With the dust now settled on what I will call ‘Expo season’ – although there are still a number of events and awards dinners left to come – I think it’s important to focus on the array of exhibitions that have taken place over the last month and a half to determine what they were able to offer brokers. Much has been made of the fact that we have had three large-scale events in quick succession when previously our marketplace has been lucky to scrape together one. If anything this shows the growing strength of the mortgage/advice sector and there is always something positive to say about greater choice and competition.
In public I believe organisers of all three – Financial Services Expo (Old Billingsgate), the Finance Professional Show (Olympia) and Mortgage Business Expo (ExCEL) – are likely to say their events were well-attended and offered something different for those that attended. In private the reality might be somewhat different and I would be interested to see attendance figures from all three which only included actually brokers and advisers. Also, while you might think you could throw a blanket over all three in terms of what they offered, actually each provided a rather different, and somewhat unique, experience. Which is again a positive for brokers in that you wouldn’t wish to attend each one and find yourself sitting in the same room, listening to the same people and wondering whether it was FSE, FPS, MBE or déjà vu.
I don’t wish to be overly critical of any of the events because I am fully aware of the hard work that will have gone into each one and, even though our market is much improved from just 12 months ago, it is still a huge commitment to fund, organise and put on an exhibition at this time. We are probably only 18 months on from a marketplace which was still treading water and therefore hats off to all the organisers who have put their money where their mouths are in order to organise an exhibition for the broker community.
Instead of an event by event critique I think it would be more useful to cover some general thoughts I had about each event. It will probably be patently obvious to anyone who has attended all three to work out which one I am referring to but I will leave that to you.
First up, I think it’s important for each exhibition – if, as I assume they are to return next year – to work out explicitly who they are aimed at. For example, if the vast majority of your exhibitors are mortgage lenders or mortgage-related then it might be appropriate to focus on the mortgage market rather than spread yourself too thinly across various other sectors. A quick look at the most popular seminar sessions will give a true idea of where the heart of the show is and who it should be fully targeted at. If this turns out to be mortgages then I don’t see the issue with putting the full focus of the event on this area.
Secondly, would be seminar content. Again, this has to be timely and relevant and in no way should it be an opportunity for exhibitors to provide less than glorified sales pitches. If attendees want these, then they can simply ask for a one to one with the firm’s BDM. These events should not be an opportunity for lender/provider/whoever’s representatives to bore an audience senseless about their latest products and services. To my mind, attendees want to hear about real issues which affect their businesses such as regulatory challenges, income generating opportunities, market matters and all manner of broader industry debates. This might not seem important to the average attendee but it is also important that the seminars create a steady stream of news for our trade (and wider) press. This can help build a buzz around an event and ultimately draw in more exhibitors and attendees.
If I’ve learnt anything over the past couple of months it’s that location and layout are vital. Holding an event which cuts down on the travel time for most attendees is crucial and will ultimately mean you are able to get more people through the door. Situate your exhibition in a place which requires most people to have to take three or more separate train/bus journeys and you’re asking for trouble.
Layout is also very important. Having the seminar theatres away from the main floor of the exhibition is common sense and keeps the disruption and noise impact down to a minimum. Also, it’s a real balancing act when it comes to exhibition stands. Have too much space between them and the venue can appear empty, have them too close together and it can seem like your continually trying to make your way to a bar at a busy nightclub. A halfway-house can deliver for both attendees in terms of ease of use and organisers in creating an atmosphere that makes people want to come back each year.
There are plenty of other smaller observations around exhibitors using their stands to the best of their ability and organisers making sure they provide clear information about exhibitors/seminar content, etc, as early as possible. However, on the whole the exhibitions were worthwhile both from an exhibitor and attendee point of view. The big question is do I think the market can continue to support three ‘major’ events of this nature so close together? I’m afraid I do not and it will be interesting to see whether this choice of exhibitions is available next year. I suspect, unless the mortgage market continues to grow rapidly, we will see one less in 2014.
Harpal Singh is managing director of Broker Conveyancing