This year the board of Emeca is being led by Maria Martinez (Ifema Madrid, Spain), who assumes the role as new president of the association. Martinez – the first woman in this position in 22 years – holds a two-year mandate (2015-2016) and will oversee all of Emeca’s development throughout her tenure.
Among her duties, Martinez will oversee the development of Emeca’s digital business working group, chaired by Kai Hattendorf.
Prior to her election as president, Martinez was an active member and an important voice of the Emeca board as its vice president treasurer. Her appointment means her role is now filled by outgoing president Andreas Gruchow (Deutsche Messe Hanover, Germany).
One of Emeca’s key campaigns is that of the industry’s digital progression, a campaign being led by Kai Hattendorf, chair of the digital business working group. It is here that new definitions for the less explored digital side of the industry come to light.
The continuous shift towards digitisation in business is echoed in the importance that Emeca’s members assign to their own digital transformation. In the past year, the majority of Emeca members have raised the importance of digital business on their strategic agendas.
Last year the group published its ‘digital declaration’, underscoring the fact that the digital business of exhibition/event companies is about increasing revenues by using or adopting digital technologies. It also drew attention to reduced costs and improved processes.
Today Emeca members are taking the lead in implementing these technologies, investing time and resources in up-to-date digital initiatives by defining the must-have products for exhibition companies as digital business standards. These include mobile websites, migrating towards responsive websites, digital exhibitor data services, lead generation tools, and visitor registration services. The Emeca general assembly also discussed the critical organisational issues that trade show companies will have to address to benefit from the digital shift.
“The urgency to change is mainly driven from the industries we serve with trade shows,” says Hattendorf. “We feel that focusing on our customers’ journeys will allow our industry to tackle the upcoming changes to our advantage.
“To succeed, it will be crucial that digital business will be integrated into our organisations with dedicated resources”, he adds, summing up the group’s findings. We watch with interest.
This article was first published in issue 1/4 of EW 2015. Any comments? Email Rebecca Shahoud
