TFWA CANNES PREVIEW: BEHIND THE SCENES The fuel behind Tax Free World’s evolving engine
In a special feature, TRBusiness takes a look at the vital work being carried out behind the scenes at TFWA in preparation for this year’s Cannes showpiece in the company of Exhibitions Director, Myriem Chalabi.
Briefly describe to our readers your role and responsibilities at TFWA... Like all heads of departments at TFWA, I’m tasked with putting into practice the overall strategy and detailed plans agreed by the board. In my role as Exhibitions Director my duties include liaising with exhibitors and acting on their requirements, taking charge of visitor and exhibitor registrations and communicating with all our suppliers to ensure we are responding to the needs of exhibitors and delegates at our events.
How has the nature of the job changed since you began at TFWA? Fundamentally, the nature of the job has remained the same. However, as the scale of our exhibitions has grown the scope of the role has expanded. The support of my team – which includes Françoise Parigi, Exhibitions & Logistics Manager; Isabelle Régnier, Advertising & Sponsorship Manager; Mona Lebrasseur, Sales Supervisor; and Morgane Sekfali, Commercial Assistant – is crucial as our exhibitions programme has continued to grow successfully.
What are the biggest challenges you face in curating the Cannes exhibition? The truly international nature of our business presents a variety of complexity and challenges. However, it’s also one of the things that makes my job interesting. We have great teams at our event locations, as well as the staff in Paris, who help us to manage that complexity.
Competition for floorspace has always been a pressing issue. How do you successfully balance increasing demand for new space year after year, while satisfying the changing needs of existing exhibitors? Unfortunately, we can’t satisfy all the
SEPTEMBER 2018
requests we receive from exhibitors already present at our events as well as new brand companies that would like to take part. However, we’re in constant and close dialogue with companies wishing to join our exhibitions or expand their presence and, wherever possible, we will always try to find a solution.
Briefly describe how you collaborate with other arms of TFWA (marketing, finance, IT and the executive office) to deliver the Cannes event and why this collaboration is important… At TFWA, we are all very much part of the same team, we’re all dependent on each other, and we work very closely as one. We utilise a range of sophisticated professional tools to ensure that processes such as payments are managed correctly, while marketing communications is essential to ensure everyone is aware of what is taking place and when.
How are you planning to develop and future proof the exhibition moving forward? We’re constantly challenging ourselves to improve our exhibitions and conferences. We recognise that attending our events is a major investment for brands and delegates and it’s important that they can demonstrate a return on
Fast facts
Name: Myriem Chalabi Place of birth: Constantine, Algeria Residence: Paris, France Education: PhD in socio-economics and international relations (Paris) Special skill: My team Pet peeve: Boredom
that investment. We listen carefully to exhibitors to ensure we are aware of their needs and understand why they exhibit and what they intend to achieve from their attendance. By keeping close to the people we serve and constantly trying to improve our offer, we aim to provide a service that meets and even exceeds the demands of all those who visit Cannes. «
The TFWA World Exhibition & Conference takes place at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, 30 September – 5 October.
“At TFWA, we are all very much part of the same team, we’re all dependent on each other, and we work very closely as one.”
Myriem Chalabi, Exhibitions Director, TFWA
TRBUSINESS 31
Above: A total of 514 exhibiting companies (+4.5%) across 490 stands were present at last year’s TFWA World Exhibition. Source: TFWA/ Nathalie Oundjian.
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
