In my time working on Arabian Travel Market (ATM), I have seen the size of the event fluctuate. It’s great to now see it consistently growing year-on-year, both in terms of physical size of the exhibition space and in the number of visitors.
As the world around us becomes more digital, so have the exhibition stands. We have seen a significant increase in LED technology in the stand builds over the past few years. This is both in the form of innovative new lighting and in the use of large LED video walls. Both enhance the visual effect on the stands and the visitors’ experience at the exhibition.The use of technology has also enhanced our delivery of the event. We strive to be completely paperless with all of our team using iPads onsite. There are many new software technologies that allow instant communication no matter where we are across the large site, improving efficiency and our customer service delivery.Looking at how ATM is now built, we have made huge improvements in managing the site more safely, trying to promote and enhance the safety culture during the construction and dismantling periods. When I took over the operations for ATM, we faced a number of challenges in ensuring consistent improvements in the safety practices across the site to ensure it was built in the safest way possible.Working from the Reed Exhibitions UK office, we are now very well practised in managing our exhibitions as safely as possible. We also work closely with Dubai World Trade Centre to ensure that we are taking significant steps forward to improve safety across the site. Preparing for an event the size of ATM requires a considerable amount of effort from the entire team and, as soon as one ATM closes, the planning for the next one starts. In the interest of continuous improvement we are constantly reviewing what we do and looking at how we can improve the next event.Typically it is then six months out from the event that we finalise our suppliers, stand builders, electrics, freight forwarding contractors etc. negotiating the best value and service for our clients. The suppliers that we work with are those that are able to give our clients and us the best service and value for money. It’s vitally important they understand both the way that the local industry and cultures operate, and also the diverse needs of our exhibitors.We are at our busiest in the four-month period leading up to the event, planning everything in detail, designing and finalizing all of our feature areas and signage, and working with our contractors to ensure their stand designs are possible, complying with the requirements of the event and venue regulations.The biggest challenge we currently face is connectivity across the event. The expectation from our exhibitors and visitors is to be able to remain connected with wi-fi, preferably free, wherever they are. Where there are very high densities of people, such as at large exhibitions or sporting events, this is sometimes difficult to achieve. We are working with the venues and specialist event network suppliers to improve this for future events.ATM is a global event with a highly international audience and a diverse group of contractors that build it. We try to ensure that we cover the main languages through our international event team but inevitably there are some times when we are not able to verbally communicate with some contractors. It’s amazing how gestures and sign language can get a job done, and technology translation apps come in very useful too.At ATM, our ultimate goal is to offer a smooth event experience for our exhibitors. My best advice would be to read the Exhibitors Manual carefully as it is tailored to answer all the queries that may arise during the preparation for the show. We also always advise our exhibitors to appoint reputable stand contractors in order to reduce the chance of any problems arising long the road.In my time with Reed Exhibitions I have delivered a range of diverse events in many venues; from large international exhibition centres through to hotels, palaces and temporary structures. ATM is a great event to work on, one of my favourites that I have delivered in my career and I am very proud to be part of such a great show and work with such an amazing team.• The writer, group operations manager at Reed Exhibitions, celebrates his seventh ATM by sharing his behind-the-scenes experiences #myATMstory
By Ben Gleeson