As an Events organizing Executive of Reeds Exhibitors, I have been tasked to oversee the successful implementation of an exhibition event for emerging innovators and technologists that will be held in Manchester, United Kingdom (Aditya, 2019, p. 57). The exhibition is a chance for young and emerging innovators to showcase and market their innovations to potential employers and investors interested in risking their money on the innovations. We have invited applications from innovators and technologists of all industries, information technology, aviation, motoring, industrial, and others.
By bringing the next generation of innovators together with the people who can help them to advance their great ideas practically, the fair is a new concept which I floated to the company’s executives after my appointment (Belh, Bouras, and Foufou, 2017, p. 58). For a long time, the company has been concentrating its activities on hosting fairs and exhibitions for established brands in established industries. The company promoted gifted young talent by holding an event for them to showcase their skills and innovations.
Overview of the Event
Aims, vision, mission, values, and objectives
The event’s purpose is two-fold; to allow talented youngsters to present proto-type versions of their innovations, skills, technology to an audience which will mainly consist of managers, executives, investors, and other decision-makers from different sectors of the economy (Spencer and Parkes, 2016, p. 23). They also allow company executives, managers, investors, and other players to have a glimpse of the latest innovation ideas been showcased by young talent and to make pitches to either employ partners or buy out the talent for their company’s prosperity.
The exhibition vision is to give young and emerging innovators exposure to the market so that they can develop their talent into practical industrial solutions (Nurlaela et al., 2015, p.132). By bringing innovators closer to people who can actualize their dreams, the event aims to encourage upcoming talent to develop their skills and hence foster a more industrialized and technology-driven world.
Strategy for actualizing the event and target market
We started by advertising on the media about our interest in discovering and helping new innovators to get a breakthrough into the respective markets. They applied, and we invited them to our company’s showroom to showcase their innovations (Prasetya, 2019, p. 93). We selected 200 of the best and the most promising of the ideas and skills for the leading exhibition. We started propping them on their presentation and communication skills before the exhibition. We had already approached the various companies and investors and broached the idea to them, and we made arrangements with them on how to co-finance the exhibition with our company (Lin, Kerstetter, and Hickerson, 2015, p. 75). Since we had sold the idea to them, they saw its benefit to them and agreed to the co-financing option.
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of the event
The event’s advantage is that it was easy to sell to both the attendees and the exhibitors. They could both see the benefits of fresh innovation talent and enablers of that innovation to be produced in an industrial-scale meeting at a common marketplace (Jae Lee, Mo Seo,and Yeung, 2012, p. 93). Both sets of stakeholders realized how they could benefit from this arrangement and were quickly sold to the idea.
The only weakness I saw was those exhibitors who were not picked or didn’t get any deal from the event would get discouraged and stop making improvements to their innovations.
Opportunities in this event are many, as stated above. Emerging innovators would get to actualize their dreams to have their product mass-produced. Investors could also get a hand on the latest innovations, which could be mass-produced and make them millions in the process. The general public would get a chance to have the newest technology and products to be mass-produced and sold to them to help ease their day to day activities (Jin and Weber, 2016, p. 63).
The only threat to the event was the media, which was invited hijacking the main agenda of the event, which is showcasing innovations and turning it into a competition of who was the best innovator.
Event Requirements
Facilities – since the event will be held in our main exhibition grounds in Manchester, the issue of hiring the venue is already sorted out. We need 50 medium tents that can accommodate a large presentation table, several chairs, display space, and enough space to fit 20 attendees at one go. We also need one jumbo tent and a large platform where the attendees who are executives will be hosted. It will be complete with executive 50 executive chairs, a dais, and a PA system. It will also serve as the announcement area whenever an exhibitionist whose innovation is too big to fit in his/her designated tent is doing a demonstration of his innovation to the attendees (Jin and Weber, 2016, p. 100).
Other facilities will include an extensive food and refreshments tent to be pitched at a strategic area alongside the exhibition tents. We have hired a catering company to organize snacks, drinks, and biting for the guests. I’m working with the company’s interior designers on the theme, display, and branding of the exhibition, which should depict a warm and welcoming ambiance as well as a hue depicting the effort that the innovators have put up with their fantastic ideas. The open tents will be arranged in a design where the attendees can easily access each of the exhibitions and see the action going on the adjacent tents (Nurse Rainbolt, Benfield, and Loomis, 2016, p. 134). This is aimed at breaking the monotone nature of closed tents and creates an atmosphere of openness and excitement.
Personnel, Site preparation, and Waste management
In terms of personnel, I have secured the services of 40 personnel from my boss, who will be involved in backing up our exhibitionists with whatever they need to make their presentations a success. The staff includes groundwork personnel who are already pitching the tents and setting up the central area and the dais (Wu, Cheng, and Ai, 2016, p. 200). We have also contracted a local clean-up company to manage the cleanliness of the area and dispose of waste during the 4-day event. All parties in the event will use our washrooms, which are already built on the grounds.
Budgeting and Evaluation
The total budget for the whole event is 300,000 pounds, of which our partner companies have already pledged and contributed in excess by 50,000 pounds. We had to keep the budget low because the event is more about promoting innovations and less about profits. We also didn’t want to scare off our partnering companies with a big budget (Bruhn and Hadwich, 2015, p. 121). Our partners pledged to finance the whole budget, and in return, we will brand the exhibition tents and the whole area with banners and other advertising media of their brands.
We shall get our profits from charging an attendance fee of 500 pounds per group of attendees (who should not exceed five persons). Individual attendees will be paying 600 pounds per person. We have put this amount high so that we encourage only serious individuals who are ready to partner with our innovators to advance their innovations.
Marketing and Communication Plan for the event
We embarked on marketing the event on television and social media sites as soon as we secured a deal with our partners (Joo and Yeo , 2016, p. 84). First, we advertised on cable television channels and on various social media platforms for the innovators to come forward and get their innovations assessed and chosen for the man exhibition. We attracted 900 applications and have gradually been wilting down the number to the current 200. As for the attendees, we have our partners who are players in different sectors of economies and who are sponsoring the event. They will be given first priority in terms of signing any deals with the innovators. We have also received a large number of confirmations to attendance from other players from different sectors of the economy. We have put a tentative number of 3000 attendees but have put in place contingencies in case that number exceeds our expectations.
As part of the deal we had with our partners, they will also be using social media and other marketing platforms to popularize the event (Lin and Lin, 2017, p. 34). We have been liaising with them on any changes or alterations that are needed for the event, depending on the feedback they have been getting from their media platforms.
Conclusion
The Innovators exhibition and fair is an event aimed at showcasing the best talent and innovations from all over the world and bringing together innovators who are in need of partners to finance the development and production of their innovations on an industrial scale. Its main goal is to help develop and nurture talent and the spirit of innovating.
We have partnered with companies from the various sectors of the economy to provide the innovators with the platform and exposure they need and to advertise our partners by branding the whole fair with their chosen logos.
Together with our partners, we have embarked on a marketing and advertising campaign that has resulted in a massive positive response from potential exhibitors, attendees, and the general public (Bruhn and Hadwich, 2015, p. 289). We worked out a strategy that will allow 200 exhibitors to showcase their innovations in the event that is spread to 4 days. We have also made arrangements to have snacks, biting, and drinks provided during the event, as well as security and other amenities.
With all the logistics worked out and all contingencies put in place, and from the overwhelmingly positive response we have received, we are looking forward to holding a successful showcase that will benefit both the emerging talent, investors, and society. We intend to make it a tradition by holding the event every year.
References
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Spencer, P., & Parkes, C. (2016). This book is an essential read for anyone interested in sustainability, tourism and event management. It brings together a strong collection of contributors to offer a comprehensive guide to green events and green tourism with case studies from around th.
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