GES has been helping clients harness the power of live events for over 90 years. From humble beginnings in the USA to a multinational corporation with 89 offices around the world, GES is at the forefront of the industry, driving growth and helping businesses thrive. Jamie Macdonald, Commercial Director, provides the low-down in an exclusive interview.
What is GES’s positioning?
Our commitment is to be the preferred global live events partner with a comprehensive range of services including custom stand, pavilion and feature design and build, event registration, interior fit-out, electrical, audio visual, graphics print and installation that our clients can tap into and harness at any time. We manage every detail from creative conception and strategy through to seamless execution and our aim is to turn exhibits into experiences and interactions into business results.
With an unrivaled global reach and breadth of services and technology, we are delighted to have the ability to integrate with our clients’ marketing teams as their own, bringing years of experience and insight. We understand the importance of brand consistency and have the advantage of offices across the globe to ensure consistency and excellence in quality and execution.
How important is technology in the exhibitions industry?
The industry has evolved immensely over the last few years; there is so much data that can be gathered at an exhibition. One of our opportunities is to provide better intelligence for our clients through real-time, actionable data.
There has been a rising demand for two of our award winning technologies; Visit by GES, which offers event registration, ticketing and data intelligence and Poken by GES, an NFC-enabled device that allow clients a cohesive network that enhances event engagement through smart badges. We recently were awarded ‘Best Use of Technology’ and ‘Innovation of the Year’ at the 2018 AEO Awards, which validates our position as an industry leader. Additionally we have introduced a platform called onPeak, a hotel booking system, which complements our overall offering.
How has GES helped its customers better capitalise when exhibiting at a trade show?
Industry knowledge has been testament to the deep understanding we have of the challenges our clients face and the opportunities they can embrace. We are fortunate enough to employ some of the best minds in the industry that understand the full cycle of creating an engaging exhibit beyond the architecture, be it creating a first-of-its-kind interactive display or producing content for a groundbreaking conference.
Uncertain economic times can lead to companies tightening their belts, so to speak. We are supporting our clients in the effective use of their budget by offering solutions to re-use and re-purpose key elements of their build. This not only boosts a client’s brand recognition, but it is also cost effective and environmentally friendly.
Our facility in the Middle East, which spans across 56,000sq ft, provides us an added advantage to offer storage and logistical services as well as the flexibility to mock up full-scale features or activations prior to a show. Our positioning globally gives our corporate clients the advantage of working with one dependable supplier worldwide without compromising on consistency of quality and service.
What does the future hold for GES?
We have grown from strength to strength thanks to our clients; we look forward to further development of our technologies and integration of our services in continued efforts to add value to our long-term partnerships. With Expo 2020 around the corner, we look forward to being part of this historic event.
