ES. What are your plans for the year 2023?
Paul Woodward. Along with much of the rest of our industry and now that travel is finally back pretty much to normal everywhere, I am looking very positively at 2023 as a strong bounce back year. The world is certainly not without some major challenges but overall I still sense real optimism from many businesses. I shall be focusing my attention once more on Asia, much of which was particularly badly hit in the previous 18 months by covid restrictions.
IT’S EARLY DAYS & PROBABLY PREMATURE TO FORECAST EXACTLY HOW TECHNOLOGIES LIKE CHAT GPT WILL IMPACT THE EVENTS BUSINESS
ES. Could you tell us about the current state of trade shows in UK region?
Paul Woodward. Although based in London, my focus is global and I’m not particularly an expert in the UK domestic exhibitions industry. Many of the largest global organisers are UK based although a number of them have very little business there. But, for those who do, I understand that many events have come back quickly to activity close or equal to pre-covid levels. The UK economy is struggling more than most with low growth, high inflation, and the lingering negative effects of Brexit. So, some industrial trade shows have been slower to recover than those addressing service industries. But, the UK industry is dynamic and entrepreneurial and I am confident we’ll see interesting new businesses emerging there.
ES. What do you see as the greatest challenge facing the exhibition industry today? What steps should the industry take to face this challenge?
Paul Woodward. The biggest challenges seem to me to come from the uncertainties created by unfamiliar economic pressures, a European war and a re-ordering of the way in which some companies are working in the aftermath of the covid pandemic. This uncertainty has to my mind, led to some caution, particularly from larger companies who have trimmed spending and development while they wait to see exactly what impact these challenges have on their revenues and bottom lines in 2023. So, just when we needed no holds barred growth, we’re seeing more restraint than is really ideal.
ES. What trends do you see shaping up in the Exhibition industry?
Paul Woodward. I think the key trends shaping the industry are the combination of immediate economic pressures with longer-term concerns such as how exhibitions can adapt to meet the demands of the zero carbon targets now being adopted by many governments and businesses. Also, while the US continues clearly to be the world’s most important market, we continue to see a re-ordering of geographical priorities.
As new venues come on stream, India must become more important to more businesses and, despite some challenges, a reopened China will be a very high priority market again this year. There is also a lot of focus on the rest of south-east Asia and I have seen nothing in the past couple of years to suggest to me that anything has really changed regarding Asia being the most interesting part of the world for new business development.
ES. How optimistic are you about the industry’s ability to attract new people to a career in exhibitions?
Paul Woodward. In most places in the world (Germany is a notable exception), this remains a key challenge as the global race for talent accelerates. Unemployment rates in most developed markets remain historically low even after the pandemic and senior managers all speak of how much of their time is spent trying to attract and retain good people. Exhibitions as a business has a very low profile for those not connected with the industry. It still doesn’t really feature as an exciting career choice in the minds of most university students. Some industry associations have taken a lead in trying to help redress the balance a bit and initiatives such as UFI’s Next Generation Leadership programme seem like imaginative steps in the right direction.
As we all know, most people leading exhibitions businesses today stumbled into the industry somewhat by accident, found that they loved it, stayed and thrived. Making the process less random has to be a high priority for everyone.
ES. What is your expectation from UFI Asia-Pacific Conference 2023? What will be the highlights of this edition?
Paul Woodward. After a long break due to the pandemic I believe that there is really a strong desire for people to meet in person, re-establish their networks and get back to business. So, my number one expectation is to spend time with friends and colleagues I haven’t been able to see other than in the very inadequate environment of a Zoom call for three years or more. I’m look forward to hearing more about what is happening in Asia right now and, of course, to being back in Kuala Lumpur which is such a nice city to visit.
ES. What are your comments on sustainability in our industry and steps needed to move towards it?
Paul Woodward. I’m not an expert in this area but I do recognise that it has moved from the periphery to the centre of discussion in many companies and organisations in our industry. Hundreds of businesses have committed to challenging net zero targets and this impacts all aspects of the way we work. We need to find better ways to measure and communicate how the efficiency of travel to events can offset huge numbers of individual meetings and trips. We need to find ways to help exhibitors and their contractors understand how to minimise waste and maximise opportunities to re-use materials. There are obvious economic benefits to that.
ES. The talk about virtual seems to have faded now. What are your comments on role of virtual shows in coming times?
Paul Woodward. The talk of virtual has faded as you say because the concept has been given its most serious ever road test over the past three years and it failed to get off the starting line. Some types of meetings work very well as purely online events. Trade fairs and exhibitions simply do not.
That is not to minimise in any way the substantial progress made in recent years, and accelerated by the pandemic, of integrating digital tools and data services into the range of services exhibition organisers can offer to their clients. Some remain sceptical about this, largely because doing this stuff effectively and profitably is hard. But, those who are doing it well are now reaping significant benefits.
ES. What are your comments on platforms like chat GPT and AI?
Paul Woodward. It’s early days and probably premature to forecast exactly how these powerful technologies will impact the events business. They will presumably be integrated into tools which allow organisers and their clients much more effectively to manage the substantial streams of data that they can now generate. Will Chat GPT bots replace real world exhibitors and visitors? Almost certainly not. Will they help our clients to maximise the efficiency of the marketing budgets they spend with us? Let’s hope so!
