Today
media par tner of EMIF Responsible Publisher : Marcel A.M. Vissers, Mechelseplein 23, 2000 Antwerp
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The new EMIF has arrived! Nobody can explain better what EMIF is about than someone who’s working for this trade fair the whole year round. Within easyFairs/Conevex Heidi Smitt is responsible for the Business Services fairs. EMIF belongs to this group, but also Management Assistant, Business Gifts, Visual Com, Retail Systems, Commercial interior & design. But she immediately added that 75% of her time is devoted to EMIF! Could you tell us something more about the new course EMIF is steering? Since I didn’t have any experience in the meeting industry before I joined the organisation in April 2008, it wasn’t hard to re-evaluate the project from scratch. You can still explore new terrain without prejudice. I thought it seemed appropriate to first of all listen to the needs and ambitions of the players in the meetings industry. So, the first weeks we were mainly asking around about the demands and wishes of the exhibitors and the visitors and we opened our minds to criticism. That’s the fastest training possible. In order not to lose touch with the market we also started two clubs which we regularly meet: EMIF EDP (EMIF Devoted Professionals) and EMIF Y3 (Young Dynamic Buyers). We’re implementing the useful advice of the members as much as possible. It’s safe to say that the new course that EMIF is steering now is strongly inspired by the input we received from the market. Next, it was up to us to transform this input into new clear objectives and the right actions, which I want to explain. We want to raise the number and the quality of visitors by raising the marketing budget meant to attract visitors, developing our database, and sharing our database with other organisations in the meetings industry. Furthermore, we aim to maximize the innovative character of the fair with a new
and contemporary location, new branding, new exhibitors, and by promoting innovations to our visitors and integrating them in the fair itself. Within this framework we’re also working on the events character of the fair. In my opinion, each and every person involved should experience a visit to the fair as something attractive, pleasant and useful, and not merely as a sales platform. Increasing the affinity with all parties involved is another objective. Therefore we have to maintain contact with and set up win-win partnerships with the major players in the meetings industry. This way of working also results in a wide offer of attractive content-filled programmes for associations and corporates during EMIF 2009, such as the associations programme in cooperation with the ESAE, round-table discussions with MIM and HQ magazine, and MCI, an educational by MPI, and a seminar by Rendevenement. The networking possibilities and ROI for the attendants need to be optimized as well. A VIP night and directly afterwards a VIP networking event in the exhibition hall will definitely contribute to this. Finally, we have to keep on stressing the European character of the fair. I think we should compare EMIF to an active spider that’s starting to spin its web in Brussels. Strategically this is definitely the right choice, since the local potential is definitely at hand here. Moreover, the density of the ‘web’ is very high in the Benelux. The cobweb gets thinner as we cross bor-
Heidi Smitt Unit Manager Business Services
ders but there are still important points of attachment all over Europe. This shows in the Hosted Buyer Programme which has a preponderance of Benelux visitors, but also buying potential from other European countries.
What’s your role within EMIF? To put it briefly: restoring confidence in EMIF and turning the fair into an unqualified success again. Of course I’m not doing this by myself. Since I’ve arrived at Conevex/easyFairs, the EMIF team has also welcomed new motivated staff members.
What will be the impact of the crisis on EMIF? The combination of a perceptible recession and a market confidence that needs to be regained will definitely lead to a somewhat lower number of exhibitors compared to last year. We can live with that, as long as we reach the intended number of visitors, because that’ll be an important sign to grow in the future. Next to that, we want to use the recession to our advantage by attracting visitors through strong content themes which can be a guide in these challenging times. Another good motivation not to miss out on EMIF!
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