The EN
Pavilion at
International
Confex
The EN Pavilion at International
Confex 2019, which ran from
26-27 February, played host to
a number of panel discussions.
Below is a rundown of the topics
covered by a collection of
exhibition industry leaders
this can also be a tactic to refresh
an old event in need of a makeover
– something he says Haymarket
has been working on with its
upcoming ‘Festival of Work’. He
also warned, however, that this
strategy shouldn’t be applied
to every industry in the same
manner.
“I worked for many years in
the mining, banking and finance
industries, and I can’t imagine
running a ‘Festival of Bonds’
or a ‘Festival of Infrastructure
Finance’. Some industries are
better suited to festivalisation
than others – you need to know
your audience,” he said.
The Acquisition Checklist
Words: Stuart Wood
Festivalisation
Confex kicked off at the EN
Pavilion with a panel discussion
about festivalisation. It featured
Orson Francesone, director of
events at Haymarket, Callum Gill,
head of insight and innovation
at drpg, Sophie Holt, global
strategy director at Explori and
Steve Scaffardi, event director at
CloserStill Media.
Gill began by suggesting the
trend towards business events
becoming more like festivals
is primarily one of marketing:
“The younger generations define
their identity less so by products
and more by experiences – what
festivals have you gone to, what
restaurants? These things then
get organised, timestamped, and
pushed out on social media.
“Calling something the ‘Festival
of X’ is a way of tapping into that
desire for experiences – it’s an
exercise in marketing.”
Francesone commented that
50 — April
The pavilion welcomed a panel
discussion about acquisitions
on the afternoon of day one. It
featured David White, managing
director at Clarion Events, Lee
Newton, CEO of Media 10, Michael
Westcott, head of M&A and
executive director at CloserStill
Media and Steve Monnington,
owner of Mayfield Media
strategies.
The group discussed past
and future trends for mergers &
acquisitions in the exhibitions
sector, and provided some insight
from their own companies
experience of acquiring.
Monnington, who works as a
broker between businesses for
Mayfield, said he expected 2019
would see far less big acquisitions
on the scale we saw in 2018.
However, he felt that the general
pattern of acquisitions would
rise, with more numerous small
companies selling and a large pool
of buyers continuing to acquire.
Westcott said that at
CloserStill, the company’s aim
was to turbocharge the growth of
companies they bring under their
wing, rather than overwriting their
culture and practice. “We want
Feature
to keep them close to the markets
they know,” he said.
Westcott also highlighted the
differences between B2B and B2C
when it comes to acquisitions –
B2C shows, he said, have a much
smaller pool of buyers and are also
much more unpredictable from
show to show. All four speakers
agreed that B2C shows need to be
aimed at enthusiasts and superfans
to be reliable – the people who will
turn up to events like, say, Comic-
Con, even in the pouring rain.
Finally, the speakers all
highlighted the importance of
leaving room to grow when selling
– companies “shouldn’t squeeze all
the life out of the business in their
sale proposition,” said Westcott.
Crisis management
On the morning of day two,
a panel discussion about crisis
management welcomed Ken
Kelling, associate director at
Davies Tanner, Mark Blair,
divisional director at InEvexco,
Kate Chambers, managing director
at Clarion Gaming and Carlo
Zoccali, head of venue sales at
Farnborough International.
Zoccali highlighted the
importance of planning and
preparation, saying that venues
and organisers need to be in
control of the narrative when
something goes wrong at an event.
He added: “We need to ensure we