with a few tweaks and changes as we seek to make it a more immersive and interactive experience. We are also looking to include more Esports content at ICE and will be producing content dedicated to the Esports market throughout the year.
What is ICE Connect (Europe and North America) and is this an initiative that will continue once live events re-emerge? Both events launched in June - what results and feedback can you share?
Te concept of ICE Connect is so simple and yet it’s one of the best products I have ever seen. At its core it answers a fundamental question - what is Clarion’s role in this market? ICE Connect connects a buyer with a seller and solves both their problems. A buyer needs a solution - the seller needs a buyer for their solution - which is exactly what ICE Connect does.
I have simplified all the bells, whistles and algorithms that matched together the first participants in June, but feedback shows that the concept works extremely well. Our plan is to run a second ICE Connect in October for the European market, with a North American one staged later in 2022.
ICE Connect is definitely going to be part of our product mixing going forward. However, I want to be clear that ICE Connect isn’t a replacement for live events. As we’ve seen from the enthusiastic response to NIGA, I don’t think there’s any question about the role live events play within the make-up of the gaming industry.
Do you expect bigger numbers coming to ICE 2022?
If ICE were running in the next few months, I think we would see a smaller number of dedicated buyers, a scenario that’s playing out across multiple markets within the Clarion
P10 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
“The bigger challenge for me is 2023. How do we you retain
attendees that normally visit ICE every other year? How do we
incentivise visitors to return in 2023 when they’ve all collectively
attended the show in 2022? How do we make sure their show experience and discovery of new
products is better than ever before so they return every year to ICE?”
portfolio. ICE in February will be the first scaled industry event in two years, and so based both on customer feedback and experience in other markets, for example when SARs struck in Asia the return of events saw a huge jump in attendance, our expectations are high for the return of ICE in 2022.
Te bigger challenge for me is 2023. How do we you retain attendees that normally visit ICE every other year? How do we incentivise visitors to return in 2023 when they’ve all collectively attended the show in 2022? How do we make sure their show experience and discovery of new products is better than ever before so they return every year to ICE?
We need to fundamentally understand the value that visitors expect from ICE and help drive that value every year. It’s part of a wider understanding of how events have evolved and an admittance that, for a long time, events companies have been lazy when delivering value and ROI, due to the fact that people kept coming back year after year. My view is that we must be far more accountable for the value we deliver and embrace the digital solutions available to us to make that happen. Whether that’s utilising meeting-based or tracking technologies, applying live feedback during the
show and making substantive changes in real- time – there’s lots of opportunity for us to build a bigger and better event each and every year.
ICE Connect and ICE365 were part of a £1m investment in digital technology. Are these two elements the extent of the investment or are there more announcements/launches to come?
A large proportion has been invested in those products, however, ICE365 isn’t complete. I don’t think websites are ever finished and there’s a whole list of ideas for phase two waiting to be implemented. However, we wanted to get the site out into the wild, as Sheryl Sandberg states, ‘done is better than perfect.’ I think when we see the analysis of how people are using ICE365 and gather feedback from the market, we can start to make changes and add more features.
Elsewhere, we still need to invest in the extension of the digital experience of ICE and we will be building an ICE365 studio as we consider how this solution can be integrated into the event. We’d be kidding ourselves if we think that everyone in the world can visit ExCeL in February for three days, and the idea that if you can’t get to London then you shouldn’t benefit from ICE is ridiculous.
We know that we can’t deliver the full ICE experience online, but if you’re an exhibitor launching a product at the show, is there an opportunity to video the launch and broadcast live to our audience? If we conduct sessions with a live audience, can we broadcast those panels digitally? Can we provide interviews with exhibitors or attendees and give exclusive insight back to those that want to attend digitally - and can we connect people who can’t visit the show in virtual meeting spaces outside of the event? All things are possible, but we must ensure that we deliver on anything we promise. ICE doesn’t need to be an ungainly hybrid event with huge robots walking the show floor with VR cameras. Tat’s not ICE.
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