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Exhibition Showcase Talks To Yogesh Exhibition Showcase Talks To Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets In IndiaMudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets In India

“We rst introduced a line of virtual trade shows by June. But 'Super September – Virtual B2B Celebration', was a concerted effort to give the industry something to celebrate with the onset of the festive season and our most busy time of the year. It was rst launched as a powerful array of 6 virtual trade shows in the month of September 2020. These were supplemented by a host of conferences, trainings, webinars and awards in the same month, to drive our leadership vision to serve the industry and rebuild the economy.”

The elegant lounge area of one of the virtually organized REI E-Expo under the aegis of the Super September Virtual B2B Celebraon

ES. As a leading stakeholder in Indian exhibions, please share your message to the industry. Yogesh. I would like to offer my hearest congratulaons to the Indian exhibion industry for the hearelt, concerted and unring advocacy to allow it to restart. The Government has recognised B2B marketplaces for providing “major smulus for industrial and commercial development”. This is the first me that the Government has also menoned trade exhibions as an independent and relevant catalyst for the economy. Having got the nod, it is now me for us to take all the necessary steps to securely restart the industry and repose the trust of our Government and our stakeholders.

ES. How has the pandemic affected Informa Markets in India? How have you all managed to cope up with the situaon and come back to the new normal? Yogesh. The pandemic situaon played havoc with public health, necessitang a lockdown that had a huge impact on the economy. While India's GDP is predicted to contract 9.5 % for FY 2020-21, a strong rebound in the form of a growth of about 8 per cent is projected for 2021-22. This interim phase is crical to learn, adapt, seek soluons and rebuild towards that vision. It is also an opportunity to showcase India's ability to affect an exceponal turnaround.

Over the course of the pandemic, the exhibions sector per se took a resounding blow from this fallout. But we relentlessly persevered by means of our alternate/addional methods of engaging and staying connected with our customers through our wide-ranging array of over 85 digital events. We were quick to comprehend that our stakeholders' business needs had started evolving. Correspondingly, we too are ready to serve them with unique, new and meaningful experiences in our trade exhibions lined up for December, 2020. Looking ahead, we seek to provide turnkey hybrid engagements, combining the best of physical and virtual plaorms. These will enable us to offer efficient, impressive and state-of-the-art soluons for their evolving requirements and restart vision.

ES. What was the idea behind organising ‘On Super September Virtual B2B Celebraon’ and why was it extended? Yogesh. We first introduced a line of virtual trade shows by June. But 'Super September – Virtual B2B Celebraon', was a concerted effort to give the industry something to celebrate with the onset of the fesve season and our most busy me of the year. It was first launched as a powerful array of 6 virtual trade shows in the month of September 2020. These were supplemented by a host of conferences, trainings, webinars and awards in the same month, to drive our leadership vision to serve the industry and rebuild the economy. Humbled by the impressive response we received for 'Super September', we extended the celebraon to forfy 6 more specialist markets. The celebraon enabled various industries to connue with their crical business conversaons, informaon sharing and training. The Virtual B2B Celebraons supported the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' s COVID-19 smulus iniave to build a self-reliant India through the priorisaon of MSMEs, sustainability, power distribuon, hospitality, health, and rural employment, among others. As it turned out, the virtual celebraons ended the day (October 15) the Government permied trade exhibions to start.

ES. Please comment on Virtual Shows and their future. Can you highlight various intriguing aspects of the Virtual Shows, their

pros and cons, learnings you have had from these shows? How is your audience engaged and gets interacted at your virtual shows? What is the feedback from the parcipants and whether they will be around in future? Yogesh. Virtual events can analyse a lot about aendees, including data on which sessions were aended the most and for how long, and which booths had maximum interacon, among others. This kind of insight is invaluable for developing targeted content and enhancing the value proposion of virtual events. Their ability to track leads, quantavely measure event performance and gauge event ROI is also useful. In the foreseeable future, virtual events are likely to be well-leveraged and unlike what was earlier believed, today everyone is comfortable with a virtual interface, not just millennials!

Ulmately, though, the efficiency of these plaorms will really depend on how well we are able to understand and pin-point on our customers' short term and long term requirements, pain points, and provide relevant soluons for their issues. In that context, we have received very posive feedback from our stakeholders. Yet, one's bet is ulmately on a hybrid engagement, with physical expos supplemented by digital engagements. This observaon is also basis feedback from our stakeholders, especially newly launched start-ups or SMEs, who might feel unnoced in a virtual plaorm but use other means of brand advocacy in a 'brick and mortar' trade events. Besides, at the end of the day, all of us prefer face-to-face meengs, want to shake hands (beer sll, a namaste) and exchange thoughts. It provides an environment of friendliness which, in turn, boosts the success of our relaonships, whether they are personal or professional.

ES. The Govt has allowed B2B expos to funcon again. This is a victory for the industry which had advocated for it -- can you share some of the most significant/memorable moments of working in unison for the objecve, which according to you, made it successful? Yogesh. While the pandemic situaon has resulted in unprecedented challenges and pressures, it has also served up some opportunies for the community to accomplish tasks for greater good. The advocacy by the exhibion industry to the Government for allowing physical expos to restart, is a shining example. Every stakeholder -- exhibion organisers, venue owners or service providers -- irrespecve of the fact that they may otherwise be competors, came together, supporng one another, thereby also finding reassurance in this solidarity at a difficult me. The IEIA, as a torch bearer, guided all stakeholders, enabling them to play a vital role in this mission. Informa Markets in India was happy to be a part of the advocacy through its visionary markeng campaign to support this cause. ES. What are your predicons for 2021 and beyond, and how is Informa Markets in India preparing to adapt to it? Yogesh. While it is neither wise nor feasible to indulge in crystal gazing for the upcoming year given the dynamic nature of the

ViRTUAL B2B CELEBRATiON FACTSHEET

POWER-PACKED SHOWS

9 9

DECiSiON MAKERS & BUYERS

8000+ 8000+

23000+ 23000+

ONLiNE ATTENDEES

80+ 80+

COUNTRiES WORLDWiDE PARTiCiPATiON

Virtual B2B Celebraon -- a successful, concerted effort to give the industry something to celebrate with the onset of the fesve season and our most busy me of the year.

inflicon, indicaons are strong for 2021 to rally back in the 3rd and 4th quarters. It will be prudent to leverage the general tendency towards digital detox. Besides, Q3 and 4 of 2021 will have a busy me-table of leading trade exhibions to enable us to gain serious momentum. It will also be the apt moment to truly imbibe by the principle of 'self-reliance' in the domesc sector by focusing on the local, given the formidable domesc demand. Ever since the Government's green signal for B2B exhibions, we are channelising all our energies on the long-term revival of the industry. As of now, fuelled by the fact that more than 70-80 per cent of parcipaon at our shows have always been domesc, we intend powering the hybrid format. This will be done by nurturing the domesc ecosystem more in our physical shows, while striving for greater internaonal presence in the virtual format. To prepare for 2021, we are delighted to kickstart the proceedings with trade exhibions scheduled for the last month of this year with complete adherence to government extremely balanced SOP, further ring-fenced by Informa's AllSecure health and safety standards. As the world's leading events' organiser, Informa has developed a detailed set of enhanced measures to provide the highest levels of hygiene and safety at its events, providing everyone with the reassurance and confidence that they are parcipang in a safe and controlled environment. As pioneers of the industry, and with the first mover advantage, we will be able to further customise our offerings for the stakeholders in the new year. ES. You have been at Informa Markets in India and the world of trade expos for a decade now and at the helm of affairs for five! Can you tell us something about your snt here -- What aracts biggest learning moments? Yogesh. The best part about being in the world of exhibions is its dynamic nature, and the excitement that catering to mulple industries provides. Besides, it is fascinang to witness how we can make a difference to the economy in conjuncon with India Inc., government officials, associaon heads and professionals. Honestly, it is no exaggeraon to say that every day is a new day in the exhibion industry and that becomes our hook. 2020 has, no doubt, sprung a different kind of challenge altogether, but this is not to say that we didn't encounter issues in the previous years. As in life, you have to prepare in advance, nurture your Plan Bs and Cs in the strategy roadmap, implement them perfectly when the need arises, and feel the sasfacon of having learnt and overcome them as a team. In this context, it is imperave to menon that an organisaon is as good as the team. Informa Markets in India is blessed to have a wonderful blend of seasoned industry professionals with their experience as well as those who have joined us from the other industries with their fresh perspecve.

ES. A true leader is known in difficult mes and you have excelled in the hour of crisis. Please tell us how you led your team and kept them movated at this difficult juncon? Be it WFH or other aspects, how did Informa keep up the morale of its employees? Yogesh. Well, the Jury is sll not out on that! Hard work and teamwork are behind everything we do. We have a predominantly young team, and we wanted to combat the pandemic as a team with solidarity, resilience, efficiency and compassion. From the inial days of the Lockdown, we engaged with colleagues through online wellness sessions, scheduled you the most about the industry and what have been your

mes reserved for social interacons, Town Hall meengs with senior management, and blogs from my side to transparently discuss and analyse updates. We also had several in-team

Mr Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets in India converses with Mr Ravi Uday Bhaskar, Director General, Pharmexcil, as part of Inc. Accelerated, Success MantraH from the Trailblazers. This exclusive leadership series was a part of the Virtual B2B Celebraon and included strategic discussions on the sector, the economy, leadership, and trade exhibions in the broader context of the pandemic.

Informa Markets in India is ready with its line of physical shows filled with eminent speakers, knowledge sharing and unparalleled networking opportunies just like before, but with complete vigilance to the new safety and security norms.

workshops, markeng meets, and candid conversaons, among others. One of Informa's key mission is to connect market specialists to knowledge for a purpose, helping them learn more, know more and do more. We intrinsically understood that the lockdown was a good me to purpose this. Keeping the business, knowledge & networking needs of our valued customers as our priority, we built a comprehensive and virtual plaorm of over 85 events in record me. In this manner, we also stayed true to our responsibility of helping different sectors seamlessly spring back through our dynamic and innovave plaorms.

ES. What are some of the upcoming blockbuster physical shows Informa Markets in India is working towards? Yogesh. Taking the responsibility to kickstart trade exhibions, Informa Markets in India is organising six physical B2B events in December. These are: 8th Annual InnoPack F&B 2020 Confex: 4th December, New Delhi (Food & Beverages Packaging) Ÿ Fi India & Hi: 8-10th December, New Delhi (Food and health ingredients) Ÿ Propak India: 8-10th December, New Delhi (Processing &

Packaging) Ÿ Renewable Energy India Expo: 10-12th Dec, Greater Noida (Renewable & Green Energy) Ÿ Delhi Jewellery & Gem Fair: 12-14th Dec, N Delhi (Jewelleries & Gems) Ÿ Hyderabad Jewellery Pearl & Gem Fair: 18-20th Dec,

Hyderabad (Jewelleries & Gems)

The shows will help in recalibrang the industry with complete adherence to all health and safety standards as shared earlier and we are working real me to enhance the experience of our stakeholders.

ES. We would love to know about the top 3 learnings which you got in 2020. Yogesh. There have been many actually, but if I were to choose three, they would be: Ÿ It is crically important to keep engaging with your stakeholders and always align with their evolving business

Ÿ

Ÿ requirements with help of right engagement and soluons. Adapt, learn and grow with them. Some things are clearly beyond our control. Instead of panicking over these, look objecvely at what you can control immediately and over the long term. Be discerning, own your thoughts and strive to arrive at informed conclusions. Not everything that appears on different media channels including social media needs to be consumed.

ES. How can the exhibion industry bounce back and remain relevant in the mes to come? Yogesh. Physical exhibions, now enhanced by the digital corpus, will always remain relevant.

Professionals in different industries are passionately curious, love the touch and feel aspect of products, and view networking as more than just a clinical process. You cannot do without the faceto-face aspects in some key sectors, such as jewellery, food ingredients, leisure or where large machines are involved. With the pandemic, we have come closer to technology as a way of staying relevant in the physical expo ecosystem. It is up to us to leverage these to make the enre process of vising a trade show impressively comfortable for aendees.

These would include conducng businesses seamlessly, enabling brisk registraons, adhering to safety standards, erasing geographical boundaries to terms of internaonal thought leaders, and dignitaries, to name a few.

ES. Finally, do we need Government's focus on our industry and how can it be done? Yogesh. While a lot more needs to be done, it pleases us to see that over the years, there has been a visible transformaon in terms of the Government's increasing focus on our industry. Looking ahead, we need to connue working in harmony, and seek connuous dialogues with the Government, share regular updates on our achievements, challenges, suggesons and how we can make a difference in the combined vision for a prosperous India.