On a crisp, sunny day last December, Circdata hosted an industry roundtable in association with Exhibition News at London’s Grange City Hotel. The topic on everyone’s lips; what keeps you up at night?

Twelve industry professionals from organisers large and small shared their worst nightmares and gained a sense of relief in discovering that their fellow peers around the table lay awake with the same concerns. You can view the full article here, where you will discover that the top five reasons were:

1. Exhibitors looking at their phones instead of engaging with potential prospects; and then later claiming the show was a waste of time.
2. As self-confessed control freaks, the lack of control the industry has over things that can cause a major crisis; the weather, train strikes, nut allergies, etc!
3. Recruitment; how can we engage with the younger generation and make the events industry an attractive career prospect?
4. The good old chicken or the egg? Do you need footfall to gain exhibitors or exhibitors to attract the visitors? And are we being honest about numbers with ourselves and our audiences?
5. Last but no means least, for the consumer show organisers it was the general public and their great expectations!

James Ormiston, managing director at Circdata, said: “This was the first of a series of incisive roundtables instigated by Circdata in an effort to deepen our understanding of what operational challenges our clients face in order to ensure that we continually add value within our offering. It was our aim to bring together an eclectic mix of industry professionals and to make it worth their time spent away from their busy schedules. Exhibition News successfully fulfilled this and I am delighted to see so much positive feedback from the day. We are looking forward to working with them again on the next one!”