FACE TO FACE
Face to face with Jim Croxton
Pitchcare Editor Kerry Haywood sits down with BIGGA Chief Executive Officer Jim Croxton to discuss the new BTME layout and what vistors can expect from the exhibition
Kerry Haywood: What do you see as the main challenges for BTME 2019?
Jim Croxton: The challenges, by our standards, are quite large. We’ve made really minor changes in the grand scheme of things but, because the show has been in the same space for so long, and because we are now using different halls, our main challenge is making sure that all visitors who come to the show understand the new layout, and we have to make sure that they attend the various events.
The old space, which had become too small, was too easy. Four big halls linked together; it was very easy to walk round and everybody saw everybody. The problem with that was that it became like a road block, walking round without engaging. They weren’t actually looking!
By pure chance, every company is in different spaces, exhibiting in a different way. There’s much more space, there’s a lot more to do at the exhibition and our main ambition is that we want to keep people there longer; to make sure they are not tempted out by the delights of Harrogate and not come back in.
We feel we have created an exhibition that, we believe, will keep visitors there a good few hours longer. For example, we’ve got some golf course construction taking place live on all days - bunkers, rootzone, that sort of thing. We’ve got some of the members doing that. We’ve not taken away anything from visitors who are not BIGGA members, but what we’ve done is create more for our members. We’ve got more seminars, we’ve got a wellness area for mental health advice and support. Lots of career development as well.
One thing we need to do, with the help of the media like yourselves, is to make people aware that the show will be different and they'll need to have their eyes open. But they should have a significantly enhanced experience. If that’s the case, then the exhibitors should be very happy and have more contact time with the end users.
KH: What has the reaction been to the new format and layout?
JC: Strong reactions; both good and bad. A lot of nervousness about change. We knew that would be the case, but everything has to change. We worked very closely with all the exhibitors so they would understand what we were doing. Overall, I’m thrilled with the reaction. Certainly, what has transpired is that exhibitor bookings are superb. The whole show has more space and we have twenty new exhibitors. The really good thing is that, on average, the rebookings from 2018 have booked 11% more space.
I think we’ve still got a lot of hard work to do. I haven’t made any promises, but I’m confident that we are going to deliver an enhanced
14 PC October/November 2018
experience. We’ve put on a fantastic education programme, so I’m confident we’ll get the support from the members.
We’ve worked had to ensure that the visitors move around the show and engage with the exhibitors. It’s a two way thing. The exhibitors put the money in to make the show happen and we need to make sure that the visitors engage back with them.
KH: And presumably the cost implications for the exhibitors with bigger stands and more space was not too much of an issue?
JC: The biggest challenge came from some of the larger exhibitors who have exhibited in the same space for a number of years and, therefore, already have their stands built. But they’ve embraced it and moved to different spaces, but that has come at a cost. We had to respect that. The actual stand cost is around about 30% of their overall exhibition cost.
Interestingly, the smaller exhibitors have been really positive with the change. Many of them who have wanted to do more, but have been stuck in the same space every year, perhaps nine or twelve metres, now have the space to increase to thirty metres. We are very grateful for the support we’ve had so far. It has been very good.
KH: Touching on the education programme; is that changing format or location?
JC: One of the things we wanted to do, because we were changing the space used at the exhibition, was to make sure that Continue To Learn remained a bit of a constant, so the majority of the programme is staying in the same
place. But that means that, instead of it being right at the back of the show, it is now in the centre.
We’ve got 250 hours of education. We’ve moved some of the events that were historically in the historic Queen’s Hall into the Conference Centre, such as the Turf Managers Conference, the Welcome Celebration and the Deputies Conference, which is new for this year. They will be be held there, which is a much better space.
As I say, the Deputies Conference is new for this year. One of the hardest things for a greenkeeper is going from being ‘one of the lads’ - although I’m aware there’s an increasing number of girls coming into the industry - to moving up to a supervisory role. So we’ve put on a three hour conference to address those issues.
We’ve also got an Ecology Forum this year, which is being hosted by our own Ecologist, James Hutchinson, who you know well. We've got a really good programme for a links golf course management forum. Mental Health and Stress Awareness is also part of the programme.
We’ve got a couple of quite cool things as well. We’ve got a method actor coming to talk and do workshops on how you can be the best version of you! One of the big challenges for greenkeepers is going from someone perceived as an ‘outdoor’ person to having to become a manager and a senior manager in an office environment.
And a guy involved with Saracens Rugby Club talking about team building. So lots of exciting stuff for this year.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148
