Post Show Report 5pEXPO 2023
The 13th International Forum of the Exhibition Industry – 5pEXPO 2023 is the main professional event for Russian and foreign specialists in congress, exhibition and event industry.
Forum 2023 has become a meeting place for all key market players. The exhibition featured fairgrounds and congress centres, industry associations and companies representing the congress, exhibition and event industry, as well as digital technologies, modern equipment, design projects, and services.
Dates: 24-26 October 2023
Venue: EXPOCENTRE Fairgrounds, Moscow, Russia
Organized by the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, EXPOCENTRE AO
Supported by the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs (RUEF)
Assisted by the exeDrive accelerator platform for marketing specialists
Partners: the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs (RUEF), World Trade Center (Moscow), the Russian Convention Bureau, the National Association of Event Organisers (NAOM), Expomap.ru
Logos: UFI, RUEF
Participants: 70+ companies, among them Negus Expo International, Bestly, Fortuna production company, Expo Global Group, ART Polymedia, Screen Agency, A5000, as well as the best venues and exhibition organisers in Russia and abroad: ExpoForum, Expo Fusion and Gefera Media, EXPOCENTRE, World Trade Center (Moscow), and many others.
Regional pavilions organised by the CCI of Russia: Moscow, Stavropol Territory, Arkhangelsk, Kirov, Vladimir, Bryansk, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Smolensk and Tambov regions
Forum Highlights
The 5pEXPO 2023 Forum was held together with the 9th Russian Conference on Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities, which allowed not only to demonstrate Russian goods and services in the exhibition and congress and event industry, but also to discuss plans for the strategic development of exhibition and congress activities, measures to support exhibition activities, and other topical issues.
In his welcome speech at the opening of the 5pEXPO 2023 conference and Forum, Sergey Katyrin, President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated that “trade shows and exhibition activities in general contribute to the growth of ties between regions, especially now, when supply chains are being restored. We have come to realise the importance of holding not only international but also regional trade shows”.
The Forum’s opening ceremony and the plenary session on Transformation of the Congress and Exhibition Market and Adaptation to New Realities were moderated by Maxim Fateev, Vice President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Alexey Vyalkin, Chair of the Committee on Exhibition, Fair, and Convention Activity of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO.
Sergey Katyrin, President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
“One of the activities of the system of chambers of commerce and industry is to promote the goods and services of Russian entrepreneurs to various markets, to provide an opportunity for representatives of companies to get acquainted with the latest technologies, the latest equipment, and to exchange opinions. All this is provided by trade shows and conventions. Now more than a hundred regional chambers are engaged in exhibition activities, and the work in this regard is progressing. We have retained a significant part of those who wanted to work with Russia. This is, of course, largely thanks to the organisers of congress and exhibition events.”
The plenary session was addressed by Alexey Gruzdev, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia, Sergey Voronkov, President of the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs, Director General at ExpoForum International, Vadim Subbotin, Deputy Director General at World Trade Center, Alexey Valkov, Deputy Director at the Roscongress Foundation, Director at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, and other distinguished guests.
The agenda of the Forum and Conference centred on the issue of financial development of the industry.
Alexey Vyalkin, Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO
“First of all, it is to redistribute part of the state funds allocated for co-financing the participation of Russian enterprises in congresses and trade shows abroad to co-financing participation in events in Russia. Here we should be talking about major industry events with the relevant potential for exhibitors and visitors. A list of such events can be prepared, including through trade show audits and statistics.”
Alexey Vyalkin also noted the importance of programmes that are now being implemented through regional development institutions. My Business, Export Support Centres, chambers of commerce and industry are actively involved in the organisation of group stands of regions and federal member states at trade shows.
Conference Programme
The expert session on Activation of the System of Standardisation of Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities was held. The experts spoke about the current state and prospects of development of the national standardisation system, including in relation to exhibition, fair and congress activities, industry standards, and the RUEF logo.
Sergey Selivanov, Deputy Chair of the Technical Committee for Standardisation on Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities (TC 163), First Deputy Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO, made a report on The Work of the Technical Committee for Standardisation on Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities (TC 163).
The session on Protection, Evaluation and Introduction of Intellectual Property Objects into Circulation in the Congress and Exhibition Industry focused on the current state and prospects of development of IP protection issues and the results of intellectual activity and their effective use; trademarks; lending to organisations secured by IP.
Participants in the expert session on Regional Exhibitions as a Barometer of Development and Export Potential of the Region organised by the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry discussed current problems faced by regional exhibition venues, the experience of interaction with local authorities, the role of chambers of commerce, and much more.
EXPOCENTRE AO and the National Association of Event Organisers (NAOM) held the expert session on Events and Exhibitions. What Factors Shape Market Trends and Tendencies? What changes have taken place in the event environment. What is in demand today, where to look for events and is it possible to create demand for event organisation with the help of event agencies? This was discussed by the event participants.
5pEXPO 2023 featured a joint meeting of the Committees on Exhibition, Fair and Convention Activity and on Education and Social Policy of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The meeting was moderated by the Chair of the Committee on Exhibition, Fair, and Convention Activity of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO Alexey Vyalkin.
In the centre of attention were the issues of personnel support of exhibition activities and improvement of mechanisms of interaction between the education system and the business community.
Alexey Vyalkin, Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO
“We must pay attention to updating educational standards and developing new training and retraining programmes. Our colleges and universities should work closely with industry professionals, and companies and associations should be actively involved in the process of training future specialists. Companies, in turn, should be ready to take on the role of ‘investors’ in the careers of their employees, ensuring their ongoing training and development.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Chair of the State Duma Committee on Science and Higher Education Vladimir Kononov, Deputy Chair of the RF CCI Committee on Education and Social Policy, Director of the Institute of Business and Management Education, Advisor to the Rector of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics Svetlana Nechaeva, First Deputy Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO Sergey Selivanov, RUEF Executive Director Elena Ublieva, Rector at International Institute of Management for Business Associations Anna Palagina, Head of the Department of Service and Congress and Exhibition Activities at St. Petersburg State University of Economics Oxana Kostryukova, President at the Union of the Vyatka Chamber of Commerce and Industry Andrey Usenko, Rector at Moscow State Art and Cultural University Ekaterina Kudrina, Director at ConcordBusinessService Natalia Evnevich, and other representatives of higher education and specialised structures.
One of the landmark events was the panel on Ways and Methods of Attracting Foreign Audience to Congresses and Exhibitions in Russia, co-organised by the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Suren Vardanyan, Vice President at Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry
“We realise that this issue is not only related to today’s difficult international situation, but also requires competent zoning of trade shows, understanding of territorial boundaries, mentality, cross-cultural communications, and the degree of interest of this or that country. Special attention should be paid to the saturation of our companies with professional staff able to work directly with potential exhibitors.”
The panel participants touched upon various issues, including their experience of congress and exhibition activities and the government’s focus on them. They talked about the points that require special attention from the congress and exhibition community.
Sergey Alexeev, First Vice President at RUEF, Vice President at ExpoForum-International, told the audience about the creation of the International MICE Industry Consortium as a tool to develop national and regional business tourism economies. He voiced the Consortium’s goal: to unite government and public organisations, entrepreneurs, non-profit organisations from BRICS, SCO, CIS and other interested countries to develop international cooperation in the event industry.
Alexey Valkov, Deputy Director at the Roscongress Foundation and Director at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, spoke about mechanisms for attracting foreign audiences to the forums.
Darya Levchenko, Advisor to the Minister of Economic Development of Russia, introduced the panel participants to the Ministry of Economic Development’s view on the problem raised. She noted that representatives of foreign countries are acquainted with Russia most often during trade shows.
Sergey Selivanov, First Deputy Director General at EXPOCENTRE AO, spoke on the Point of Initiation of Congress and Exhibition Projects of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry System. “The CCI system has a wealth of exhibition experience: next year EXPOCENTRE will be 65. All these years we have been proving our leading positions in the market. The Russian exhibition market today demonstrates growth even in relation to the ‘pre-pandemic’ 2019”. In conclusion, the speaker told about the need to increase the number of convention centres and fairgrounds in various regions of Russia and called for joint efforts to develop a roadmap for the development of the trade show industry.
At the end of the panel, the signing ceremony of the agreement on joining the International MICE Industry Consortium was held for the SAYS exhibition company from Uzbekistan. The agreement was signed by Elena Ublieva, Executive Director at the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs as the initiator of the Consortium, and by Rustam Munasipov, Director General at SAYS.
Competition
The event that could not be missed was the Battle of Marketing Experts organised by exeDrive, an accelerator platform for marketing specialists. The event was held as part of the 5pEXPO 2023 Forum and the 30th International Exhibition for Advertising – Reklama 2023.
A social public challenge for marketing and advertising experts in Russia attracted a lot of attention from the audience. Each participant, together with his team, was able to find a real client for the business and show that humans are irreplaceable and artificial intelligence is a great helper.
The 7th episode of the Battle of Marketing Experts was attended by 100 professionals, including top specialists, representatives of marketing agencies and companies. Among the participants, there were teams not only from Moscow, but also combined teams of marketers from Voronezh and Tyumen, who in a hard-fought battle managed to seriously compete with their Moscow colleagues and gave a surprise. As a result, the prize-winning places were distributed as follows: 1st prize went to MGnext Team (Moscow), 2nd prize to Voronezh Club of Marketers, 3rd prize to the marketers at Etagi real estate agency (Tyumen). The Battle was moderated by Yulia Volikova, founder of the exeDrive accelerator platform and CEO at exeStation.
Participation in the 13th International Forum of the Exhibition Industry 5pEXPO and the 9th Russian Conference on Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities allowed the participants and visitors to be acquainted with the best projects and achievements, and exchange ideas on the future development of the industry.
Our special thanks to the partners of the Forum and conference programme.
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Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO