It’s showtime

Cooling temperatures herald the end of the quietest part of the business cycle in the Middle East. With the arrival of Ramadan and the final quarter comes a raft of events, conferences and exhibitions. From a sedate schedule in August it’s straight to warp speed with calendar entries and invitations sufficient to keep you from your office until year-end.

Veterans of the region will have used the summer lull to recharge and energise ahead of what looks set to be the most grueling programme of oil and gas events the Middle East has seen yet. Newcomers won’t know what’s hit them.

While exhibiting can be straightforward, plenty of opportunities will be missed without the right preparation. Choosing the right exhibition to take part in, for the right reasons (not just because the hotel has a nice pool), is a given.

These expensive, high profile events take place in the full glare of publicity under the scrutiny of competitors and your own senior management team. Ensuring your shows run like clockwork is absolutely vital to offsetting that cost with the maximum benefit. The commercial opportunities available at some the region’s flagship events, such as ADIPEC in early November, are unparalleled in terms of meeting local business in a focused environment.

It’s all too easy to say yes to everything in the run-up to the show, but you will find the man from accounts at your door weeks before the event saying you’ve blown the budget, and under no circumstances can you afford the branded keychains ordered in March. Getting a grip on the budget available for the exhibition and an understanding of what will really work for your audience is crucial, and will vary from company to company.

Although not a year-round role in itself, appointing an exhibition manager, or dedicating someone to the task of micro managing your exhibition, will prove highly beneficial, as all too often people arrive with the fatal words “I thought you were doing that.”

One person focused on the task will have the time to undertake contingency planning on each item, and they will make sure your stand runs like a Swiss watch, not its $5 namesake.

One thing that never fails to surprise me is that whilst vast expense is frittered away on showy stands and impressive ‘mementos’ very few local firms adequately inform people of what their presence is all about. Companies need to start telling the story of what will be exhibited in pre-show marketing ahead of the big day. This may hint at items that are new and exciting, they may be designed to simply inform targets of your participation.

Most importantly, there is nothing more important to avoid than an overtired or disgruntled team on your stands. Use your pre-show time as a motivation opportunity for your own staff. The weeks running up to the event are vital to building a team spirit that is all too apparent when it is missing. The customer facing representatives ARE your company for those few days, so make sure they know it, and feel it.

The last word is to enjoy it, and declare to all your customers and competition that this is your year, so bring it on.

Daniel Canty is the editor of Oil & Gas Middle East.

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