EIBTM Show Daily 2012 - DAY 03

Page 1

DAYTHree

P E U I BT G N I

A taste of things to come

M

2 201

ROUN D

Thursday November 29th

Key trends among this year’s EIBTM exhibitors show that food is back on the menu The days of conference and event catering amounting to little more than a selection of dog-eared sandwiches, are well and truly in the past as today’s caterers are cooking up a storm for delegates. And they’re winning awards in the process; from Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre’s acclaimed vanilla yoghurt to Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre taking home the inaugural Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Malaysia Chapter’s Dato Lau Foo Sun Excellence in Dining Award.

continued on page 07 The heavy downpour on the first day hasn’t dampened meeting professionals’ desire to do business at EIBTM. Entering the show at 10:10h on Wednesday morning and seeing people still flooding in really drives this home, and proves that despite the tough economic backdrop people are still here to do business. “Without doubt, this has been a hugely successful show,” said Graeme Barnett, EIBTM Event Director. “We’ve delivered our biggest Hosted Buyer Programme ever with over 4,200 members, which is a real testament to the strength of EIBTM. But on top of that, the business climate means that our exhibitors are being more creative and aggressive in their own marketing around the show and this is helping to attract even more visitors.” An expanded reach This year, apart from celebrating its 25th anniversary, the show

launched a number of new initiatives that have been well received. “We’ve had great feedback on the EIBTM Forum, and this will grow to be an established part of the show for 2013 and beyond. On top of this, we have launched our first hybrid event, and the Future Events Experience has showcased some amazing new technologies, from augmented reality through to virtual projections. We feel this is something that sets us apart in the industry, and something we will be developing for future editions,” added Graeme. Commenting on this new hybrid side to EIBTM, Mandy Torrens, Head of Marketing and Buyer Programmes across the

Reed Meetings and Events Portfolio, said: “We’re really pleased with how the hybrid part of the show has gone. We’ve created a blend of keynote panel discussions and educational seminars that have had great feedback from our online (and physical) audience. We had over 200 people registered for the online part of the event and we’ve seen good levels of online interaction.” The results were just as impressive on the social media front. “We are particularly proud of the Twitter activity with over 26,800 accounts reached with #EIBTMhybrid and over 71,000 impressions. This is even more than the main EIBTM hashtag,” added Mandy.

The hybrid side of presentations were coordinated by the show’s virtual MC Ewan MacLeod who made the introductions to the online audience as well as feeding through questions to the live speakers. Virtual delegates also received access to extra content with Ewan conducting speaker interviews after their presentations. All the content was made available on-demand around 30 minutes after it was streamed. So this looks set to become a regular part of the show moving forward. But of course, it’s the virtual audience’s opinion that matters… “Technically, it has worked really well, and the virtual audience have said it looked great,” added Mandy.

A focus on the future “Our vision for this show is not one of standing still, and we have a duty to meet the rapidly changing needs of our customers,” continued Graeme. “Looking ahead to next year from another perspective, the show layout will be changed with a new floor plan being introduced and the entrance to the show will be reduced to one point. This will give the show a really new feel.” Hola Barcelona! The organisers of EIBTM, Reed Travel Exhibitions has also signed an agreement with Barcelona Turisme and Fira Gran Via, confirming that they will continue to host the show in the Catalan capital until 2106. On a closing note, if we can make one wish, let’s hope for a return to the type of weather we’re used to from this wonderful city that has been such a part of EIBTM for so long. See you all in 2013 and hasta pronto!


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
EIBTM Show Daily 2012 - DAY 03 by Grupo eventoplus - Issuu