple reasons for taking part. For some it’s a chance to show off their latest products, many will want to make direct sales, or at least make contact with potential future customers. Some exhibitors will be at a trade show simply because their competitors are there and they don’t want to lose ground to a rival.
Whatever the reasons for being involved, there is no doubt that trade shows remain popular and play a vital role right across the cleaning and FM sectors, but with budgets for marketing being squeezed and margins getting tighter, some are starting to question the need for having quite so many.
It’s an issue that caught the attention of members at the
22 | Tomorrow’s Cleaning August 2015
recent BCC summer meeting in Birmingham, and the Council now wants to look into it further.
It was agreed at the Council meeting that a working party be set up by the BCC to look into how the interests of both exhibitors and buyers can be met, through participation in trade shows and conferences in the future.
Being joint owners of the Cleaning Show, one of the most successful trade events in Europe, it gives the BCC unique experience in this area. And, having a wide membership made up of both exhibitors and buyers, it means the Council can draw on a wealth of experience from all sides of the debate.
With the Cleaning Show now established at the Excel Arena as a bi-annual event, the general feeling is that a smaller cleaning show, brought into line with the associations’ national conferences, on alternate years to the main Cleaning Show in London may well be the way ahead. Although there are a number of other ideas under consideration.
The small working party will look at how the BCC can best serve its national membership, and has decided not to hold its usual autumn conference this year, while it waits for the group’s conclusions.
As we’ve seen across other business sectors, trade shows, exhibitions and corporate conferences can only thrive and be successful if they serve the needs of the client bodies and adapt with the times. People in the cleaning industry enjoy attending and taking part, but they want to be confident that there’s a purpose to the event – they need to be relevant.
The popularity of trade
events isn’t in doubt, and the BCC will continue to play a huge part in the Cleaning Show.
The popularity of trade events isn’t in doubt, and the BCC will continue to play a huge part in the Cleaning Show. But the future viability of the smaller shows and the associations’ conferences needed examining, and so it’s hoped the BCC working party, when it reports later this year, will be able to shed some light on this hugely important aspect of the industry.
www.britishcleaningcouncil.org
twitter.com/TomoCleaning
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