How to Participate in the Global Event Industry Resilience Study by UFI and Explori 

March 24, 2020

If you’re an event organizer who has recently cancelled, postponed or gone virtual with your event, now’s the time to share how you’re doing with UFI and Explori. The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry and the live event research specialists, respectively, are inviting event planners to participate in an international research project that aims to understand the impact of this significant disruption on attendees and exhibitors. The study will also identify best practices for future resilience.

To participate in this project, reach out to research@ufi.org or bespoke@explori.com, or go here.

“We are certainly in the midst of trying times, but a point will come where both individual shows, and the industry as a whole, will want to reflect,” said Kai Hattendorf, CEO of UFI. “We will need to evaluate the actions taken, the wider impact and what we can learn for the future.”

He continued, “We will also need the right data to continue to advocate for our industry to receive the support it needs to bounce back. Now is the time to start collecting this data to contribute towards future resilience and to learn and grow.”

The study, the results of which are planned for release in early summer, will aim to identify the following: 

  • The resilience of face-to-face events
  • The economic impact of business opportunities lost
  • The unrecoverable costs to visitors and exhibitors
  • The impact on brand equity of cancellation or postponement
  • How effective virtual events are at meeting customer objectives
  • Any direction as to how any impact can be mitigated in the future

 According to Sophie Holt, global strategy director for Explori, the study will be kept open for as long as the current disruption persists, and there is no cost to participate in the research. Event organizers who participate will receive a report of their own results along with an industry-wide insight piece based on anonymized aggregated data within about three weeks of participation.

So far, most major international organizers are participating in the study, along with a wide range of smaller for-profit and not-for-profit organizers and associations, she added.

“The insight will also be shared with all stakeholders who advocate on behalf of our industry,” Holt explained. “As with all Explori research, this project will be conducted with the highest regard for data privacy and results treated with the strictest confidence.” 

To participate in this project, reach out to research@ufi.org or bespoke@explori.com, or go here.

 

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