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23 minute read
Interviews
from Feb 2022
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2022: Year Of Comeback
In Conversaon With Chloe Richardson, VP Senior Corporate Relaons at Explori
ES. Let's kick off this interview with some words about Explori. How does Explori distinguish itself from other companies?
Chloe Richardson. Explori is just exceptional at what it does and has a fantastic reputation. I was completely blown away by its customer experience-centric philosophy, which is what really made the thought of joining the team so exciting.
Everyone in our industry knows the buzz of events; how it makes you feel as you walk across the show floor; learning, sharing stories, networking and engaging with your peers and target audience. But actually, capturing and tangibly demonstrating the impact of those behaviours and perceptions has been an ongoing challenge. And once you do figure out how to track everything, how do you turn that into something actionable, insightful and impactful? Explori has cracked measuring event value through deliberately defined metrics. As a world-leading event research, analytics and measurement tool, we are able to marry human sentiment and data to create something really meaningful… which I think is what the industry is all about, and why I fell in love with Explori in the first place.
ES. How did you get here, and what are your most remarkable professional achievements?
Chloe Richardson. “How did I get here?” is a question I often ask myself! My first foray in the events world was at 19, as I was president of the largest university halls in Europe and given a huge budget to put on two weeks of events for the thousands of students I represented. After a manic fortnight
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of no sleep, operational fire-fighting and last-minute venue problems, I caught the bug and would never look back. Fast forward to graduation and I was onsite at the Toy Fair at Olympia, interpreting for French-speaking exhibitors. Then followed years of event management, commercial development, strategy creation for exhibition organisers, founding businesses and presenting thought-leading content both virtually and in-person. It has certainly been quite the journey. It's hard to define the most remarkable professional achievement (most days I think we are all remarkable for making it through the last 24 months somehow!), but one of my proudest moments was probably back in 2017, when I ran my own small exhibition from start to finish, managing everything from the marketing to the onsite operations, just so that I could make sure I had experienced every single challenge that my partners and then-clients may have to face. I only gave myself around 7 weeks to pull it off, but it was a profitable success(!) and I had such great feedback from exhibitors, sponsors and attendees. Not sure I would do it again (another occasion of huge sleep deprivation!) but it taught me so much that I continue to use every day.
ES. Having more than a decade of experience in the events industry, how do you feel that your past experience will drive Explori's success in the corporate space?
Chloe Richardson. Great question! I hope to support Explori's phenomenal growth by bringing a unique relationship-building and content-driven commercial approach to the corporate arm of the business. I've been working with corporates throughout my entire event career, either as partners, exhibitors or clients, and have a deep understanding of their challenges - and also some of the possible opportunities - in this space.
ES. The future of events is something that is of paramount importance today. How has Explori been instrumental to the success of the industry, especially in light of COVID-19?
Chloe Richardson. I've seen Explori do so much to support the industry over the last couple of years, from education and sharing industry findings, to more in-depth work on specific events, portfolios and projects with organizers. Watching Explori deliver insights at so many industry events was a huge benefit to me personally, and many of my event peers. We've all no doubt witnessed the fantastic Sophie Holt, Explori MD, presenting thought-provoking stuff virtually or in-person over the last 24 months, and this gave such phenomenal value against the turbulent backdrop of everything else that was going on in the world. Explori also launched not-forprofit VSef, an agreed-upon data format for virtual event platforms and organizers, which is run for the benefit of the industry. Developed collaboratively, VSef helps data move more freely between platforms, BI tools, CRM tools and marketing systems. It sets out detailed standards for a range of event metrics and engagement KPIS, and how those data points should be formatted for easy transfer between systems. All in the name of eliminating siloed data that creates barriers to learning, progress and a better event experience!
If anyone wants to know more about that, check out www.vsef.io.
ES. Could you share some of the recent findings of Explori, which you believe is an important document reflecting industry trends since COVID-19?
Chloe Richardson. Some of the most interesting Explori findings over the last few months have been around pre/postpandemic event trends, and there are three that I think are worth highlighting today. First of all, our research team spent time in 2021 looking at the relationship between getting strong attendee feedback scores and the future growth of a show or event in terms of attendee numbers. Interestingly, but not a huge surprise to us, there is definitely a relationship
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on a macro level between Explori KPI event data, and the average YoY changes in event participation. Put simply, those events that were above Explori benchmarks in terms of success metrics, see, on average, higher attendance the following year; in comparison, those events that fall short of our benchmarks see attendee numbers that are typically flat, or even slightly lower, in the next edition
The second trend, and one we have recently communicated to the market, is what we have seen with the customer experience scores from events that have returned in-person since the pandemic. We are starting to see that scores are higher than they were pre-pandemic, as despite the number of attendees falling, the ratings for the quality of attendees have increased. In short, there is a general trend that whilst noting that attendances are lower, events are attracting a more focused, relevant group of visitors.
Finally, in 2022 we expect to see more feedback collection of all stages of a customer journey from event organizers. As the landscape changes, and stakeholder expectations develop, event leaders are wanting to understand the pain points in the journey, and where they are susceptible to losing attendees and exhibitors along the way. This trend is also reflective of brands increasingly rolling out aa 365 relationship with their customers – and as such, a single point-in-time feedback measure, at the end of an event, becoming insufficient.
ES. Corporate market-facing events offer organizations an unbeatable opportunity to retain their best customers. In your definition, what are the characteristics of a successful event?
Chloe Richardson. Personally, I would generally define successful events as customer-centric, purposeful, measured, impactful and value-giving... but, those are pretty vague success metrics.
It's really important to emphasise that successful events, by definition, depend on having pre-defined objectives. Whether it be ROI, ROE (return on engagement), a certain number of follow-ups booked or an NPS target, an event can never be successful if you haven't pre-defined what success looks like. For example, an organization might be running an internal training session for their marketing department, of which the target success metrics would look very different to those of a large, annual customer-facing flagship event.
Going back to the things I love about Explori, one is its ability to help event organizers contextualize their success against industry benchmarks based on common success metrics, which have evolved from how external stakeholders (customers, attendees, etc) define success. This is where customer-centric success really comes in; it's one thing to say, “we scheduled so many meetings, so this was a successful event”, but it's quite another to be able to say, “our attendees really value their interactions, and our event is in a robust position for withstanding an increasingly competitive
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market”. That is what corporate market-facing events should be all about.
ES. You were in the news for in the exhibition industry's 30Under30 list in 2020, as well as featuring on Glisser's Most Influential Women in the Events Industry and Most Influential People in Virtual Events lists in 2021, among many other accolades. In an effort to inspire young women who want to succeed in the industry, please let us know what message you would like to convey to them?
Chloe Richardson. This is actually something we talked about in depth last week during a roundtable on women in events at the PCMA Convening Leaders event in Las Vegas. There are so many things that we need to do as an industry to further support the empowerment of women, particularly those with ambitions to climb the organizational ladder and become the next CEO or Global Head of Events.
The message I would like to share with young women in our industry is simple: Have confidence. We shouldn't still be experiencing it, but you are going to come across others that might deem your passion and efficiency to be aggression or emotion. Try not to let it deter you. Ask for that raise. Discuss that promotion. Articulate that idea. Back yourself, because you're incredibly capable, and they'll get it eventually. ES. What according to you are learnings from this pandemic? How are you preparing to function in the new normal?
Chloe Richardson. There are probably too many learnings for us to cover in this interview today, so I'll pick one that's less obvious and more personal, to avoid repeating what most of us in the industry already know! I've learnt that being too proud, and having pride, are two completely different things. You should always have pride in your achievements and determination, but you should never be too proud to change direction. That change in direction is often where the most exciting journeys take you and being too proud can hold you back from really achieving your full potential.
ES. What message would you like to share with the industry?
Chloe Richardson. I am really excited about the future of our industry and 2022 is going to be the year that we can utilize all our pandemic learnings effectively; making sure we leverage the right tools, processes and resources to put the customer experience back at the heart of everything we do. If we remember all we've learnt about the ever-changing landscape of expectation, as we define objectives, measure engagement, understand our audience behaviours and perceptions, and do this in a sustainable way, I can't wait to see our business influence grow within our respective organizations, and society as a whole.
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n Conversation With Heiko M. StutzingerI COO, Royal Jaarbeurs | VNU Group
ES. You have assumed charge as the new COO, Jaarbeurs | VNU Group from 1st December 2021. How have you managed your onboarding process so far and what are your goals and vision for the company?
Heiko M. Stutzinger. Yes, I recently moved from being MD of VNU Asia Pacific to Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Royal Dutch Jaarbeurs | VNU Group, which also involved relocating from Thailand to Utrecht/the Netherlands. My onboarding started back in November - I was given a warm welcome by my predecessor and team and inducted into the organization very smoothly. Even though I’ve been with the company for three years, it’s a very different role, so I’ve been acquainting myself with the new organizational structure, processes, systems, operations and challenges afoot, and most importantly – meeting my new team as well as first key stakeholder meetings outside the company. For me, onboarding is about learning as much as I can, while at the same time immediately adding value to the teams.
In terms of goals and vision - my current focus is to oversee and drive the implementation of our ambitious post-pandemic growth strategy, which underpins the company’s commitment to sustainability, digital and technological innovation, employee wellbeing and overall business growth. Expect to see exciting things from the group in the months ahead.
ES. Tell us about your first introduction to the exhibition industry. Please share with us your past experiences and achievements that shaped your journey as a successful leader in this industry?
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Heiko M. Stutzinger. After roles in top management consultancies, I joined Messe Düsseldorf in 2008 as an Account Manager. A role combining sales and business development. It's here where I first realized that the trade show business was my true calling and - at the same time - where I could build a solid base for my future career. Milestones at Messe Düsseldorf were the establishment of a glass show in India, as well as launching an international event series in the energy storage business in Germany, China, USA, Japan and India. In 2015 I was asked to help restructure the operations of Messe Düsseldorf in China. As Deputy GM, I managed 70 people over three offices covering 16 domestic Chinese exhibitions as well as 30 shows in overseas markets.
After successfully restructuring the company through an amazing team effort, most of our shows broke records in year four of the intensive turnaround project. That's when I got the call from Jaarbeurs | VNU for the regional MD role in Bangkok, which started in February 2019. Shortly after that, I additionally took leadership of the VIV worldwide event portfolio as well as the VNU Exhibitions Europe operations as fully owned legal entity of Jaarbeurs B.V. - flying back and forth between Bangkok and Utrecht to manage both teams. As with anything in life, I think the key to success is being passionate about what you do and give it your absolute everything. I am very driven and committed, my goal is to add value in every interaction. My personal mission in one word is 'growth'. Helping projects and teams, companies and businesses to grow, and ultimately, to encourage every individual team member to be their best. I feel very privileged to work in an industry that I genuinely love and have such committed and passionate teams around me.
ES. What do you think makes a successful show? Could you please share with us the success story of your recently held shows?
Heiko M. Stutzinger. My ethos is “Less conversation, more action” and it's a philosophy I subscribe to. There is a time for thinking and analytics, and there is a time for action. A time for making things happen and be able to learn and adjust along the way - be flexible and agile. At the same time, trade shows are about creating superior experiences for exhibitors, visitors and stakeholders. So, we must show a commitment to service, showcase quality and infuse that spirit in those around us.
Last but not least, what are our shows about? They're about learning, networking and deal-making. We provide platforms to make this possible. And our platforms need to stay up to date and keep evolving and innovating. There's a reason why the Jaarbeurs | VNU Group has excelled in this industry for so long – it's because we continue to innovate and look for new solutions to the ever-changing market place. So, in summary, for me a successful show is a combination of learning, networking and deal-making and attracting the relevant community and content of the industries at our
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events. All of that delivered by a passionate and driven team who goes the extra mile and delivers high service and experience quality in a safe environment. And do that show by show, year by year and keep learning, adjusting, growing!
ES. Influence has long been the key to successful leadership. What artistic influences have stayed with you the longest?
Heiko M. Stutzinger. I've been extremely privileged to work with some of the great leaders of our industry, including Hans Werner Reinhard at Messe Düsseldorf and Albert Arp, our former Group CEO at Jaarbeurs | VNU. Both are crucial leaders who helped fast-track my learning, trusting me to do the job and providing great mentorship. Critical thinking is an essential skill any leader is well versed in, but to become a problem solver, you need to be given the opportunity to tackle challenges head on. If anything has stayed with me, it's the importance of empowering teams to stay agile, be brave and make their own decisions without too much red tape in the way.
ES. How was VNU Asia Pacific’s PCO-Team (Professional Conference Organizer) instrumental in delivering service by physical conferences as well as online/virtual formats and/or webinars?
Heiko M. Stutzinger. The whole team at VNU Asia Pacific is super talented and experienced and our PCO team is a real diamond in building conferences; physically, and more recently virtually. Although my focus now is on our global operation, from my time at VNU Asia Pacific, I know just how brilliantly responsive they are. When the industry came to a standstill in early 2020, I saw first-hand how the team pivoted to find new ways to bring people together again. Within weeks they were setting up online webinars and migrating in-person events to digital versions. And whilst most of this was initially a temporary measure, it turned out to be rather successful in creating a blueprint that we continue to use. It’s a true credit to the PCO team who has been doing this in challenging circumstances and with a small team, whilst still taking responsibility for all our other conference driven topics.
ES. How many other projects do you expect to launch in the coming years? Do you have any other expansion plans?
Heiko M. Stutzinger. We’re always looking at new and innovative ways to grow the business, always with our ear to the ground. Right now, as we are still in the wake of a global pandemic and the disruption it has caused (and continues to cause), our immediate focus is on the various topics we have launched in the last years and bring these to growth.
ES. Wrapping up the unprecedented 2020-2021, we are looking forward to the upcoming year with great hopes. What are your expectations for 2022?
Heiko M. Stutzinger. I greatly share this optimistic outlook! I believe 2022 is going to be a very promising year, - although not without its challenges. We’re now coming through the other end of this pandemic and learning to adjust to the new normal. With this comes fresh challenges – or as I like to see it – new opportunities. How can we move forward in a Covid-secure way? What can we do better as an industry? What have we learnt from the past months? How can we meet the changing needs of our employees and customers and create trust in our platforms? How can we deliver substantial value add for our exhibitors and visitors with our digital offerings? These are just some of the questions I constantly ask myself and my team. After many restrictions in place, and now with a large number of the public vaccinated, there’s a feeling that we must get back to some normality. I wish that Dutch policy makers will follow the example of other European countries and open up further. It’s great to see that Thailand has this month reintroduced the ‘Test & Go’ scheme. In part,
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exhibitions and trade events have already returned with a great sense of optimism, we need to get our teams and the entire organization to master the restart; not an easy task to accomplish having staff shortages and our high service standards in mind. However, we will crack this and continue to focus on our sustainability agenda and digital transformation roadmap, as online offerings and 365-dayscommunuty platforms continue to play their important part.
ES. South East Asia is one of the most important growth drivers of the global economy. According to you, what key trends are emerging in the MICE industry?
Heiko M. Stutzinger. Yes, absolutely agree, just looking at the data is fascinating: 655m people are living in SEA with 46% of them in urban areas and large cities, which means there are 140 million more consumers in SEA than in the EU. Also, other indicators such as lower median age, rising middle class, higher average regional GDP growth rates are key drivers that will fuel event platforms in SEA over the next years. I strongly believe, that the MICE industry can return to pre-covid strength over the next 2-3 years. Some of the key trends I think we will continue to see globally involve digital solutions as well as tackling sustainability issues.
ES. Are you re-evaluating any of your current projects based on the current situation? What are your current goals and how they align with your strategy and current business environment?
Heiko M. Stutzinger. It's best practice to constantly review projects – not just to make sure you're delivering, but to also see if there are better, more efficient ways of operating. As part of our Jaarbeurs 'nine-point' business strategy, we have a number of benchmarks and objectives to meet, and we're constantly looking at how we can function more productively and efficiently as a business.
As with before, our current goals are to continue leading the way in innovation with sustainability and safety at the fore. Since our latest business strategy was devised in response to the pandemic, all our objectives align with the current business environment. Also, the new Jaarbeurs venue strategy keeps being pushed forward as a long-term game changer for our operations in the Netherlands.
ES. Each of us strikes balance between our own enrichment and depletion which is critical to our physical, emotional, and spiritual health. On a personal note, we would like to know, how do you manage your professional and personal life? What keeps you busy when you are away from work?
Heiko M. Stutzinger. Agreed - wellbeing is very important. I find that in order to be successful at my job, I must strike a balance between my professional and personal life. Of course, that's not always easy when you're working with teams in different time zones, and especially now at the onboarding phase where there's a lot of urgent requests. But I try to set the example that it's important to take time-out too.
I find that daily meditation and sports really helps me to reset. In Bangkok you could find me biking or playing golf and tennis. However, since these are all outdoor sports, I haven't yet gotten into a good rhythm since arriving in the Netherlands! It's definitely on my to do list once onboarding is complete, and spring and sunshine break through the clouds.
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ES. Please give us an idea about your professional background and your role as Director of Association of Competitive Telecom Operators (ACTO).
Tapan K Patra. I am in telecom sector for last 29 years. Prior to ACTO, I had worked with Government, Indian Companies and Global MNC. As Director at ACTO, I am responsible to work with Government and regulatory bodies for resolving regulatory/licensing/policy related issues on NLD/ILD/ISP/UL-VNO licenses and to facilitate the deployment of new technologies like M2M/IoT and Cloud etc.
ES. How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the telecoms and infrastructure market?
Tapan K Patra. Since last two years, we are in COVID-19 pandemic. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, maintaining distance – in a way physical isolation is one of the key factors. Telecom along with the IT infrastructure inherently provides the virtual closeness to meet the various requirements keeping the physical isolation. Thus telecom & IT infrastructure has enormously helped to the business continuity, various requirements of people, Government, Industry, Education and Medical requirements etc. As a result, telecom industry has not only helped but also gained during the pandemic. More emphasis has been put to further enhance the telecom infrastructure across the globe.
ES. Has anything changed from a legal and regulatory perspective?
Tapan K Patra. COVID-19 pandemic has changed from regulatory perspective in India as well in many other countries. Policy/ regulatory requirements have been modified to facilitate Work From Home (WFM). Earlier, there were very stringent requirement from the Government for WFH like Bank guarantee, static IP and prior approval for location etc and those conditions have been done away with or relaxed. Worldwide, WFM is a new norm now. ES. In such a challenging voice world, do you think there is an increasing need to change the way you serve your customers, with more automation and self-serve tools to improve efficiency?
Tapan K Patra. Automation and use of tools in the work place not only increases the efficiency of the system but also provides robust evidence by keeping the record of every actions and thereby fixing the accountability.
ES. In such a challenging environment, what do you think has been and will continue to be the key to ACTO’s success?
Tapan K Patra. ACTO being a leading industry association has played important role through advocacy with the Government to facilitate WFH by getting relaxation and doing away with the stringent requirements existed prior to COVID-19 pandemic. Last few years, ACTO had successfully worked with DOT/TRAI to have simplified guidelines for Other Service Providers (OSP) those provide the BPO/KPO services in India. ACTO is working with DOT/TRAI for the ease of doing business and for the further reform in the telecom licensing framework.
ES. What about this industry intrigues you?
Tapan K Patra. Communication is a basic need of the human being and telecom industry provides the same. I am in the telecom industry from the beginning of my professional career and had also interest in it from my student phase of life. I have been in the part of the many developments of this industry like from electro mechanical switch to fully IP based digital system.
ES. What other issues does ACTO plan to address in the industry?
Tapan K Patra. ACTO is working with many issues but recently we are focussing on the ease of doing business and for the further reform in the telecom licensing framework.
ES. Finally, what is your vision for the industry?
Tapan K Patra. Telecom is an important industry. It facilitates many aspects of the people to make ease of living. In order to make it happen, major reform in the telecom licensing and removal of various regulatory restrictions are essential for the growth of this industry as well as for further investment in this sector. I would like to see this to happen in next few year time.