CASE STUDY

Sign Africa and Africa Print Gauteng 2021 live at Emperors Palace.

The shutdown of the events industry, since 15 March 2020, has been devastating. It is painfully enforced on the fifteenth of each month as the National Disaster Management Act is now, quietly extended each month.

As an industry we should be pushing hard for fifty per cent venue capacity, like restaurants, shopping centres, large and small retailers, casinos, etc. In the meantime, we need to work within the Covid limitations, at the time of our event this was 250 people at indoor events and 500 people at outdoor events. Business to business (B2B) events, in particular, are traditionally low risk events. They remain low risk during Covid times. The entry protocols that expo organisers had in place for their events pre-Covid is already efficient when it comes to track and tracing. Enforcing masks, screening, social distancing and sanitiser is straight forward,” said Dyelan Copeland, Sign Africa expo organiser.

Practical Publishing, the organisers of Sign Africa and Africa Print took the decision to do a smaller Covid-compliant, B2B event at Emperors Palace from 21-23 April 2021. The event had the necessary permissions from the SAPS and local authorities, and it was Covid compliant to keep visitors and exhibitors safe. Videos of the exhibitors were shared during the event on social media.

It was good to meet face-to-face and see actual product demonstrations. The cycle to turn leads into orders is different for each company, so although a value cannot be put on the economic impact of this expo yet, it would only be positive based on the feedback from the exhibitors who had the following to say:

“On the whole it was a very successful three days,” said Bradley Bate, Alliance Machinery. “We probably had more than 150 qualified leads at the show and the potential of selling five to ten machines that we are negotiating at the moment, so it was incredibly positive.”

‘It was quite a successful show – we achieved what we wanted to,” said Gareth Fletcher, Kyocera. “The biggest thing was getting the exposure that we were after, which is really critical. We had some important clients that came through and we generated some nice leads. We introduced our new flagship product to the public for the first time and we are really looking forward to the expo in September.”

“Initially we were a little concerned about attending the show, due to Covid,” said Grant Potgieter, Fujifilm. “It has been an incredibly good show and we’ve had an incredible amount of visitor interest. It’s been a great opportunity for us to showcase our full offering, whereas historically we showcase our wide format division. We had the opportunity and that has proved very fruitful for us. I’m quite excited about the leads that we’ve generated and the potential sales that will come from them.”

“The show was very good and successful – there were high quality customers,” said Kevin Mc Ewan, China Direct Sourcing. “There are a lot of new businesses coming up – people who have lost their jobs through Covid are making a plan and being entrepreneurial, so they are all buying and looking around.”

“We had a lot of quality leads, a lot of equipment enquiries and a lot of startups coming through,” said Liezle Barrie, Intamarket. “You see people that have been retrenched trying to start new businesses, so we saw a lot of that, and it was busier than we thought at times. It was a good show.”

“There were many new faces – not the regular customers you’re used to seeing. The first and last day of the event were exceptionally good,” said Pooven Pillay, Roland DG.

“We’ve seen a lot of potential clients and there was really good interest at the show – people wanting to expand their businesses by buying new products,” said Nardus Mouton, Gencotech.

“I’m very impressed with the size of the show and the amount of people. I did not expect it to be this busy and I also did not expect there to be as many serious buyers as there were, so all in all it is more impressive than what I was expecting,” said Darryl Braithwaite, Midcomp.

“We were pleasantly surprised regarding how many people actually visited the show and the interest in the specific machines,” said Bernard Truter, Graphix Supply World. “We were concerned, to a certain extent, about the influence Covid would have had, but so far – we will see with the sales – the interest has been fairly high.”

“We had a good show and we’re hoping to turn all the quotes into sales,” said Naveen Rajcomar, Chemosol.

When planning this event, the following was considered by the expo organisers: • Work with a health and safety company to get all the necessary approvals upfront. SAPS categorisation, signed off floor plans and a permit from the relevant local authorities was required to host this event. Practical Publishing worked with the efficient team from Lodge Events to submit all the required information.

• Consider a smaller venue due to the limitations.

• Communicate with the venue regarding the cancellation clause of the contract. You do not want to be in a position where you lose money due to the Covid regulations changing in a way that would negatively affect the viability of your event.

• Check what Covid screening the venue does. Do not duplicate efforts. Do not over complicate and over emphasise anything. Stick to what is required by law, because frankly, it will become too costly.

• Manage your exhibitor’s expectations around visitor numbers and the marketing that you may do for the event.

• Be flexible and keep your key stakeholders informed – the venue, exhibitors and suppliers. Covid regulations may change without warning, numbers could spike and cause concern, for example.

Practical Publishing would urge other organisers that may start doing smaller events again, to get the ball rolling. “We take our hats off to our fellow colleagues in the industry who have already taken the plunge and to those getting their events approved. It is certainly daunting knowing that everyone is watching. We need to support each other, and we need all the businesses in the event industry to get back on their feet. Thank you to our suppliers: Emperors Palace, Lodge Events, Expo Guys, King Cargo Projects, ShowWave Covid compliant registration software supplier, In Detail Advertising and Charismatics Staffing and Event Solutions, for helping us make a start again with our first event since Covid lockdown began,” said Charnia Yapp, Sign Africa expo organiser.

Amanda Janse van Rensburg

Amanda Janse van Rensburg, event coordinator at Emperors Palace said: “The recent Sign Africa event that took place at Emperors Palace took up half of our 2 600 square meter Centre Court, and even though it was a smaller exhibition, it was a positive sign to see events slowly making a comeback. This was the first time that this event was at Emperors Palace and we managed to impress, and gained some repeat business. We ensured all the relevant Covid-19 health and safety protocols were in place, meaning that the 500 daily visitors had peace-of-mind when attending. In this new normal we have evolved to be able to still provide a top-quality service and our team is well-trained to ensure that all the needs of our exhibitors are met. We are always on hand to partner with anyone who needs bespoke conference needs, because in today’s economy, we all need to be flexible and use innovative ways to stimulate business again.”