MESSAGE FROM THE DESK OF

As we have rolled into 2023, the big story for our industry is the reopening of China. Gong hei fat choy indeed, and may the year of the rabbit be the one where we see China leave the pandemic behind. Our industry is ready for it, and if we use the recovery rates in the other major exhibition markets around the world as an indicator, then we can expect healthy business there again in a few months.

We have covered the immediate reopening in an UFI connects session right before the holidays, and we are following the progress closely. If you want to be kept up to date, you can add your name to this form. Also, make sure you follow UFI on LinkedIn and other social channels for updates.

May this year also be the one where we stop defining our industry progress as “post pandemic recovery”. That was our 2022 narrative. This year, we are well advised to move on, and to build on the momentum that we see for our industry around the world. A few days ago, we released the 30th edition of our bi-annual Global Barometer, tracking the growth our industry expects around the world. Despite inflation, recession threats and other challenges some markets are already expecting to go beyond their 2019 peaks – what a sign of strength!

We will dive deep on the current issues, challenges, and opportunities in our regional UFI Conferences, taking place across the globe this spring. I am more than delighted that we will able to hold all these events again face to face. I am most looking forward to travelling – again – to Kuala Lumpur for the Asia-Pacific Conference. It will take place on 2 -3 March, and will be the first time since Tokyo in 2019 that we can bring everyone back together in this part of the world.

Speaking of Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia, I was there just last December as part of a trip across various markets in Asia-Pacific (see the reports in this edition of UFI Info) and our colleagues from MyCEB had organized an “UFI Expert Day”, bringing together the Malaysian Exhibition and Business Events industry for some global updates and local networking and discussions.

I witnessed an even more optimistic mood in Riyadh, attending and speaking at the Saudi MICE Forum in January. With the industry awaiting a national masterplan for industry development in the next years, it is poised to be an additional growth market is a growing Middle East region. The Global Barometer now features a country profile for Saudi Arabia as well (of course)

I am looking forward to seeing you in just a few weeks at one of our Regional Conferences in Malaysia, Costa Rica, Qatar, or the Netherlands!

Chris Schimek

Freeman, the global leader in events, announced that Chris Schimek has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for all event and exhibit operations across North America. In his role as Chief Operating Officer, Event & Exhibit Operations, Chris will provide leadership and strategic direction for regional warehouse operations and local event logistics at venues across North America, graphics production, fabrication and custom exhibits.

Nick Davison

Nick Davison will join Tarsus as managing director of the labels division. Davison joins Tarsus from Hyve Group where he headed the Breakbulk portfolio, a global series of events for the project logistics and oversize cargo industry. In that role, Davison managed five events on four continents, as well as a monthly publication. His other roles have included running the Spring/Autumn Fair, the UK’s largest trade exhibition. Davison will begin his role at Tarsus in February.

Marija Erzen

Marija Erzen has been elected as Chair ESSA – the trade body representing the best contractor and suppliers to the UK events industry. Marija will be taking over from outgoing chair Lou Kiwanuka and will be utilising her significant 30 years of experience working in the sector to benefit the membership. She is a firm believer in the importance of an association, opting to become a founding ESSA member and part of its board in 2019. As co-owner and director of design and build company Solutions2, Marija provides a significant voice for the 45% of design and build contractors and privately owned SME ESSA members.

Ben Veechai

jwc, headquartered in Cologne, has announced the appointment of Ben Veechai as managing director for Southeast Asia. Based in Bangkok, Thailand, Ben will grow and coordinate projectsranging from strategy consulting on performance measurement, venue planning, pricing, mergers and acquisitions, analytics, marketing, and training in the conference and exhibition space. Veechai, former vice president of marketing and corporate communications of Informa Markets Asia, is joining industry consultancy jwc GmbH as managing director.

Today the focus is on India & the right leadership will make all the difference

Today the focus is on India & the right leadership will make all the difference

“The role of a leader comes naturally. It cannot be taught or forcefully be drawn out. The first rule to motivate your team is to respect them for who they are and what they do - no matter what their job function is. Everyone is important in whatever they do. Once everyone knows they are being respected, their motivation to excel in their work will automatically follow.”

Ravinder Sethi CMD

R.E. Rogers India

ES. You have elaborate & diverse experience in exhibition industry. Please tell us about your professional journey so far, including the challenges you 've faced and the milestones you ' ve reached over the years.

Ravinder Sethi. My professional journey, or rather destiny, was very different from my desire.

My desire, after my Masters in Business Economics, was to be a Professor of Economics. Destiny, however, took me first into the logistics sector. And, ten years later, to become an entrepreneur and lead to where we are today. Desire differed with destiny but with no regrets whatsoever!

R E. Rogers India was incorporated in 1986 by my wife, Kiran, and I with a vision of handling exhibition cargo in India and abroad. This, in itself, was a great challenge as international exhibitions were so few and lack of good infrastructures a big obstacle.

We however, stuck to our vision and established ourselves as market leaders in this arena over the years - a position which we proudly still maintain. Over the years, we also diversified to other verticals i.e. defense, special import/export projects, free trade zone warehousing, sports, and entertainment events.

In recent years, we extensively expanded these other verticals. As a matter of fact, this expansion was most prominent during the covid times and became the backbone of our survival, revival, and growth. Our biggest milestone is being market leaders in all our verticals, both in the pre-pandemic and present period. This milestone is the result of having a rocklike infrastructure and an even stronger personnel expertise at all levels

ES. Can you briefly comment on expected headwinds / tailwinds for the Indian economy and how it’ll effect our exhibition industry?

Ravinder Sethi. Let me answer by comparing the global situation with our ground realities

The Ukraine war, tensions in Taiwan straits, stagnation, and growing inflation, are strong headwinds for the Western world today.

Interestingly, none of the above are having any significant effect on India. On the contrary, our strong economy, 6 8 percent expected growth, strengthening infrastructure, and a manufacturing shift from China, are all tailwinds for us. A possible headwind could be higher inflationary trends in the next few years.