U.K. Leader: Foley Out to 'Up the Game'

Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 6/19/2006

Trevor Foley has been branded both a renegade and an empire builder for trying to unite U.K. exhibition industry associations. But that hasn't shaken the former accountant's belief that one common organization is best for the business.

Director of the assn. of exhibition organisers since 1998, Foley is now also group chief executive of the Events Industry Alliance, a 4-month-old umbrella group for the aeo, the assn. of event venues and the assn. of exhibition contractors. The alliance was established to push for professional standards, provide networking opportunities and promote face-to-face marketing.

Still more groups could hop aboard the unity bandwagon. According to Foley, the British Exhibition Contractors Assn. is in merger talks with the aec, and the Intl. Assn. for Exhibition Management is considering joining the EIA board. In addition, the United Kingdom's Exhibition Venues Assn. and aev last month agreed to merge.

Foley's experience in bringing together competing associations has made him a popular speaker at industry events. He is slated to talk to UFI Open Summer Seminar attendees about reinventing exhibitions, and plans to attend this winter's annual meeting of IAEM, which has been tackling similar issues.

Foley took some time recently to speak with Tradeshow Week Associate Editor Margo McCall about his efforts, and what the industry must do to improve its reputation and prospects.

Question: What has the Events Industry Alliance accomplished since its establishment?

Answer: It's starting to accomplish a lot of what it set out to do. It's achieved a fair amount of press coverage, both general and in the marketing press, and is getting out the message of the value of events and exhibitions.

It's accomplished stunning things in getting the government interested in the industry. We've actually got three or four meetings coming up with the government. We are already making forays into some discussions with big-brand clients and advertising agencies. The next step is academia. We're starting to think about that.

Q: What industry conditions led to the aeo, aev and aec getting together to form an umbrella organization?

A: The exhibition industry is one of those industries that is constantly overlooked. It's just never been on anybody's agenda. We were not capable of showing our size and scope. Last year, we spent a fair amount of money measuring and showing the size of the industry and its relevance compared to lots of other industries. People have taken notice.

Q: How is the exhibition industry perceived in the United Kingdom and Europe?

A: It's partly that there's a lack of understanding. People never come to work in our industry on purpose. It's always by accident. Very often the perception of our industry is "boring tradeshows." That's something we have to deal with on the ground. We have to stop our shows from being rows and rows of pipe-and-drape booths and turn them into events that are must-attend, that are experiential and have a number of attractions.

Q: How can organizers accomplish that?

A: To our members, we are recommending that they do grasp that their events are different from what they used to be, whether they be business-to-business or business-to-consumer. Unless exhibitions and events are competitive with other marketing vehicles, people won't bother to attend. We've got to up the game, certainly in terms of what our events are offering, and in communicating the value in ROI and explaining the benefits.

Q: What role does language play in creating those perceptions?

A: In the U.K., the exhibitions industry is not viewed as sexy, but it's probably the most sexy of any marketing vehicle. We've got to overcome those perceptions. The new language we're using — it works with journalists, it works with agencies. As an industry, we offer permission-based marketing. That term is being picked up more and more by other media.

Q: Can you think of any U.K. exhibitions that represent this new breed of event?

A: One that immediately comes to mind is MPH, short for miles per hour. They took the old motor show format — the nicely polished cars that were roped off where no one could touch them — and turned it into live car demonstrations with major personalities, just showing what these cars can do, with all sorts of theater and the ability of visitors to touch the cars and interact more. That's not the only one. There are lots of others.

Q: Does it seem that U.K. organizers are ahead of the curve in rethinking exhibitions?

A: We're having to be. In a lot of areas, U.K. exhibition organizers are seen as being quite leading edge and entrepreneurial. Certainly the model in Germany — build the show and people will come — is breaking down. The German halls are having a much more difficult time. It's not a case any longer of build it and they will come.

Q: Why was the word "event" chosen for the EIA name?

A: I'm well aware that the word "exhibition" has negative connotations to many clients. In addition, many people assume that an exhibition means museums and art. It's what we should be producing. We should be staging events. Hopefully, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, and it will make people think about what kind of shows they're putting on.

Q: Was it difficult to bring three separate groups into the EIA?

A: It's taken some time. It's taken probably two years from deciding to do it. And I think the reason it's taken some time is, people protect their own back yards. We have to compete with the other associations to do it. It was the case of competing to win the war.

Essentially, the last two years have been about picking off the more enlightened members, which hasn't been too difficult, quite frankly. We all have a duty to promote our industry, and a major benefit to gain from that. If more clients use exhibitions, then the organizer sells more space, the venue sells more space, and the contractor builds more space.

Q: Will EIA members work together on common issues?

A: There are so many common issues: training, research, health and safety standards, all of which are much easier if you're working together, rather than three different associations pulling in different directions. In my experience, it was very difficult to pull three different associations together on projects.

Q: Any plans to bring in groups from outside the United Kingdom?

A: Possibly. We are talking to one or two other international groups, but there's still work to do within the U.K. We have a number of international members, but there are associations within the wider events industry that we're speaking to about being part of the wider EIA.

Q: Are you a trendsetter or a renegade?

A: Probably the latter. The way I often answer that question is: If the events industry did not have an association today, you wouldn't form three or four or five. You'd just form one powerful body that could make things happen.

That's always been my mission. I've never understood the industry having three sets of executives, three sets of officers, three sets of people working on the same projects. It's renegade in that I wasn't satisfied with the status quo. I'm not afraid to work hard to change it. I've remained focused on the end result despite the fact that we've been attacked and criticized and accused of empire-building.

Q: So you've had to do some convincing?

A: Even my own community wasn't convinced, and I had to convince them that there was much more to be gained by being together than fighting each other. When you're in separate camps, you very naturally have an aggressive approach to each other. We'll be seeing massive benefit now by our ability to get everyone at the table very quickly when issues come up.