In this blog, Mash Media chairman Julian Agostini calls out the businesses that profit from the events industry without giving anything back, urging them to support the ecosystem they rely on before organisers take their events elsewhere.
Who do you rely on for your business to work? I’m not talking about staff or infrastructure; this question is solely to do with how the money flows.
The events industry creates a lot of income streams in all directions from the centre of the main activity, which is a great benefit but is this taken for granted?
One of life’s first lessons is you reap what you sow and who doesn’t subscribe to that?
However, if you look at the burgeoning events industry, you can see a lot of parasites that feed hungrily on the opportunities created but do nothing to support the ecosystem.
Here are a few examples of the culprits:
- Hotels
- Restaurants
- Taxis
- Stand Builders
- Onsite caterers
Recently, I attended an awards ceremony at a Park Lane hotel and after the meal ordered 2 bottles of rosé and 2 bottles of red wine for my table. They took an age to arrive and when they did the rosé was room temperature and the red wine had been grabbed from another table; cost was just under £400. Within 15 minutes we were asked to leave the room without our drinks.
Unfortunately, no-one reading this will be the least bit surprised.
A couple of years ago, a budget hotel near Excel wanted to charge over £400 for a room because they knew a big show was coming to town; the result was that the organiser wouldn’t put that burden on their exhibitors and the show went to Europe, where they mainly get it.
Often, there are blogs on LinkedIn from stand builders moaning that their design has been stolen, for example, the design has been taken and given to a cheaper builder, so they get no reward or recognition. It’s like someone coming and nicking from your buffet.
Yet, when questioned, the wronged design and builder has no relationship with the organiser of the event in which the stand is exhibiting nor any intention of supporting the show in any way…just nicking from the buffet provided, see the irony?
Just this week another design and builder were marketing its services for International Confex exhibitors, using the Confex logo, yet the company itself sees no value in ever exhibiting at Confex nor supporting the industry in any way, in fact.
If your business relies on the events industry or a good part of your income is generated through events coming to town, then why wouldn’t you want to secure that long term?
Event organisers are canny and might be reaching the tipping point so stop eating your own business and come to the table with an attitude that helps continued growth.
Parasites have no control over their food chain; they can only survive if their host prospers.
Would it not be sensible, therefore, to get on board, build relationships and be part of the event with the organiser?
Otherwise, ultimately, they will find a different solution, eliminating the parasites…it’s what they do.
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