EIBTM optimism tempered by wake-up calls
Elizabeth Rich found there was plenty of talk in Barcelona about future-proofing the events business.
Thousands of industry suppliers and buyers poured into Barcelona at the beginning of December for the annual EIBTM trade show. The surprisingly mild weather and Barcelona’s freewheeling style seemed to be reflected in the mood of the participants.
Christmas lights came on in The Ramblas; the Tapas bars were full. It was hard to be glum in Barcelona, making it an ideal gathering site for an industry which tends to look on the bright side of life. But while such resilience is admirable at the end of a tough year, there was plenty of talk about what needs to be done to strengthen the industry’s future.
The Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), a global cooperative body of the major international industry associations, convened a meeting at EIBTM to discuss what was needed to lift the power and profile of the industry. JMIC noted action already taken in 2009 by industry bodies in the USA in response to negative perceptions of corporate business events, especially incentives, as expendable activities in tough economic times.
The US industry fought back with campaigns “Keep America Meeting” and “Meetings Mean Business”. Talk turned to what should be done on a global scale, and who should take the lead. Nothing was decided except to meet again next year at a summit to consider the options. Perhaps it was a bit like Copenhagen’s COP15 meeting - many differing views; some destinations hurting more than others; who leads and who pays? The North American-based Convention Liaison Council (CIC) has since moved ahead with another campaign planned around the theme “Face Time: It Matters”. Some feel this tagline would not translate well on a global scale. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, the trade show floor was buzzing with hype and, by many accounts, good business. People were hopeful of a turnaround in corporate business in 2010, while association business appeared to remain steady although budgets were tight.
The Chinese looked busy, so did the Malaysians. South-East Europe continues to lift its profile, particularly Slovenia and Serbia, both headed by energetic, determined teams. The Australians appeared happy with the steady interest and leads. The Norwegians were basking in their ICCA marketing award, boldly displaying their naked man. The Viennese retained their quietly confident air.
It was a good time to be a buyer, with sellers sharpening their pencils, and working on sweeteners.
The hot topic was the possible fallout from the Dubai debt crises which had just hit. Was this the dreaded second bottom in the “W” pattern? A seasoned Middle Eastern supplier was asked whether Abu Dhabi would bail out Dubai: “They will let them hurt for a while, and then they will save them.” Looks like he was right.
EIBTM reported that its professional education program attracted a record 3000 plus attendees to sessions.
New York trend spotter Daniel Levine stimulated his audience with vox pops on what’s hot from “after heels” vending machines to personalised photos on credit cards. The newest travel writer is one with a large blog site. We heard about the “tyranny of transparency” via websites which out your company’s footprint, and the need for “social nutrition facts”.
Green is not going away; it’s only going to get bigger. A European car hire company includes carbon emissions facts on choices of cars. A vaulted dance floor in a club helps power the venue when you dance on it! A hotel in Toronto serves food grown on its roof and even sells the honey from its bees. All creative, clever marketing ideas based on changing desires in a changing world.
Technology topics attracted big numbers. There was standing room only again this year in the Technology Debate, featuring Corbin Ball, Rob Davidson and Laurent Haug, which makes you wonder why a larger room isn’t allocated. The pull of the subject points to a hunger for information and possibly a nervousness about managing social media and new meeting models. Gen X and Y were the largest groups in the audience.
Do you need to employ a “chief listener” and an online content writer? Can you overdo the interactive twittering and online networking during sessions and lose control of the agenda? Does it matter or do you need to “curate” the information on your community? Should you consider a “no laptop” zone? Is twitter just a fad? With WiFi and laptops, do the media actually need a press room?
Pathable won the EIBTM WorldWide Technology Watch Award (www.pathable.com). It is a social network software to enhance conference communication. MPI used it for its last conference. It seems obvious that future conferences and events will all need to provide some sort of pre event and ongoing network system to meet participants’ expectations.
Maarten Vanneste continues to grow his Meetings Architecture movement. For the uninitiated, what started as a small movement to lift the intellectual bar in meetings design led largely by a Belgian called Maarten Vanneste has now morphed into a book, a series of seminars run around the world, a “Meetings Architecture Manifesto” paper, a website (www.meetingarchitecture.com), a Facebook page, and regular gatherings of fellow travellers around the world. One such dinner took place at EIBTM and attendance at this gathering is a testament to the movement’s growth, plus the power of Facebook! More than 60 senior industry people from around the world eschewed the many sponsored hospitality events on offer, paying 40 Euros to mix with other like-minded people.
Each year EIBTM commissions Prof Rob Davidson from the University of Westminster to produce a report on Industry Trends and Market Share. It is secondary research but provides a wrap on trends taken from a variety of sources over the past 12 months and is worth a read. The full report can be downloaded from www.eibtm.com.
Not surprisingly, Davidson says “in a challenging environment, the winners in 2010 will be those suppliers who offer exceptional value and service and those destinations that target a diversified business base where downturns in one area of the meetings industry can be compensated for with opportunities in other areas.”
The report is optimistic about the outlook, although emerging economies tend to come off better than more developed European or North American ones. Recovery is likely to be slow and bumpy. Extravagance is still to be avoided. City hotels and conference centres will have the edge over resorts for meetings.
It confirms what the industry already saw for itself: corporate meetings and events, including incentive travel, have been hardest hit. Interesting to note the growing SMERF market (social, military, educational, religious and fraternal market).
Many corporate buyers have sought a technological solution to help them cut costs which has seen greater use of alternative meeting methods, including webinars, videoconferencing and web-based learning tools, as a way to control meeting and travel costs.
Davidson reports that the economic downturn has not significantly reduced companies’ concern to consider the impacts that all of their operations, including meetings, have on the environment.
ABOVE: This is an industry which loves awards and can’t seem to get enough of them. EIBTM hands out many each year, but this year the canny boys from Ovation Global DMC launched their very own award. Ridiculously tagged the “Huggability Award”, Ovations cleverly designed a strikingly simply black booth decorated with pink bears, the award symbol. The winner was the popular and charming Rob Davidson from the UK, with a long list of runners-up. But the true winner was Ovation Global.
Young professionals forum
ICCA ran its annual Forum for Young Professionals pre-EIBTM for 20 lucky sponsored participants from around the world. They hailed from 13 different countries. Winners of the group exercise, announced at EIBTM, included Business Events Sydney’s Bethany Teulan. All five winning team members receive complimentary registrations to ICCA’s 2010 Congress in Hyderabad, India.
