“Driving Business Forward” was the key objective for the 140 participants at this year’s UFI Open Seminar in Europe hosted in Budapest by Hungexpo from June 21-23, 2010.
Gathering from 30 countries, these exhibition organizers, venue operators and partners of the industry, debated a number of hot topics which will ensure that this face-to-face media retains its acknowledged position as a key marketing tool.
In addition to organizing this international event, open to all professionals in the exhibition industry, UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, used this occasion to also hold a number of internal meetings in Budapest.
Among these, the UFI Executive Committee and Board meetings, the Associations’ Committee gathering national and international exhibition industry associations, the UFI European Chapter, Marketing and Education Committee meetings, reviewed issues related to services and exhibition industry related issues management.
Steve Monnington, moderator of this year’s UFI annual event, polled participants and found that 37% acknowledged they’d used the period during the recent economic crisis as an opportunity to review and revise internal systems.
Surprisingly, 38% revealed that they took advantage of this period to launch new events and make new acquisitions - and the majority of the remaining participants wished they’d done the same.
There was a general acknowledgement that our efforts to support the objectives of our visitors and exhibitors should be a priority with particular emphasis on assisting them to analyze the ROI of their exhibition participation.
As a particularly appreciated addition to this session, UFI listened carefully as an outspoken international exhibitor (Claudia Kreowski of Grohe AG) provided her perspective on changes which would be welcomed by the exhibitor community.
Pricing transparency was at the top of the list and as a topic, led to heated discussion. Seminar topics challenged venues, organizers and suppliers to develop viable cooperative solutions, review pricing strategies and adopt new communications vehicles to support their exhibitor and visitor clients.
Animated discussion was dominant at this year’s UFI event, and participants openly shared their perspectives, questions and solutions on a number of issues. Vincent Gérard, UFI Managing Director, said:
“I’ve been attending UFI events for almost ten years, but this year’s Open Seminar in Europe was the one I’ll always remember for the frank and open exchange of ideas which drew us into valuable discussions of issues which our industry will be addressing actively in the years ahead.”
Leaders of the international exhibition community will be meeting next in Singapore at the 77th UFI Congress hosted by SACEOS in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands from November 10-13, 2010.
