IELA Holds THINK Forum 2.0 on Global Exhibitions Day, Full Replay Now Available

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Associations/Press, International
IELA Holds THINK Forum 2.0 on Global Exhibitions Day, Full Replay Now Available

6/9/2020
As COVID-19 has become an integral part of our daily lives, the implementation of safety and hygiene standards is a top priority for all parties working in the exhibition industry. With the re-opening of businesses in many countries, the emphasis is on restoring the supply chain and primarily looking at what is needed to enable a positive start back to business in the New Now. IELA invited a group of industry specialists to exchange their views and ideas and identify the areas where new standards and cooperation are necessary.

Last year’s Think Forum session at the IELA Venice Conference addressed the subject of becoming more customer centric rather that product centric. As a follow-up to this podium discussion, the second edition « IELA THINK Forum 2.0 » took place recently on June 3rd, the GED 2020 day which celebrates and promotes the importance of the exhibition industry. Full replay available at https://youtu.be/4koJIl58eWM.

Moderated by Florent Jarry, AMR International, leading representatives of the industry were online in this discussion including:

Ricard Zapatero Camps, International Business Director of Fira Barcelona, member of the Executive Board of Fira Barcelona & member of the EMECA Board.
Giacomo Lucchini, Consultant and former Fiera Milano & UFI Operations and Services Committee Chair
Markus Metzmacher, ifm electronic Gmbh with an international exhibitor's perspective
Guido Fornelli, Expotrans, IELA Board Member

All participants gave a valuable view of the situation from their standpoint. Exhibitions will be taking place this year. Markus Metzmacher pointed out that many exhibitors will maintain their participation in order to strengthen/promote their brand image. Some will continue as planned, others reduce stand size. Whatever they decide, event logistics has become more complicated and requires heightened collaboration between partners. As Markus stated « This is only going to be a joint effort that everybody has to make ». The value chain as a whole needs to prepare for both the New Now, with social distancing measures, sanitization etc., as well as the New Future on the long term.

The big question revolves around building confidence amongst visitors and making events successful for all parties. In order to speed up the process of opening shows, joint advocacy work is necessary with task forces (venues, organisers, key service providers and exhibitors) all over the world boosting cooperation, communication and common action. Richard Zapatero outlined how the associations UFI & EMECA are working closely with the government in order to send the message that trade fairs are possible and safe when protocols are applied. He commented « We have a lot of measures and this is what we are working on with the governments to tell them that we can be safe places», adding that the goal is that the governments « can give us the green light ».

Build-up and dismantling periods must be re-organised in order to allow distancing and maximum security. Communication should be heightened in order to promote a safe environment to visitors. Guido Fornelli pointed out that time will become an issue when dealing with extended hours per day as this can also create a security hazard but speaking as an exhibition logistics expert, flexibility and adaptability have always been the name of the game in this industry.

From an operations side, Giacomo Lucchini highlighted that digitalization will create new ways of working. Dedicated platforms are being created to integrate all phases of an event in order to have greater control over event happenings. On-site resources must be extended in order to guarantee safety and security. An interesting point discussed here was the possibility of including added services into the business portfolio, for example, exhibition logistics companies cater to the needs of partners – exhibitors, venues, organisers – at events by offering extra services and hereby creating added value. Markus Metzmacher reminded us of a conclusion drawn from the first IELA FORUM session in Venice: exhibiting companies often sought exhibition logistics experts who actively take on the role as general consultants by « Thinking out of the box ». This appears to be a potential future trend.

The speakers were all unanimous on this point and saw this as a positive step towards working closer together in the industry.

GED2020 IELA THINK Forum 2.0 is one of the sessions organised in IELA RELOAD, an exhibition logistics dedicated programme, driving IELA Members through 10 key concepts:

SCENARIOS – May 6th
NEW SOLUTIONS – May 13th
CONTINGENCY PLAN – May 20th
BETTER – May 27th
ADAPT – June 10th
ENVISION –June 17th
TAKE ACTION – July 8th
INVEST – July 15th
COMMUNICATE – July 22th
SUCCEED – July 30th

GED2020 IELA THINK Forum 2.0 was all about developing and improving measures and the programme will continue until the end of July. IELA will be looking ahead by identifying and discussing actions and investments to be taken, alongside how to heighten communication and success in order to advance with confidence and put difficult times behind us. A real highlight will be the Operations Summit scheduled at the end of June. The topic « Digitalization of our Working Place » has already been long awaited by participants and even more so now considering the general situation. Full Replay available: https://youtu.be/4koJIl58eWM

About Global Exhibitions Day 2020 (www.ufi.org/industry-resources/global-exhibitions-day/): For this fifth edition of Global Exhibitions Day 2020, the main focus was on « Exhibitions are key to rebuilding economies ». UFI has confirmed that the message was spread over a minimum of 114 countries/regions which participated. It was seen and heard worldwide with a potential reach of 715.000, 8.376 unique mentions and 21 online & hybrid vents.

About #togetherSTRONG Campaign (www.iela.org/fileadmin/media/Press_Kit/1._PR_GED2020.pdf):
IELA, the International Exhibition Logistics Association, launched the campaign TOGETHER STRONG campaign on March 5th 2020, honouring and giving support to every single individual in the exhibition and event industry during this period of uncertainty, which fosters business in thousands of vertical industries all over the world.

Together with associations, organisers, venues and service providers etc., we are building the contingency network to cater to the industry’s needs. For this reason, and due to the nature of home office participation which offers unrelenting flexibility to combat the loss of cancelled activities, IELA invites all event professionals to join the initiative TOGETHER STRONG and support the Global Exhibitions Day, TOGETHER and STRONG!

About IELA (www.iela.org):
The International Exhibition Logistics Association is the global industry network enhancing the professionalism of the transportation logistics and freight handling segments of the exhibition & event industry. IELA works with venue owners, organisers and national associations educating, training and sharing expertise for safe and secure operations around the world. The quality brand IELA is currently represented by 173 members and 31 affiliates in 56 countries.

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