As you probably know, Germany-based Messe Frankfurt is a global trade show organizer with a presence in 175 countries. It organizes the Techtextil and Texprocess shows, among others, around the world. But its success has not come by accident, Smith said during the introductory remarks.

 

“One reason we have been sustainable over the years is, one, we are a global oriented company and, two, whatever markets we serve, we look at collaboration and making strategic agreements, which helps us be successful,” Smith said.

 

“A third thing is we provide a current platform and an interesting platform, which is about redesigning your floor plan, redesigning the content of your show and making it really interesting,” he added. “And then a fourth thing is education – educating your teams and educating yourselves. Education in trade shows is becoming more important and we’re going to have to bring more and more experts together and really make sure that we are educating the future generations at our events.”

 

Adding that trade shows are “alive and well,” Smith noted that they “are leading to a more personalized experience, and technology is leading the way.”

 

Digital/virtual trade shows

 

Duncan asked Smith what a digital or virtual trade show is, and Smith answered that any trade show without a digital extension is not sustainable.

 

“A lot of people think of a digital model as a website,” Smith said. “That’s part of it, but it’s not the main thing. And what we’re talking about with a digital platform is building, creating and maintaining a digital community. The trade show industry likes to use the word ‘convergence,’ and convergence is all about connectivity and design and experience. With connectivity, I’m talking about the trade show organizer being in contact with their community 24/7, 365. You have to get feedback from your exhibitors, visitors, academia, the media and collaborators. You have to keep your community engaged and keep them wanting more information from you.”

 

He also reiterated the performance of redesigning the show platform.

 

“For you to redesign, you need information,” Smith said. “You need to communicate with your exhibitors and attendees and stakeholders. And what that means is that it comes to the experience – the experience people have before the show, during the show and after the show. This is a harmony – a harmony of your staff, a harmony of your exhibitors and attendees and for the industry to move forward as we enter a new age of technology.”

 

On the topic of virtual trade shows, he pointed out that they do exist and are important.

 

“However, they are only complementary,” Smith said. “They’re assisting the trade show community. We believe in them. We do practice that. But we’re in no danger of those replacing a real, live event.”

 

New technologies coming quickly

 

Smith pointed to new technologies coming into the trade show space that will help organizers and customers have a better, improved experience. Among them: beacon technologies, which monitor the flow of traffic, help organizers design floor plans more efficiently and track traffic in different areas of a show; wearable technologies; the Internet of Things; and lead retrieval systems, which provide real-time information about visitors to booths.

 

But the big gamer that’s coming, he said is 5G, the proposed next telecommunications standards beyond the current 4G standards, which will increase Internet speeds by 400 percent, he said. With that speed, it will allow people to do more at trade shows, he said.

 

“You’ll be able to know more about visitors to your booths,” he said. “That is major and that’s going to help people do a lot more in two or three days at a trade show. Trade show companies are collecting a huge amount of data and trade show companies must use this data effectively to make trade shows better and to help their customers – exhibitors and attendees – accomplish their goals at the shows.”

 

Messe Frankfurt is working with futurists to learn more about where trade shows are going, Smith said, and from that collaboration, five key drivers are leading the change in trade shows: science and technology, economic aspects, political and legislation, security issues and environmental issues. “Trades shows will have to change to meet the needs of the business community,” he said.

 

With these five drivers come opportunities, he added.

 

“Adaptive learning is going to be very, very important because not everyone is going to be able to bring a piece of machinery at a show,” he said. “So technologies are going to make it available for you to give a virtual experience to your visitors. You will be able to clearly assist any visitor to your booth to help them see your factory and experience your factory in a virtual manner. Some of this technology is here but more is coming.”

 

“We’re going to see a big change in the next 5 or 10 years in the trade show industry,” he added.

 

What to expect at next U.S. shows

 

Asked what to expect in next year’s Texprocess Americas/Techtextil North America co-located shows, slated for May 22-24 in Atlanta, Smith noted that industry digitization will have a bigger role; education will remain a mainstay; and the focus on made in America will continue to rise in importance.

 

“We want to make sure our platform continues to support made in the U.S.,” Smith said. “It is our mission to support the opportunities for manufacturing in the United States. There are many mills or companies out there that are delivering the technologies and the expertise and the traditions that the U.S. has to offer.”

 

Duncan asked Smith what exhibitors could do to get the most out of trade shows.

 

“It’s difficult for us to give advice to companies that have been in this industry for so long,” he said. “You know who your customers are. But I can say it’s about creating a need for someone to engage with you on your booth. You need to be able to continue to create a wow factor at the show. People need a reason to come search for you on your booth. We recommend to exhibitors – and it doesn’t matter if you have a 10X10 or 2,000-square-feet booth – you should create a theme for your event, on purpose, and make that part of your messaging for the show. And be specific. You need to have something that you achieve that you and your team can be proud of.

 

“And the other thing is, as you work towards these targets, a celebration of reaching a milestone at a show is fantastic,” he continued. “Let the industry know that you sold a machine. Celebrate with your team on the show floor and after the show. Exchange ideas with each other and with us and let’s all be successful together.”