PAUL’S PERSPECTIVE
Are We Making the Most of Our Industry Events? T
his month I’d like to explore a question that’s
been on my mind for some time.
Just how much value
are we getting from all the events that now make up our industry calendar? Before I go any further,
it’s worth acknowledging that I’ve always been an advocate of exhibitions and trade events. In fact, exhibitions were where my own business journey began. Long before
vending became a major part of our world, we were designing and building exhibition environments to help businesses showcase products, attract customers and create opportunities. I’ve seen first-hand the partnerships, innovations and friendships that can start with a simple conversation at an event. So, this isn’t a question about whether events matter. For
me, that’s never been in doubt. The question is whether we’re making the most of the opportunities they create. Looking across the calendar today, we’re certainly not short of
choice. We have Vendex, which continues to grow and evolve. The
Vendies, which celebrates achievement across the industry and will soon be complemented by Vendies Live. There are buying group conferences, networking events, golf days, charity football tournaments and supplier launches. The AVA continues to provide important opportunities for members to contribute to the future direction of the industry. Beyond our traditional sector, we’re increasingly represented
at workplace, facilities management, hospitality, retail and convenience exhibitions too. By my reckoning, I could easily attend 20 or more industry-
related events in a year. That’s a huge amount of investment from organisers, exhibitors, suppliers and operators alike. Which leads me to a few questions. How do we define success? Is it visitor numbers, exhibitor numbers, quality conversations,
new opportunities or long-term relationships? Perhaps it’s all of those things. As exhibitors, we ask ourselves how many leads we generated and whether we achieved a return on investment. But should we also be asking how many new people entered our industry’s orbit because of these events? How many facilities managers, workplace professionals or end-user organisations attended for the first time? How many left with a better understanding of what vending,
micro markets and automated retail can offer? If industry growth is the objective, attracting new audiences must be just as important as bringing existing ones together.
There’s another area that perhaps deserves more attention. Marketing. An exhibition stand shouldn’t be the start of the conversation. It should be the focal point of a conversation that’s already underway.
How much effort are we putting into promoting our
attendance before the doors open? How many appointments are booked? How many launches, demonstrations or announcements are planned around the event? And what happens afterwards? Too often businesses invest heavily in exhibiting, only for the momentum to disappear once the stand is packed away. The most successful exhibitors use events as part of a wider campaign. Pre-event promotion creates anticipation. The event itself creates engagement. Post-event marketing extends the conversation and maximises return on investment. Perhaps one of the biggest missed opportunities isn’t the event itself. It’s failing to capitalise on everything around it. Then there’s another thought. With so many exhibitions, networking events, awards and
conferences taking place, could we be asking even more from the events we already have? Many successful exhibitions do more than showcase products.
They educate, challenge thinking and create conversations about the future. Could our events incorporate more guest speakers, panel discussions and industry debates alongside the exhibition floor? Could there be room for a professional symposium element that brings together operators, suppliers, workplace professionals and industry experts to discuss topics such as AI, workplace transformation, sustainability and future technology? Established businesses would benefit from fresh thinking.
Those entering the industry would gain a clearer understanding of the market and the people shaping it. Most importantly, people could leave events not only with new contacts and product information, but with new ideas. With the World Cup now capturing attention across the globe,
it’s a timely reminder of what can happen when people come together around a shared passion. Our industry might not fill stadiums, but we have something equally valuable: exhibitions, awards, networking events and industry forums that bring us together throughout the year. The question isn’t whether we need more events. The question is whether we’re getting everything we can from the ones we already have. Are we sharing enough knowledge? Are we attracting enough new people into the sector? Are we creating opportunities that last beyond the event itself? I don’t pretend to have the answers. What I do know is that if we can collaborate more, share more insight and attract new audiences more effectively, we’ll create a stronger and more connected industry as a result. Because the success of an event isn’t measured solely by what happens on the day. It’s measured by the opportunities, ideas and relationships it creates long after everyone has gone home.
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