COVID-19 resulted in drastic changes to ways companies and their employees deal with their clients, mostly resorting to online interactions as restrictions in several countries do not allow for physical events such as meetings, conferences and exhibitions. Although the vaccines offer hope, it is not likely that people will be as comfortable attending live events as in the past especially that current situation exposed them to alternative, sometimes more effective and convenient, ways of doing business.
Exhibit organisers are clearly one of the most affected when people had to ditch live events. These organisers moved to virtual events to connect technology users to technology innovators, with attempts to mimic the physical exhibition as much as possible. While this is serving its purpose to some extent, the rise of an overwhelming number of virtual events on top of their online meetings is wearing people out that they distract themselves with other activities or ditch them completely.
However, this does not mean the end for exhibition organisers as there are other ways on how the network and reputation of this type of huge business activities can be monetised: through a partnership with TechnologyCatalogue.com!
We offer a model whereby people can find out and select technologies at their convenience, without the restriction of pre-set and fixed time slots during the day. This model does not compete with the physical exhibition, but can instead strengthen the events and result in more valuable links to technology suppliers and potential customers.
TechnologyCatalogue.com
TechnologyCatalogue.com was launched in July 2018. The platform was developed based on first-hand experience that it is often difficult for decision makers to stay up to date with available technology-driven improvement opportunities for their business. Similar to how we use websites like TripAdvisor in our daily life to search for hotels, TechnologyCatalogue.com helps users to see the wood for the trees when it comes to available technologies.
The platform helps technology providers to create more visibility for their technologies 24/7, increasing the chances that the technologies are discovered and get deployed. It offers additional channels to reach end-users.
With integration into the exhibition program, TechnologyCatalogue.com can provide a significant boost to achieving the mission of exhibition organisers: TO SHOWCASE TECHNOLOGIES TO THOSE WHO NEED THEM. We are aware of the effort undertaken to make virtual exhibitions a success. At the same time, we also firmly believe that more can and must be done to make virtual events work more effectively.
Our own experience from an end-user perspective is that an easily accessible overview of technologies is required, more important than having an overview of exhibitors. Moreover, this overview of technologies that extends beyond the exhibition period allows conduct of follow-through coordinations, benefitting both end-users and suppliers.
The solution: a ring fenced Technology Platform in support of your exhibition
By partnering with us, we will create and make available for access a Technology Platform dedicated to your exhibition. This is a customized version of TechnologyCatalogue.com that can be delivered quickly as it makes use of the same ‘engine’ as TechnologyCatalogue.com.
This Technology Platform will only be accessible with username and password exclusive to exhibition participants. The Technology Platform for your exhibition can be available for a restricted period (i.e. 2 weeks before or after a conference) or ‘permanently’, depending on preference.
In this platform, the homepage will highlight the exhibition’s objective and the particular technical theme(s) selected by the Program Committee/Board for the conference. It can also contain messages by senior leaders and/or links to videos and other appropriate contents.
Once visitors are on the homepage, they can select technologies by clicking on the themes or by using the filters. This will take them to pages for participating suppliers within those areas, similar to the way users can navigate through the content of TechnologyCatalogue.com.
A virtual host could assist attendees by providing pre-identified “walking paths” through relayed technologies, while also referencing related technical presentations or paper sessions along the way. This way, visitors of your exhibition’s Technology Platform will receive a purposeful and robust exposure to the technologies they need.
When arriving at a given vendor’s technology area, the attendee will see product data and contact information, with the option to contact the vendor directly for further discussion. Links for deeper technical learning like webinars and case studies can also be accessed.
Data insights will be made available to the exhibition organizers in an online data dashboard. This dashboard will include metrics about visitors (country of origin, organization name, etc), technologies being viewed, and links being made between suppliers and users.
Why the above is attractive to suppliers
A Technology Platform linked to the exhibition gives suppliers an opportunity to connect with the exhibition community and create visibility for their solutions. This is clearly of value to them, and therefore something they are prepared to pay for.
Such online space can also help in preparation for a physical event, such that the right face-to-face meetings take place.
An attractive revenue stream for exhibition organisers
The fees that would be charged to suppliers – and potentially end-users - offers an attractive additional revenue stream to exhibition organisers. In addition, such space can attract sponsorship fees from various types of organisations.
There are different models to make a ring fenced platform more responsive to the specific needs of exhibitions, offering a great opportunity to customise it according to the organiser’s needs and preferences.Despite the possibility to customise its features, such a platform, can be delivered quickly, typically within 3 months after signing the agreement, as it makes use of the same engine as TechnologyCatalogue.com.
Conclusion
When it comes to exhibitions, it is unlikely that the world will go back to how it used to be. This, however, doesn’t mean that there is no future for organisers of exhibitions! There are other ways to make the most of the network and reputation to support the noble mission of creating valuable links between technology suppliers and end-users.
With integration into the exhibition program, TechnologyCatalogue.com can provide a significant boost to achieving the mission of exhibition organisers.
Would you like to learn more, and discuss further? Please contact us at info@technologycatalogue.com.
About us
The founders of TechnologyCatalogue.com led technology deployment activities in support of assets across Shell. Over 600 deployments were successfully delivered, resulting in a very significant impact on safety, production and cost. We understand what it takes to get technology deployed, including all change management aspects related to it. Since starting TechnologyCatalogue.com in March 2018, we have supported multiple operators in Upstream and Downstream with technology deployment.
Our platform TechnologyCatalogue.com was developed based on the first-hand experience that it is often difficult for decision-makers to stay up to date on available technology-driven improvement opportunities for their business. It was launched in Q3 2018 and is steadily growing in terms of content & functionality. Since the launch, >40,000 unique users have accessed the platform. We’re also developing customized versions of the platform. For example, jointly with National Energy Resources Australia, we have delivered a customized version of the portal for Australia (Nera.TechnologyCatalogue.com)
In addition to TechnologyCatalogue.com, we also support suppliers and end-users with getting technology deployment done, through consultancy & workshops.