On December 4, 2019, the first edition of the LOCATIONS trade fair on the grounds of the Motorworld in Munich. Of course, we at AirLST will be there and look forward to meeting old acquaintances and making new contacts. In advance, we conducted an interview with Martin Stegmann conducted. He is the Director of Sales & Marketing for LOCATIONS and gave us an insight into the fair's profile, new developments, and this year's motto "More Experience, More Network, More Knowledge."
The event industry is characterized by constant change due to general and specific influencing factors and needs. And not all changes have the same impact on the industry. After all, the MICE market has very different facets and serves various sectors.
Certainly, new technologies have played a significant role in the event industry over the last ten years. Alongside classic technologies like mobile applications, newer technologies such as Augmented and Virtual Reality have emerged. However, we are still partly in the implementation phase today and subject to the improvement of event management processes. The offerings are there, but everyone must apply what is most sensible for them. Event managers today have more tools available in the process; thanks to Artificial Intelligence, there has also been more focus on event automation in recent years. The analysis of participant data has become increasingly important. With the ability to collect extensive participant data, the security of personal data, through technical and organizational measures, has naturally become ever more crucial.
And finally, in the context of the global theme, we have also discovered sustainability for the event industry and initiated change processes in recent years. However, we still have a lot of changing and rethinking to do.
Think global, act local. The event business is regional, not just in terms of sustainability. Each region stands out with its unique characteristics that event managers can leverage. Especially in the MICE industry. We thrive on regional diversity. Even if markets appear thematically similar, each region demands its own distinctiveness, identity, and culture. Perhaps there aren't major different industry trends, but they are implemented differently in each region.
In the future, the LOCATIONS trade fair, with the LOCATIONS Munich Region, will offer a new, targeted, and optimal platform, complementing the conference and congress market with a goal- and solution-oriented approach and high quality standards. Building on the successful concept of the regional LOCATIONS fairs, we also want to adapt our offerings and themes to new regional markets and integrate additional metropolitan regions into the LOCATIONS network. The focus is on the regional diversity of the Bavarian market. We aim to meaningfully complement markets and provide new impetus, so that a new regional offering and thus a marketplace for event planners and professionals in Bavaria becomes a win for all involved parties.
In addition to the exhibition and expanded networking opportunities, the sophisticated supporting program at every LOCATIONS fair offers exciting keynotes, workshops, and learning labs on current industry topics from event management, live communication, and experience marketing.
Under the motto "More Experience, More Networking, More Knowledge," visitors are also presented with emotional event entertainment, and MICE trends are brought to life for all senses. Thus, the fair is an inspiring marketplace and a place for exchanging expert knowledge. No other event allows so many regional venues to be reached at once, or for information to be specifically gathered and questions answered, as at the LOCATIONS fairs. Our concept of a regional trade fair has proven successful. Here, direct contact with providers and among attendees is, of course, crucial. That's why human interaction and personal contact play a very important role. This certainly doesn't correspond to virtual space and is contrary to digital events.
In my opinion, however, the digitalization process cannot be separated from live communication. It supports our interactions, for example, in networking, disseminating information, etc., but nothing more. An event will always stand for real-life encounters. And this offers the possibility of emotionally conveying information and stands for dialogue.
Visiting the fair is an experience. Visitors expect a different form of information here than what they are accustomed to from the internet. Therefore, human experience must be central – moving towards a true experiential event. The visitor becomes a participant.
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