IBC2018 is a whole new beast…

 

Revolutionary change can often come surprisingly quietly. IBC has undergone a fairly revolutionary shake-up, but you won’t find those changes only on the exhibition floor. One of the newest occurrences at IBC is actually something that has already come to pass; the media community concept marks a move away from ‘merely’ providing exhibition services, towards the provision of a more holistic, interactive, content-oriented service.

Journalists will deliver hundreds of articles and videos, including industry trends, executive interviews, thought leadership pieces, technology papers and sponsored content across Production, Content Management, Delivery, Consumption and Technology Advancements. Some of this content is designed to complement the keynote talks, conference themes and workshops which will take place over the course of the five-day conference and exhibition. All the messages on social media will use the same hashtags connoting the IBC Show community and the technology represented at the show.

 

This community-engaging concept is further strengthened by IBC bringing the daily newspaper – now called Insight – in-house this year, wherein previously it was outsourced to NewBay. In addition, the approach taken towards conference organisation has been shaken up. New tracks have been added – allowing attendees to focus on the elements most important to them, and a range of different engagement activities have been launched; ranging from masterclasses, to breakfast briefings to interviews and tech talks. IBC is aiming to break away from only using panel discussions to deliver content – stating that their ‘aim is to deliver content in the best possible format for delegates… to create a much more dynamic and memorable experience’.

 

This marks a clear attempt by IBC to embrace the concept of content marketing – a strategy that is close to the hearts of us here at Xpresso. We’ve believed for many years now that delivering value to potential audiences through the provision of high quality content is key to marketing yourself effectively, reaching your target audience with content that is useful to the reader, while remaining competitive in the market. This strategy has proved highly successful for several of the clients we represent.

IBC is also repositioning itself as an active caretaker/promoter of the media & technology community. A lot of activities seem to aim at attracting decision makers like the upcoming  Executive Experience program that welcomes delegates from their arrival at Schiphol and allows them to attend Executive Forums, conferences and networking events.

 

From a more practical point of view, with 15 halls and 55,000msq to cover, a great way to get ahead is to start viewing the interactive floorplan published on the IBC site and plan who you’d most like visit and what technology you’d most like to see. That’s exactly what we’ve been doing; we’re looking forward to catching up with some of our major clients – including Bridge Technologies, VSN, NOA, VP Media Solutions, SCTE, CyanView and On-Hertz – and hopefully meeting some new ones.

For us at Xpresso, events like IBC will always be about walking and talking a lot and strengthening our personal connections. We will be connecting and reconnecting with people in the industry – clients, journalists, friends, speakers, newcomers and prospects. Xpresso firmly believes that at the heart of all technology is the personal element and shows like IBC give an unparalleled opportunity to warmly great old friends, make personal introductions to new ones, and perhaps drink a beer or two after a hard day of meetings, conference talks and stand visits.

 

For us personally, one big difference this year is that Jess McMurray will join the Xpresso team at the show. Whilst in theory coming along to forge new relationships with some of our closest clients, Jess actually claims that she’s mostly coming to drink copious amounts of coffee and eat stroopwafels (an activity that we support heavily). Jess has been working mainly on producing content for Xpresso and is looking forward to getting to grips with the needs of old clients and new – especially as they seek to increase their own content provision.

If you haven’t made an appointment to meet with us at IBC yet, we suggest you drop us a line at info@xpressocommunications.com before we’re all booked out.

 

We look forward to seeing you in a few weeks!