Matchmaking meetings
are pre-scheduled, face-to-face, networking meetings between an event’s
participants. They are a popular method of increasing the efficiency of trade
events. 72.7% of the trade fair organizers surveyed by UFI in 2012 claimed that
they have organized at least one matchmaking event in past 3 years.
In this article I try
to present a few successful examples of matchmaking meetings embedded in trade
fairs.
1. Paid Matchmaking Modules
Match & Meet Platform
Match & Meet
Platform is a detailed example of how a matchmaking event can be used as an
income generator for an already hit trade fair. This platform offers
participants the opportunity to identify and contact matching customers and
suppliers on the basis of profile information contained in a variety of
participation packages comprising different services. The spectrum of services extends
from online contact management to appointment scheduling and personal meetings
organization during the show.
Match & Meet Platform consists of five different service packages aiming four different user groups: Visitors, Exhibitors, Non-Exhibiting Vendors and Visitor Delegations. Registration is free. However free users can only respond to meeting requests made by other participants. In order to browse the database and make your own meeting selections you need to upgrade to a 3 day trial-version which will cost 99 €. Full membership cost 300 € for visitors.
Match & Meet Platform consists of five different service packages aiming four different user groups: Visitors, Exhibitors, Non-Exhibiting Vendors and Visitor Delegations. Registration is free. However free users can only respond to meeting requests made by other participants. In order to browse the database and make your own meeting selections you need to upgrade to a 3 day trial-version which will cost 99 €. Full membership cost 300 € for visitors.
Deutsche Messe will
integrate Match & Meet Service to five hit shows they are organizing in Germany
Full details on Match
& Meet Service can be reviewed in the CeBIT
website.
Euromine Expo & Conference
Paid matchmaking
services have the advantage of only addressing the interested professionals –
which promise better results to the participants. Payment can be a tool to keep
unrelated people out of the system. Euro
Mine Expo & Conference in Sweden
Below are some other
examples of paid B2B Matchmaking modules embedded into exhibitions:
BT1 Int’l Exhibitions
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Tampereen Messut
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UAB
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2. Matchmaking Meetings Integrated in Hosted Buyer
Programs
Hosted buyer programs attract
qualified volume buyers to trade shows. In these programs, flight and
accommodation costs of the buyers are covered by the trade show organizers. The
organizers in return expect buyers to meet with a specific number of
exhibitors. The meetings are held in a designated area separated from the main
show floor –mostly a VIP Buyer Lounge created within one of the exhibition
halls. Buyers select the exhibitors they will meet from a digital directory and
use an embedded online scheduling system to book the appointments. Exhibitors
also use the same system to request meeting with a hosted buyer. Every buyer
has a daily meeting program which is controlled by the organizer. Matchmaking
team manning the VIP Buyer Lounge can keep track of the appointments taken by
each exhibitor and re-schedule any meeting which has been cancelled or
postponed. Some organizers take their hosted buyers’ credit card details and
charge a compensation fee for any appointment not taken by the buyer. The
number of obligatory meetings per buyer changes 6 to 10 per day.
Below are some of the
exhibitions that are using matchmaking meetings as an integral part of their hosted
buyer programs.
3. Matchmaking Modules Free and Open for All Attendees
According to a survey
made by UFI in 2011, 75% of the trade show organizers do not charge a fee for
matchmaking services. The reason is obvious: Matchmaking meetings promise a
much higher value than money to the events they have been integrated.
Matchmaking modules increase the business value of trade shows both for the
exhibitors and visitors. They also increase the satisfaction of all attendants
and add credibility to the show –ensuring higher attendance for the next
edition. In the same survey on matchmaking made by UFI, 89,9% of the organizers
claimed that their exhibitors have appreciated the matchmaking program
integrated into their shows. Visitor appreciation level is stated as 85.3%.
NANOTECH 2013 JAPAN
Qualification is the
key point in matchmaking meetings. As long as you have a team dedicated to
matchmaking program, free modules can be as efficient as paid matchmaking
events. They can even be better. NANOTECH 2013
Nanotechnology Exhibition & Conference in Japan
POLAGRA
Polish agro-food show POLAGRA
organizes a different and less detailed kind of matchmaking event. The
organizer holds separate thematic meetings to facilitate business between the
members of two main industries within the show: Milk Sector Meeting & Meat
Sector Meeting. Applications are
qualified by the organizer. After a participant (visitor & exhibitor) is
approved by the organizer he can attend a seminar where he will receive
information on the products & services of the attending corporations.
Interested participants then stay for the second part of the event where they
meet with the other attendants. This is little more than a product
demonstration for pre-screened visitors. However it still adds much value to
the exhibition it is integrated. You can receive a more detailed introduction
in this program in the following link:
Below are several other
exhibitions which offer a free B2B Matchmaking for their registered visitors
and exhibitors:
Airtec Gmbh
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UBM
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EWEA
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Mackbrooks
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