Interview
August 2020
Exhibi on Showcase Talks To Karla Juegel, Founder & CEO of Messe | Marke ng, Germany “The most important milestone is: my 40 years of experience in an industry that I loved at first sight. Since many years I am a Consultant, Coach & Trainer for the Exhibi on Industry worldwide combining strategical marke ng with opera ve exhibi on know-how as founder & CEO of Messe | Marke ng. But my career started in the late 70th as marke ng concep oneer when I laid the basis to recognise trade-fair par cipa ons as marke ng instrument within corporate communica ons. This was a milestone, which brought me to MercedesBenz, being the first woman responsible for the Automobil-Shows around the world. And shortly a er I became head of the interna onal fair & exhibi on department of the newly found Avia on & Space Company ‘Deutsche Aerospace’, today’s Airbus. As my heart is s ll bea ng for the exhibitors in our industry, I designed a variety of seminars & trainings to make trade fair par cipa ons more successful and to turn Contacts into Cont(r)acts. I believe that the Exhibitor’s success is driving the success of the complete Exhibi on Industry. And the support of them - the heart beat.” ES. What can be the recovery guide for exhibi ons? Karla. I believe in Trade Fairs as motor for the economy, especially in crisis mes. Personal encounters and live-experiences will always be the basis for business in regard to build-up trust and reliability. ES. What do you see the roadmap ahead for exhibi on industry? Karla. In the future trade fairs should take over an addi onal task in the way that they mutate from a market-place to a marketinsider by offering tailor-made matchmaking for their customers ‘exhibitors’ & ‘visitors’ and even more by delivering up-to-date industry informa on 365 days around the year.
in compe on which might on one hand strengthen the market but on the other hand also weaken it. ES. How badly has your region been affected? What has been the impact of this pandemic on your domes c industry? Karla. The affect of the exhibi on industry in Germany can only be judged completely at the end of the pandemic which is closely connected to the launch of a vaccine. At the moment Germany is in a fairly good posi on in regard to the number of infec ons. But the situa on within the exhibi on & event industry is s ll dras cally endangered. The only light in the tunnel is the decision of the German Government not to rate ‘Trade Fairs’ as large events like concerts, sport-events, etc. and to allow reopening of trade fairs a er the summer vaca ons.
ES. What is your take on Virtual exhibi ons? Karla. Live is live. Face-to face communica on and digitalisa on: this is a total discrepancy. It does not fit. Live-communica on is based on personal encounters and that makes trade fairs around the world so unique. Although digitalisa on shows us at the moment, that a lot is possible. And it is possible very well. But we also learned, that best virtual solu ons are as expensive as Fairs & Exhibi ons - but s ll cannot gain the uniqueness of live-events.
ES. What will be the future of business tourism? Karla. There will be a paradigm change in the mind of business travellers mostly based on sustainability and its importance to the word. But nevertheless as personal encounters are part of the human nature, mobility will be as well.
ES. Please share with us your personal assessment of the situa on Karla. In the long run I see a lot of consolida ons and less variety
ES. Your message to the industry? Karla. To learn also means to unlearn!
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