Big Interview
“I started at Messe München in 1989”
“Don’t dither, do trade fairs!”
Kennedy’s Confection Editor, Kiran Grewal, sits down with Koelnmesse CEO Gerald Böse as he gives his insight on the events sector in the aftermath of the global pandemic
Could you give us a brief background on your career history, and when you came to be CEO of Koelnmesse? I have been involved in the international trade fair business for over 30 years. As a trained business economist, I started at Messe München in 1989 and there, as well as at my other trade fair stations in Düsseldorf and Karlsruhe, I got to know the whole range of our industry in Germany and abroad, which for me still offers the most exciting jobs in the world. The variety of topics and the development of the trade fair business into a full-service provider, which I have been able to accompany to this day, has also keep me in good stead here in Cologne. In 2008, I started as CEO at Koelnmesse in a difficult time still marked by the financial and economic crisis. Together with a great team, I succeeded in getting back on track for growth. In 2019, before the pandemic began, we had one of the strongest years in the company’s history with more than 400 million euros in turnover.
What does a typical day in your job role look like? In addition to the many coordinations, decisions and meetings that challenge me as the boss of around 1,000 employees, the trade fair days are still the highlights of my job. The trade fair business is pure communication, and that also shapes my work routine. So, a typical day at the fair is full of intensive discussions: in the morning, exchanges with the teams responsible for the fair procedures, protocol issues and security. Then the direct contact with the exhibitors in the exhibition halls, which cannot be replaced by anything
6 Kennedy’s Confection March 2022
else. Trade fairs remain peoples’ business, despite all digital developments. And finally, the event is full of events, be it professional meetings or press conferences in which I am involved as a speaker and discussion partner, or in the evening, the get-together with the customers that concludes the trade fair day and offers us socialising as an important part of the trade fair experience.
With the recent coronavirus challenges, what was the process for organising the recent ProSweets/ISM event in Cologne? First of all, as usual, we started planning for ISM and ProSweets Cologne last year, so that the starting signal for registrations was given regularly in spring. Right from the start, we had a good registration rate for both events and on this basis, we were able to look confidently in the direction of the 2022 fairs. At the time, we also directly assumed that we would have to continue planning under Corona conditions. Therefore, from the very beginning, we implemented the hall planning in line with our comprehensive #B-SAFE4business hygiene and safety concept to ensure the highest level of safety. We all know that in autumn 2022 the pandemic came to a head again, which led to some cancellations from the exhibitor side. In December, we laid our cards on the table together with the industry and decided, on the basis of the continuing good level of registrations and our comprehensive safety package, to hold on to ISM and ProSweets Cologne. German politics has also approved trade fairs with a clear business focus.
KennedysConfection.com
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