International Confex, according to on-site research and visitor feedback, has once again delivered a quality visitor experience…
International Confex, according to on-site research and visitor feedback, has once again delivered a quality visitor experience with almost three-quarters of the audience claiming the show had either met or exceeded their expectations. The credibility of this research is confirmed by the calibre of the visitors, with over half the respondents having worked for more than five years in the industry.
The remaining respondents claim it is too early to say, but the research does go on to confirm that more than 79 per cent expect to make a purchase within the next six months as a direct result of attending the show.
This independent research, conducted on-site by CTS, shows a return to form for the industry with over 44 per cent of organisers expecting budget increases over the next 12 months (only three per cent predict a decrease) and 79 per cent confirming that the number of events they organise is on the increase.
Exhibitors are also delighted with the success of the show: the initial reaction from Hamish Reid, general manager of the Jersey Conference Bureau is that Confex 2005 “has been our best show in 21 years”.
Clive Tyres, head of conferences & exhibitions, Bournemouth International Centre, the winner of the best stand in show award, comments that “Confex 2005 was a great success for us, the quality of visitor to the Bournemouth stand on the Wednesday and particularly the Thursday, was very high. Confex once again proved a valuable springboard to new business. Winning the Best Stand award was an unexpected, but superb bonus!”
Event director Jessica Blue said “Our focus on new products, services and knowledge, a key trend in last year`s visitor research were all important factors in the success of this years show. With over 72 percent of the audience visiting the show for new ideas and 46 percent researching suppliers, new initiatives like the New Products Showcase and expanded Advice Centre were invaluable visitor tools.”
What the exhibitors quote:
Alan Cass, corporate events manager, Harvey Nichols
“I highly recommend Confex as it has been so successful for us and we will definitely be coming back next year. Clients don`t realise we do corporate entertaining so we are pleased that we have been able to change this perception. The location of our stand is fantastic and the show is targeting the right type of people we want to attract – our ideal target market. We`re very very pleased.
Wesley Mendy, publisher, Prestige Events
“This was our first year at Confex and it won`t be our last! The event has been a huge success for us and we knew Confex was a blue chip MICE brand. Our impression of Confex has been a great one. See you next year – onwards and upwards!”
Steve Tribe, manager, Decopinball
“We have attracted a lot of interest from visitors; we had a good position near strong exhibitors so we`re pleased. The response has been absolutely brilliant and we have made 60 – 80 good contacts. We`ve seen so many people, given away a lot of literature. Confex is where the real buyers are, they are volume buyers and we have seen more international audience.”
Kitty Ebdon, Crafty Arty Parties
Confex has been good for our profile, we`ve been seen! It`s our 3rd year and we`re in for the long haul. Exhibiting is not about just exhibiting once. We had a very successful show last year. Confex was the first show we ever did and we learnt so much. It is good to exhibit alongside venues and destinations as we catch visitors at early planning stages.
Neil Walker, marketing & PR manager AEO
“Confex was a very good show for the aeo. As an exhibitor, we achieved our planned pre-show objectives, which included the opportunity to communicate with our members, demonstrate the strength of our association to the industry and above all, generate 100 qualified membership leads.”
Hamish Reid, general manager, Jersey Conference Bureau
“International Confex is a great opportunity to start new relationships as well as maintaining existing ones with key clients. The seniority and decision making power of many buyers is excellent and we now find that we are often talking to buyers and agencies who are not just organising one or two events but one or two hundred. Those with less decision making power are also useful contacts as they will be the senior buyers of tomorrow. Our initial reaction is that this has been our best show in 21 years at Confex.”
Martin Blore, director, Maverick Management
“Exhibiting at Confex as part of the London Launch stand was of great benefit to our business and our combined presence along with other London Launch members, gave us all a high profile that generated over 1,000 hot leads, something we could not have achieved had we exhibited as a sole business as we could not have spoken to that many visitors with just two representatives. We were all aware of each others businesses and we all worked to promote one another”.
Ged Janssen, conference sales manager, The Mersey Partnership
“We had a record attendance at our stand this year with 370 conference buyers expressing an interest in Liverpool and Merseyside, 21 concrete enquiries and 3 confirmed booking. We have already confirmed our stand for 2006 with the help of The Confex Team who moved mountains to deliver the space we required.”
David Marks, managing director, MM & Company
“It is with great pleasure that I write to congratulate you and your Confex 2005 Team for an excellent show. Confex is a show that my DMC colleagues and my MM and Company team hold in high regard. Sure, we work hard at it – so do you, and since 1995 we have enjoyed considerable success at Confex. To be honest we were concerned that this year`s Confex would not live up to the success of 2004 Confex. It was an Olympian feat but Confex 05 lived up and indeed surpassed Confex 2004. In true Olympic tradition it was the best Confex ever. Keep up the good work. MM and Company looks forward to attending Confex 06 in just as an exciting location as our stand was in this year.”
Thorsten D. Meier, managing director, Leading Group Sales
“After an absence and disappointment of three years we simply came back only due to the assurance that the whole concept and system inviting and attracting the right clients and buyers had been changed. What shall I say – it really worked out. Together with our 12 participating hoteliers we had a fantastic and extremely productive show – definitely worth returning. More than approx 550 clients visited our stand and over 60 leads have been generated, some already close to confirmation… We will be back but pressure is on you guys already!”
Clive Tyers, head of conferences & exhibitions, Bournemouth International Centre
“Confex 2005 was a great success for us. Despite a slightly slow start, the quality of visitor to the Bournemouth stand on the Wednesday and particularly the Thursday, was very high. With a difficult message to portray this year – The BIC is currently closed, undergoing a major £21m expansion programme, we met several of the larger associations who are very keen to experience our new facilities. With over 40 conferences already booked in for 2006, Confex once again proved a valuable springboard to new business. Winning the Best Stand award was an unexpected, but superb bonus!”
Laura Moody, managing director, Nomadic Display
“Confex has always been one of the key shows in our portfolio and we were delighted this year to capture 600 leads over the three day event – a 33% increase on last year. This success was a combination of a fantastic new stand design, good stand positioning and a very focussed stand team.”
Simon Young, Event Master & Regis Software
“We have been exhibiting at Confex for 10 years and the enquiries for our software at the show have been as good this year as the first year”
Lorraine Butler, marketing & events manager, Parkstead House
“We were exhibiting for the first time at Confex and were delighted with the number of visitors to our stand. We are a brand new venue so it is very important for us to make people aware of who we are – judging by the number of enquiries we have had after the show – it has been very successful for us!”
Stuart F Mackay, head of marketing & sales, Harrogate International Centre
“The Harrogate Team were delighted to have the opportunity to share the news of the completion of the Queen`s Suite with so many of our customers who came to the stand in response to our invitation. The show,once again, produced results in the form of numerous new enquiries which we are following up with invitations to view the facilities and inl ight of the long lead time associated with major events these seem set to produce new future business over the forthcoming years. This is endorsed by the fact that several of our events taking place in Harrogate this year track back to previous enquiries taken at earlier Confex shows. We certainly plan to repeat our presence at Confex 2006.”
Amanda Simpson, marketing & communications manager, Warwick Conferences
“Exhibiting at Confex has proven to be extremely worthwhile as we have already converted a number of enquiries from the show. We certainly feel that the quality of visitors has improved greatly over the past few years and we look forward to exhibiting again in 2006.”
Sarah Wasser, marketing manager, One Great George Street
“Confex went really well for us. There were quiet times as with any exhibition, but there generally seemed to be a steady flow of people coming by our stand. The Corporate Hospitality zone that we were in had a really good buzzy atmosphere. We managed to double the amount of leads we gained last year, so initially I would say this has been a great show – let just hope all these leads convert into confirmed business!”
Ryan Philpott, Twangling Jack
“Exhibiting at International Confex was a thoroughly rewarding experience for Twangling Jack. We came away with a very healthy amount of leads, some very nearly done deals and (most impressively) a fortnight later we were in Vienna, Austria hosting a business conference. This was for a completely new customer that approached our stand. So that`s a two week turnaround from our initial meeting to a successfully completed engagement. As we have already more than recouped our entire investment I can safely predict that we will be back next year.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
