DMG Events has operated in the Middle East since 1995, and its Big 5 construction event and Adipec oil and gas exhibition are its two of its largest shows. With both events now outgrowing their homes, what happens next?
“We are looking forward to new halls coming soon, but for now it was about eking out as much space as possible, using every nook and cranny of the halls and filling out the concourses,” says Big 5 senior VP Matt Denton. Rather than growth, the challenges for the show were about navigation and creating content.
The organiser also focused on making it easier to find products, fielding stronger product sectors around the 17 halls and moving some categories away from the national pavilions. With more than 100,000sqm of gross exhibition space, 2,800 exhibitors, 55 CPD workshops, 48 technical sessions and two high-level conferences Big 5 2014 was the largest to-date.
ADIPEC 2014 also presented some unique challenges this year, as the show celebrated 30 years on the circuit. New for 2014 was the increase in floor space, the result of two temporary structures of 18,000sqm gross additional space. And with that in mind it needed to attract more visitors, growing 20,000 year-on-year to provide the footfall for the new temporary structures,” according to ADIPEC VP Christopher Hudson.
The event presented not only 100,000sqm gross of exhibition space with 1,820 exhibiting companies but also hosted one of the world’s largest oil and gas conferences with 88 technical sessions, two executive plenaries, eight executive panels and a dedicated investor content in its Middle East Petroleum Club.
The Big 5 represents the MENA region and attracts exhibitors and visitors from across the globe. This year it included 30 national pavilions and was attended by exhibitors from more than 61 countries. The organiser claims the audience attends from 147 countries, and while the majority come from the GCC it is now attracting more visitors from the wider MENA region. It also saw an increase from the ASEAN countries in 2014.
“To reflect the global positioning of the show this year we operated a hosted media campaign that saw 15 journalists from all across the world flown in to see the show, not just to cover the event itself but also to visit construction projects in Dubai to increase coverage and knowledge of the region,” says Denton, indicating another means of shining light on the event.
Not far behind Big 5 in terms of draw, ADIPEC attracts visitors from 112 countries. Last year its focus was on Asia and South America. Of course Middle East economies are somewhat reliant on oil prices with regards to major capital expenditure, and this ebbs and flows with the pricing, and oil prices are currently through the floor. However, Hudson says that in broad terms, 53 per cent of the world’s oil and gas reserves come from the Middle East region and therefore the region is still seeing positive growth within his markets.
The digital show floor
The online element is hugely important to Big 5, both in terms of promotion and to assist in navigating the show and making the most out of visitors attendance.
“We totally redesigned the show website this year to adopt a more mobile compliant look and feel,” says Denton. “We saw further development of our app, and for the first time online registration featured a print at home option for badging. While we have been doing this for many years in other regions it was a first for Big 5 and proved a major success.”
DMG also launched its ‘Big 5 Hub’ portal at the event this year. The company has five Big 5 events internationally, with many associated events in vertical markets. “The Big 5 Hub is designed to pull all these together in one information portal and provide easy access to market stats and opportunities. It should also provide a vehicle to explore new topics and trends both online and with focused events,” says Denton.
ADIPEC made major progress in its peer-to-peer social marketing tools as well as using more digital communication tools. “Our platform continues to grow with over 103 separate conference sessions and over 600 speakers as well as over 1,800 exhibitors are digital platform is not only multilingual but the search and visitor journey needs to be incredibly sophisticated to manage the different journeys through the site,” says Hudson.
Educational content was a major push for DMG this year and a huge increase on previous activity. The company saw 105 educational events during the four days of the show including 55 CPD certified workshops. There were 48 technical sessions and two high-level conferences.
“We work closely with steering panels, industry experts and associations to ensure the value of these sessions and make sure they appeal to our audience and address current policies, practices and trends,” says Denton. “Such content is hugely important to the show and exhibitors, the correct programmes deliver key visitors to the show floor.”
ADIPEC also prides itself on its educational content, and claims to be supported by an industry that helps shape its offering. ADIPEC in 2014 presented a keynote addresses, ministerial sessions, two executive plenary sessions, eight executive panel discussions, 81 technical sessions, four IT sessions, three academia sessions, three conference lunches, three conference breakfasts as well as country-focused briefings and a whole host of other content.
Key themes
Expo 2020 is of huge interest to the construction market as the organisers move to the tendering and infrastructure stages and we looked to explore the opportunities there. “Building standards are also hugely important, with interest is governmental policies and product accreditation always a hot topic. Sustainable Construction is of course still a key topic,” says Denton.
The Big 5 has seen major success and growth in recent years. It launched in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia four years ago and that show has gone from strength-to-strength, filling the venue and requiring a 7,200m marquee to house the demand.
“We have had two editions in both Kuwait and India which are developing well and 2015 will see our first edition in Indonesia,” observes Denton. “We have further development plans for Big 5, but we are also developing more targeted vertical events where we can reach further into a subject, both in Dubai and further afield. Our inaugural Marble and Stone show has hit its targets five months out and our concrete and PMV brands are looking to move into other countries soon.”
ADIPEC continues to grow and aims to be the world’s new meeting point for oil and gas professionals, a market in which it has stiff competition from players such as the ITE Group.
“We are very fortunate to be shaped by industry with an executive steering committee made up of the most senior people from our industry globally,” says Hudson. “We will continue to run on an annual basis. DMG Global Energy also organisers other global large scale exhibitions and conference such as Gastech on Asia and the Global Petroleum Show in Canada to name but a few.”
Expanding these shows in their current homes, and in terms of finding new places to stage them, is going to keep DMG as busy as ever.
This article was first published in issue 1/4 2015 of EW. Any comments? Email Rebecca Shahoud
