CloserStill and Nineteen Group chairman Phil Soar states the case for association reform
With Chris Skeith OBE moving on to UFI, now is surely the time for the UK trade and consumer show industry to create a single powerful body to represent all of our convergent interests.
I won’t say anything here which I have not said many times. As a prior chairman of the AEO for two and half years, as a member of the AEO committee for two decades, and as chairman of the Events group of the AEO for seven years, I have argued, perhaps too often, that, if the AEO did not exist, there would be no obvious reason to invent it.
One of my companies is a member of the PPA – the Professional (once Periodical) Publishers’ Association. The PPA has two very powerful reasons to exist. One is to keep lobbying the Government not to put VAT on printed material. The second is to represent the industry with major outlets such as WH Smith and the supermarket chains to keep discounts at a minimum for the whole industry. These are powerful reasons to join and support this association.
Representation, Community, Talent and Insight
By comparison, I am afraid that the AEO could never be said to be driven by a single comparable objective.
In the last month the AEO noted: “………..the AEO continues to remain relevant, provides value and meets its members’ needs……… the strong foundations already in place – Representation, Community, Talent and Insight and ………..what these four pillars really mean to the AEO members.………….” Compare these “pillars” with those of the PPA.
Do any of these address the real issues facing the industry, among which is a steady decline in the last 20 years in square metres and visitors of circa 1.5% a year – a decline which hits everyone – organisers, venues, suppliers in the same way?
Not building a more successful industry? Not influencing government? Not helping our members to succeed wherever they are? Not trying to persuade the Government to subsidise the big worldwide events which bypass us on the way to Amsterdam, Barcelona and Rome (note ICE)?
We hear time and again of the initiatives that are being taken to gain influence in government or even local government circles. I have been the participant of numerous discussions with ministers (usually junior) and civil servants about our industry in the last 30 years. And I cannot honestly say that we have ever achieved anything of significance.
I believe that, if we are to do this, we must do so as a unified industry and not via four different associations (Ed – this is why the Events Industry Alliance was formed in 2007 to ensure that the interests of UK exhibitions are effectively represented, understood and communicated to Government. The body’s manifesto can be read here).
Have we ever had any influence over the powers that be?
This is best illustrated by the fact that we are still regarded as part of the responsibility of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and not part of the Business Department. This is sheer idiocy and, better than any other fact, shows that cabinet ministers know nothing about us (or even that we exist) and that at the (more importantly) levels of the civil service they know even less. I would like to say that they are indifferent, but in reality they are simply ignorant.
We really must stop pretending that spending money on PR initiatives or arranging various meetings actually has any long-term effect on our industry.
I will offer some excuse for the civil service. I challenge you to google Event Associations (or something similar). You will instantly find no fewer than 23 different associations – and a little more effort will produce at least 40. If I were a civil servant charged with looking at the space, how would I differentiate among The National Association of Catering and Events, Meetings Professional International, International Live Events Association, Corporate Events Marketing Association, Association of Exhibitions and Events……………not to mention 20 others, and also be faced with the Exhibition Venues Association, the Events Industry Alliance, the Association of Event Organisers and then ESSA – and these four are all our own associations!
Faced with this alphabet soup of “pressure groups”, all striving to get some sort of hearing in the dusty corridors of what passes for power in UK, is it any surprise that no one gets any traction at all?
Incidentally, as a response to this soup the AEO should have changed its name years ago to what it is – the Association of Trade and Consumer Show Organisers (ATCSO).
Can the companies that dominate the world of trade shows find a way to influence governments?
That is the world we are facing, and we can choose to try to negotiate it and find a way to be influential, and generate a bigger business employing more people as befits a group of companies which largely dominate the world of trade shows. Or, we can ignore it and lapse back into sub-committees focusing on diversity, inclusivity, workforce dynamics, ethical employee value propositions and all the rest.
The only way we can generate real influence is as a body representing the whole industry.
At the simplest level, a body with the NEC and ExCeL on board can talk to a large number of MPs with interests in the wellbeing of the West Midlands and East London. That alone brings clout. Five members of the cabinet – including two of the most senior – are such MPs (though it is interesting that half the cabinet sit in Yorkshire and Lancashire seats – still, they will be concerned about Harrogate and Manchester Central).
Where are the spring chickens running our companies?
Look at what happens when a large US medical association or organiser wants to bring an event to Europe. Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Barcelona – these cities offer all the support they can, plus seven figure subsidies to smooth the way. And what do London or Birmingham do? Nothing.
If we want to be taken seriously as a UK business, and given that West London is the home of eight of the world’s 20 largest exhibition entities, then we have to behave differently. We need to have a single body which speaks for the industry and does so with the clout which that implies.
If you had paid attention at the recent AEO conference, you would have seen an interesting change from ten or fifteen years ago. Kerry Prince of RX was on a panel, but apart from Kerry there were no senior representatives from Informa (number 1) RX (2), Clarion (3), Hyve (7)……..What does that tell us?
Well, certainly it is no longer the place of residence of the old big beasts. Getting rid of the tired old white men on the AEO board may have seemed a good idea (note: I had resigned long before any of that happened), but, the last time I looked, our 12 largest companies were still being run by men who could never be described as spring chickens. Only one of those twelve now sits on the AEO Board.
I am not suggesting that we should not continue with the valuable work the AEO does with its sub-committees. Meetings for marketing and ops executives have always had traction. The most successful of all our initiatives in my time were the subgroups which negotiated with the venues on how to instigate legislation on health and safety and building regulations (most of which was entirely under the radar but enormously valuable).
The three senior representatives on the AEO Executive Committee come from some of our largest exhibition companies. Excluding the Messen, CloserStill, DMG and Easyfairs are the 6th, 9th and 10th biggest of the world’s exhibition groups. They have clout and influence. And, indeed, the new chairperson comes from DMG which does not even have a show in the UK.
I believe that this is the time to open up the debate on what would be good for our whole industry – and we must never forget that we are entirely interdependent. We are one ecosystem. We all depend on each other.
We are not suppliers or customers for whom there are alternatives (where does the NEC look for trade shows if not among the organiser community?) And if you don’t run your show in the NEC, ExCeL etc, then where will you run it? If you don’t lay carpet for our big UK shows, then where will you lay it? We are so obviously a single, inter-dependent family.
Now should be and could be the time to create a genuinely influential single body representing the whole industry. If not now………then when?
