subscribe to news The Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s committee discussed trends in the development of exhibition activities in the post-pandemic period at EFEA 2022

Today, an out-of-office meeting of the Committee on Exhibition, Fairs and Congress Activities of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry was held within the framework of the 11^th Eurasian Event Forum (EFEA) in St. Petersburg. It was devoted to the topic "Thinking of the future: how to see and predict trends". 

The meeting, which took place in person and online, was moderated by Sergey Selivanov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee and First Deputy Director General of EXPOCENTRE AO. According to him, the past year 2021 gave cause for optimism. Against the background of catastrophic 2020, the financial performance of the Russian convention and exhibition industry was growing. Even though it was limited, it was possible to hold events.

The moderator of the meeting stressed that it was now more important than ever to keep track of the changes taking place. He cited five key global trends and challenges that the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) had identified for the industry in 2022. These are the need for customer retention, data management and digital transformation, new approaches to human resource management, climate change and carbon reduction, as well as finding "game changers that will change the industry once and for all, as Uber once changed the taxi service. 

Sergey Selivanov told about new technologies used by EXPOCENTRE at its venue, which enable to organise better, more comfortable for exhibitors and visitors, and most importantly, safer events in compliance with all necessary anti-Covid measures. 

By converting one of its conference halls, the Blue Hall, into an online studio, EXPOCENTRE has been able to organise large hybrid events with up to 500 people in person (250 people subject to limitations), as well as video conferencing, video recording and broadcasting in 4K format. 

The implementation of a customer relationship management (CRM) system is continuing, with the aim of improving work efficiency and optimising the management of sales, marketing and service processes. The system being implemented consists of three interlinked solutions to automate these processes. A sales management solution has been developed and is currently in pilot operation, which enables the routine work of the sales department to be automated and fully controlled. 

Solutions for the management of services and marketing campaigns are in the development phase. At the end of 2021, a project was launched to develop the Exhibitor's Personal Cabinet service, the main objective of which is to make it possible to order all the services provided to the exhibitor. 

In order to automate processes and avoid large queues at the entrances to the venue in connection with possible requirements for mandatory QR code checking when attending events, a service is being introduced that allows visitors during online registration, and exhibitors in Personal Cabinet to download and check the anti-Covid QR code. Electronic tickets and attendee IDs obtained using such a service will allow visitors to pass through the entrance turnstiles without delay, subject to the requirements of the relevant restrictions. 

Among the new formats within EXPOCENTRE's own exhibitions, Sergey Selivanov highlighted the startup zones for young inventors, students and research park residents to participate in the exhibitions. This format makes it possible to invite potentially interested investors to the industry events. In 2021, startup zones were set up at the international exhibitions such as Khimia, Metalloobrabotka, Photonics, Reklama and others. 

The main purpose of implementing such an initiative is to help small and medium-sized technology businesses, as well as to expand the base of loyal exhibitors who, having realised the effectiveness of their participation, will continue this practice in the future. "By doing so, we continue to implement formats at our events that allow us to position exhibitions as the most effective environment for attracting investment in projects," said EXPOCENTRE's First Deputy Head. 

The meeting’s speakers included: Director of the Regional Development Department of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ilya Zubkov, President of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs, Director General of ExpoForum-International Sergey Voronkov, Director General of Expo-Volga Andrey Levitan, Director General of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Roscongress Foundation Alexey Valkov, Director General of VNIC R-n-S Daria Ostrovskaya, Executive Director of SRO Union of Exhibition Builders Andrey Ambartsumyan, Head of the Event Management Department of ANO Kazan Expo Alexey Konopko, President of the Russian Union of Textile Industry Enterprises Andrey Razbrodin, Head of the Department of Exhibition and Convention Activities of VDNH AO Tatiana Anisimova, Senior Manager of the Department of Congress Activities and New Business Development of WTC Igor Kolesnikov, CEO of the Innovative Entrepreneurship Development Fund Olga Sereda, founder and co-owner of Expomap.ru, exhibition and conference aggregator, Evgeniya Manukovskaya. 

The participants of the meeting considered a number of proposals for additional support measures for the industry in accordance with the instruction of the President of the Russian Federation. They also discussed technologies and new formats for congress and exhibition events, global trends in the industry's exhibition activities and experience in organising trade fairs in Russia, budget planning of exhibition stands in the post-Covid period and other issues, including organisational ones. 

Sergey Selivanov stressed that the key focus of the Committee's work in 2022 will be to monitor the current situation and respond to possible changes in the industry in a timely manner. 

"We also plan to continue our joint work with RUEF and the industry community on the elaboration of industry support measures, standardisation, development of the material and technical base in the regions, development strategy and other areas. And we are waiting for proposals for additional support measures for the exhibition and congress activities in the Russian Federation, which will be analysed, summarised and put into a joint appeal to the Russian Government," said Sergey Selivanov. 

View a streaming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOaQXYce3G0 

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO