UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, and live event research specialists, Explori, are inviting event organisers who have recently cancelled, postponed or gone virtual with their event, to participate in an international study. The study aims to understand the impact of these changes on visitors and exhibitors and identify best practice for future resilience.
“We are certainly in the midst of trying times, but a point will come where both individual shows, and the industry as a whole, will want to reflect. We will need to evaluate the actions taken, the wider impact and what we can learn for the future”, says Kai Hattendorf, UFI CEO.
“We will also need the right data to continue to advocate for our industry to receive the support it needs to bounce back. Now is the time to start collecting this data to contribute towards future resilience and to learn and grow.”
Explori are asking all show organisers who have recently postponed, cancelled or gone virtual with an event to participate confidentially in this research project. This will aim to identify a number of things, including:
● The resilience of face-to-face events
● The economic impact of business opportunities lost
● The unrecoverable costs to visitors and exhibitors
● The impact on brand equity of cancellation or postponement
● How effective are virtual events at meeting customer objectives?
● Any direction from our customers as to how any impact can be mitigated in future
Sophie Holt, Global Strategy Director, Explori, says: “There is no cost to participate in the research and organisers will receive a report of their own results, plus an industry-wide insight piece based on anonymised aggregated data. The insight will also be shared with all stakeholders who advocate on behalf of our industry. As with all Explori research, this project will be conducted with the highest regard for data privacy and results treated with the strictest confidence.”
