May 24, 2007: The doors close on another successful IFSEC, my sixth to be exact. Both the numbers of participating exhibitors and visitors increased, which in the current climate is a fantastic result for both the market and the event. The event team is now off to celebrate and take a well deserved day off to recover from the week’s – or should I say year’s – activities.
May 29, 2007: IFSEC 2008 has effectively started, and the whole team are beginning to layout the year ahead of us. There’s a lot to plan for and we also have a new event, IFSEC India, which will see us enter into new territory and partnerships with our Indian colleagues.
Two weeks after the event and the floorplan has now been consolidated and checked to make sure every company has the right stand and the sales team can begin to start the sales process for IFSEC 2008. The final visitors numbers are sent to ABC – the Audit Bureau of Circulation – to be independently audited. In eight weeks we’ll have a breakdown of who everyone was. The benefit of this is that we can communicate true visitor attendance and assess where we need to develop our marketing messages to attract new visitors and identify new buyers.
July – December, 2007: We conduct the show wash-up meeting and assess our plans for the year. To develop the show and keep it fresh and topical we have to find and approach new companies to exhibit, and create new features to attract visitors to the show. Long gone are the days of simply putting on an exhibition and hoping to attract visitors.
The loyal base of exhibitors make IFSEC what it is through their continued support. Over 75 per cent of companies return to the show. But visitor demands are higher, and we have to create a more compelling reason for them to leave their business and office for the day. So we have to find new areas of development, and new companies to exhibit, to differentiate IFSEC from the rest.
IFSEC has a new floorplan designed to enable visitors and exhibitors alike to find and be located in the area most specific for their needs, and coloured carpets to match floorplans for navigational purposes. Along with the traditional areas of CCTV and Intruder Alarms, new areas have been added: IP & Networks, Physical Security Content, RFID & Smartcards and Counter Terror. We lead the way and see other security exhibitions copy our format.
We decide to up our investment to bring in ‘inwards mission’ (overseas delegates and buyers) with the BSIA, as the UKT&I funding has completely vanished to support this activity. This is crazy and frustrating being that this industry is a driving force in world security technology and is often seen as the benchmark and ‘best of breed’.
New and exiting relationships are forged with London Chambers of Commerce, US Embassy, The Security Institute, international and domestic publications both trade and vertical, and national press. These are just some of the ways to help drive the IFSEC message. PR and marketing are working rigorously to build angles for ‘messaging’ and find stories to attract attention for the event.
The run up to the Christmas period is the team’s busiest time for stand sales for IFSEC, as well launching IFSEC India. October has come around so quickly; in three weeks’ time we’re off to Delhi to open what has been the most exciting development for many of the team. The show goes off with a huge bang and establishes itself as the security event for India.
January – May, 2008: The time and effort put into developing media and partner relationships now pays off for us as the marketing plan swings into full effect. This includes email, online banners, direct mail, adverts, inserts, visitor tickets, website work, visitor registration pages, badges, sponsorship packages, conference programme, IFSEC Awards, new technology and product showcase program, show guide, IFSEC Magazine, show previews, and the VIP programme.
The next couple of months will finally shape the event and define IFSEC 2008. Many hours have gone in to tying up all the elements to deliver the show, but this is really, in true terms, only the beginning, as there is still build-up to go. A mini city is built in five days and managed by our operations team: a great and impressive feat. Oh, and on top of that the four days of the show which kicks off the whole cycle again.
For us all this is the best part of working in events and what we have been waiting for. Hope that you enjoy the show and that your hard work and effort for IFSEC are as rewarding as ours.