exhibitions: IMEX reports: Convention 2020 launches Pathfinder
Convention 2020 launches Pathfinder
Fast Future Research launched a ‘Pathfinder Report’ on the key strategic challenges and choices facing the industry over the next decade at IMEX last month. The Pathfinder Report provides a glimpse of the content of the full phase 1 report to be released in July 2010 as part of the groundbreaking Convention 2020 study on the future of meetings, venues and destinations.
The report draws on a wide range of expert interviews and workshops, desk research, an online survey and a project wiki to identify drivers of change and emerging strategic challenges.
The research identifies case studies highlighting both the incremental and transformational changes already being undertaken by different players across the industry, and highlights the need for greater clarity and consistency of strategic thought and action. A number of strategic imperatives are identified including the need to:
Choose a clear strategic position whether it be strategic innovator, fast follower or low cost no frills provider and then ensure every action and decision is consistent with that strategy
Develop the board into an outward looking and future focused entity that is helping to shape and challenge longer term strategy
Acknowledge that to compete effectively with the expensively marketed alternatives on offer to our customers ranging from video conferencing to advertising, we have to out-think the competition rather than trying to outspend them
Develop a clear set of strategies to manage our technology, exploit the data generated through our events and create ‘reusable knowledge’ that is of lasting value long after the event
Demonstrate a willingness to experiment with business models and create new revenue streams to anticipate and address future client demands for greater financial innovation and risk sharing from their event partners
Develop and recruit top level talent that can truly understand how client’s business strategies are evolving and develop equally strategic and innovative responses.
“The report lays out a clear roadmap of critical decisions and choices that will help ‘future proof’ businesses across the sector. The strategic issues highlighted identify key factors industry players must address to ensure they can compete effectively in the decade ahead. We need to become as good at strategic thinking as we are at operational delivery,” said Carina Bauer CEO of IMEX.
Rohit Talwar, project director and CEO of Fast Future, said: “Many in the industry have tended to focus more on operational delivery, short term results and responding to issues as they arise rather than thinking about the shape of future challenges. This makes it very susceptible to external events. The learning from other sectors and businesses that performed better in the downturn and recovered faster is that they devote time and effort to understanding the drivers of change and develop strategies which anticipate those changes.”
The full report is to be published in July 2010. It will examine critical factors that have shaped the industry over the last decade, examine current issues on the agenda, describe key global drivers of change shaping the external world and customer behaviours, and highlight emerging industry and external trends that could impact the sector. It concludes with a roadmap of key strategic challenges and choices facing business leaders and decision makers in the sector.
