View Tim Porter's profile
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Oi! Toady!
I'm not sure if the greeting in this email shot I received today from Event UK is over-clever copywriting, or just an especially bad typo...?
The graphic is a frog... but even so, "Register Toady.." isn't the most flattering way I've ever been adressed in a personalised email !
Given it is repeated in the mailshot, and as the re-scheduled "Event" is another UBM show, could this be the next iteration of a deliberate policy to create memorable advertising following their (arguably) clever deliberate mistake with the Confex '09 tube advert as well....?
It's all beyond me...
Labels: Event UK
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Futurology in a niche
This little story, about a company who organise record fairs around the UK, and who are expanding, struck me as quite an interesting example of how the event industry might evolve in the UK and other mature markets.
This is clearly someone who knows his sector, and has managed to make a business that capitalizes on a global economic trend (here the decline of retailers in his industry) and which serves a loyal audience who presumably can be reached through niche - and hence cheap to advertise in - media.
Shows like this are highly unlikely to ever interest a Reed, a UBM or a Clarion as an acquisition target, but will probably keep whoever is behind VIP-24 ticking over quite nicely.
The barriers to entry in the events sector have always been low, but now the plethora of small-scale venues out there that are more than capable of hosting small niche events seems to be on the rise, with venues in Solihull, Peterborough and Coventry all opening for business - even before you factor in hotels adding space and public sector buildings opening up to try and grab their share of the events market.
Consider also how social and online media is busy creating low-cost marketing channels for event organisers to access many "niche" communities - both consumer and B2B - and the decline of print means it is becoming cheaper to launch an event - no need for an expensive media splash now.
Then add in the end of "jobs for life" and a pensions-crisis (all of which are making working for "The Man" a lot less attractive) and that there is now a market awash with unemployed, experienced organisers and maybe the end result is that these types of niches will end up being better serviced in future than ever before?
Imagine - a future where multiple independent organisers are running small-scale sustainable events in sectors they are attached to - rather than trying to pick the idea for the "next saleable asset"?
Add all this together and perhaps the type of show which will NEVER grow to be on the radars of the big players starts to look like the future of the industry?
Quite a different view to the futurologist who spoke recently at Summer Eventia in Brighton .
But hey, what do I know....?
This is clearly someone who knows his sector, and has managed to make a business that capitalizes on a global economic trend (here the decline of retailers in his industry) and which serves a loyal audience who presumably can be reached through niche - and hence cheap to advertise in - media.
Shows like this are highly unlikely to ever interest a Reed, a UBM or a Clarion as an acquisition target, but will probably keep whoever is behind VIP-24 ticking over quite nicely.
The barriers to entry in the events sector have always been low, but now the plethora of small-scale venues out there that are more than capable of hosting small niche events seems to be on the rise, with venues in Solihull, Peterborough and Coventry all opening for business - even before you factor in hotels adding space and public sector buildings opening up to try and grab their share of the events market.
Consider also how social and online media is busy creating low-cost marketing channels for event organisers to access many "niche" communities - both consumer and B2B - and the decline of print means it is becoming cheaper to launch an event - no need for an expensive media splash now.
Then add in the end of "jobs for life" and a pensions-crisis (all of which are making working for "The Man" a lot less attractive) and that there is now a market awash with unemployed, experienced organisers and maybe the end result is that these types of niches will end up being better serviced in future than ever before?
Imagine - a future where multiple independent organisers are running small-scale sustainable events in sectors they are attached to - rather than trying to pick the idea for the "next saleable asset"?
Add all this together and perhaps the type of show which will NEVER grow to be on the radars of the big players starts to look like the future of the industry?
Quite a different view to the futurologist who spoke recently at Summer Eventia in Brighton .
But hey, what do I know....?
Labels: niche events
Monday, July 6, 2009
Informa Exhibitions
This story on the ever-improving Expo ABC caught my eye last week - Informa Group now promotes it's exhibitions "Informa Exhibitions".
This strikes me as interesting on a number of levels. Informa's busines units have always operated under an astonishing array of different brands and banners, with seemingly little brand consolidation being done with any of their acquisitions so any move to rationalise this is perhaps an acknowledgement that they now see benefits in creating a corporate identity to help through the current economic turbulence.
The story, and the statements from Informa CEO Peter Rigby also point out the financial importance of major events to Informa. But their exhibitions are hardly new additions to the business yet they have seen no reason to organise or brand them as a unit before? One possible conclusion is that their core business of "large numbers of small conferences" is suffering far more than the limited number of globally significant exhibitions they run?
The other interesting element is that the "announcement" appeared on Expo ABC, but not in Informa Group's own newsfeed on the front page of their website. So it was deemed important to tell the exhibition press, but not important enough to inform the City - or the world at large. The new logo has also (as of today) not yet made it onto the website of IIR Middle East's Cityscape or Arab Health - probably the two most important events in their portfolio - so perhaps this is more a boon to business card printers than signs of a structural realignment in the way Informa organises and manages its business units.
This strikes me as interesting on a number of levels. Informa's busines units have always operated under an astonishing array of different brands and banners, with seemingly little brand consolidation being done with any of their acquisitions so any move to rationalise this is perhaps an acknowledgement that they now see benefits in creating a corporate identity to help through the current economic turbulence.
The story, and the statements from Informa CEO Peter Rigby also point out the financial importance of major events to Informa. But their exhibitions are hardly new additions to the business yet they have seen no reason to organise or brand them as a unit before? One possible conclusion is that their core business of "large numbers of small conferences" is suffering far more than the limited number of globally significant exhibitions they run?
The other interesting element is that the "announcement" appeared on Expo ABC, but not in Informa Group's own newsfeed on the front page of their website. So it was deemed important to tell the exhibition press, but not important enough to inform the City - or the world at large. The new logo has also (as of today) not yet made it onto the website of IIR Middle East's Cityscape or Arab Health - probably the two most important events in their portfolio - so perhaps this is more a boon to business card printers than signs of a structural realignment in the way Informa organises and manages its business units.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]