THINK GLOBAL – ACT REGIONAL
As the organisers of Conventa, we often emphasize that hosted buyers are the heart of our events. The corona crisis has not changed that. It gave us an opportunity to further strengthen our relationship with the buyers. Since we received many questions regarding the hosted buyer confirmation process in 2021, here are some important facts and principles.
REGIONAL FOCUS
The corona crisis has made us completely dependent on local and regional markets. That will probably be the case for quite some time. Conventa remained loyal to the New Europe region even in times of greatest expansion. We expect that the majority of buyers will come to Conventa from Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Slovakia and Slovenia. If there will be more interest from certain cities (Budapest, Munich, Zagreb, Milan and Vienna), we will organise bus transfers to Ljubljana and back and thus contribute to reducing the carbon footprint.
Of course, other buyers from key European markets will also join the event live or through our online application. We will adjust the number of hosted buyers to the number of exhibitors, which will be slightly lower this year to ensure maximum safety.
WHO ARE THE HOSTED BUYERS AT CONVENTA?
Hosted buyers at Conventa are coming from the corporations, event, PCO and venue-finding agencies and associations. Their quality is much more important to us than their quantity. Our selection process is extremely demanding, thus ensuring that you will meet carefully selected, serious and competent meeting planners at Conventa.
How will the hybrid edition of CONVENTA 2021 work?
STAYING IN TOUCH WITH REGIONAL BUYERS
Conventa has a unique database of hosted buyers with more than 75,000 precisely segmented contacts that has been regularly updated. We also have well-developed social networks. Among them, Linkedin is particularly important, proving to be a very effective tool for marketing and networking.
SHARING KNOWLEDGE
Conventa Trend Bar educational and networking events have been going on intensively since the beginning of the crisis. Since March 2020, they have been held live and online in fifteen cities of New Europe, connecting over 1.200 meeting planners. Another novelty this year are the Conventa Academy educational events with 4 events planned until end of June. Conventa’s educational events are an integral part of building a network of friends and partners, allowing us to build a database and stay in touch with buyers even in the most difficult times. Feedback from attendees has shown that the yearning to attend live events is very high, therefore we are confidently looking forward to the live event in August.
CONVENTA EXPERIENCE
Conventa is not just a business event, but an unforgettable experience – a new take on trade show that engages all your senses and brings long-term business partnerships. Once you experience what Conventa can do for you, you won’t want to miss it again! A satisfaction survey with exhibitors at Conventa 2020 showed that over 90% of exhibitors would repeat their participation at Conventa, and almost all (97.8%) would advise their colleagues on attending. We will do our best to fulfill this promise this year as well.
“Despite digital taking over, the most effective tool for establishing business cooperation is still a personal meeting and joint work, while a firm handshake is a way to get to know the person you are working with. Conventa offers exactly that – along with many other opportunities, we take things one step further and help you form true business partnership. “
The results of a survey we conducted with European meeting planners also say a lot about Conventa. We asked them the following question:
SURVEY QUESTION: Based upon what you have seen, heard and experienced, please rank the following B2B events according to their reliability and power of communication during the pandemic?
745 people responded to the survey, assigning the following ratings to the events:
- IMEX FRANKFURT 10.1
- IBTM WORLD 9.6
- CONVENTA TRADE SHOW 9.0
- IMEX AMERICA 8.0
- AIME 8.0
- CONFEX 7.1
- MEETINGS SHOW 6.4
- M&IFORUM 5.5
- MEETEX 4.2
- CONNECTIONS 3.0
- Other (please write) 1.7
In the same survey, Conventa was rated as a trade show with very high ROI, along with events like IMEX, IBTM, Meetings Show and M&I Forum events.
