Exhibition Management: Tips For Planning Successful Exhibitions

Exhibition management is one of the most challenging and complex occupations for conference organisers, given the many services and tasks that fall under this profession.
 

Exhibition management is one of the most needed jobs on the market for two main reasons. First, it achieves corporate goals and increases its income. Second, exhibitions can take many forms or events, such as trade conferences or festivals and other forms of conferences, exhibitions and events that are more widespread and open up new horizons for companies.

Experts at the Exhibitions Department always advise organising private and large exhibitions by leading specialised companies working in this field.

In this article, you will learn about the profession of managing and organising exhibitions, how important they are, and who the exhibition organiser is. What tasks should be carried out to establish or organise exhibitions and conferences of a distinct level?

What is Exhibition Management? Why is it important?

Managing or organising exhibitions is the profound planning and execution of a large-scale event or series of events conducted within one or several places simultaneously or in very close periods.

The Exhibition and Conference Management concept includes many works and leadership skills such as problem-solving, project management, destination management, coordination between the exhibition participants and other skills.

The importance of managing and organising exhibitions lies in its ability to determine whether or not the exhibition will succeed?!

Even if giant companies are involved in the exhibition, and if your ideas are of high quality and good service, remember that if you don't plan and plan things well, you risk achieving the exhibition's success.

What are the functions of exhibition management?

To manage exhibitions, a range of different tasks and responsibilities, as the following: 

1. About two months before it starts, a promotional announcement about the exhibition is issued so that companies have the right time to prepare. Otherwise, the exhibition will be free of good companies.
2. Managing registration orders for each company may participate in the exhibition, choosing what suits the nature of the exhibition as requested.
3. Publish an advance list of companies participating in the exhibition for visitors to see before they come and prepare advertisements, banners and interest in the exhibition's graphic design.
4. Add all URLs of participating companies on the exhibition website.
5. Find a suitable place for the exhibition, organise and arrange it (decor, electricity, internet and...) Establishing and equipping public car facilities appropriate to participating companies and visitors.
6. Prepare an alternative plan for the redesign and distribution of the exhibition floor, which we resort to in cases of compulsion only.
7. See how the exhibition is going, so that it is comfortable for companies and visitors together, by walking around during the exhibition hours, following any problem that may occur and finding quick solutions.
8. Maintaining delegations' safety by contracting a security company to develop an appropriate safety plan.
9. Managing visitors' requirements encourage them to buy and stay more at the exhibition.
10. Managing the Department of Legal and Health Affairs in the exhibition venue.
11. Allocate a suitable place from the exhibition grounds for the press and media.
12. Determine the duration of the exhibition in proportion to the work of the participating companies.
13. Set up fair booths and resting places for visitors.
14. Contribute to the establishment of large-scale activities involving visitors.
15. It is essential when arranging the exhibition to take into account the following:

• Smooth flow of traffic between exhibition sections.
• Location of kiosks, drink and food stations.
• Choose a suitable number of entrances and exits for the exhibition.
• Placing billboards or advertising posters indicating exhibition sections.

At the end of any exhibition, a comprehensive assessment is carried out by the exhibition management and management company by submitting questionnaires in which all the exhibition attendees participate and are used to obtain a list of implementation and planning errors. Then do feedback to avoid such errors and increase the quality in the future.

Traditional vs Trade Exhibition

Many exhibitions, such as workshops, seminars, etc., but traditional exhibitions and trade fairs are the most famous.

All these exhibitions are similar to the organisation of events. Some differences can be mentioned as the following ones:

• The main difference between the trade show and the traditional exhibition is in the type of entities or people attending the exhibition.
• In the traditional exhibition, the attendees are companies that review their products and visitors who belong to multiple general categories. At the Trade fair (the B2B Conference), all persons present have similar thinking and many business and industrial relationships.
• Both types are mainly held to earn more money and customers. However, a trade show is also held for learning and communication with competitors, participating and providing information about the industry or the Conference's target area.
• Traditional exhibitions can be held free to market financial products and services. There may be specific fees for attending these trade fairs, which are held to guide corporate representatives toward a particular industry or a better service environment.

Terminologies are often mixed in exhibition management, and it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between trade fairs and conferences, but they are all consistent in management.

Finally,

Good organisation of all-kind exhibitions reflects positively on the host country in several respects, the most important of which is tourism.

You can become certified in Exhibition Management (CEM) by gradually starting the profession, running small events such as festivals and workshops, and when you gain good experience, going to more significant and more critical exhibitions.