How ESMA’s Inkjet Conference brought together three times more attendees than most industry events and turned a profit with a 40% decrease per attendance fee.
European Specialist Printing Manufacturers Association
In 2015, ESMA proudly celebrates 25 years of service to the printing industry. The European association for equipment manufacturers in screen and digital printing has grown into an organisation representing industrial, functional and speciality print. Throughout the years ESMA has developed the Knowledge Hub concept which now expertly serves over 70 European manufacturer members and Technology Partners. Every ESMA member enjoys advantageous terms at major trade shows and ESMA’s own conferences. Other benefits include access to technical seminars and committee meetings. Partners and members receive support and advice regarding health, safety and environmental legislation and participate in setting industry standards.
How ESMA’s Inkjet Conference brought together three times more attendees than most industry events and turned a profit with a 40% decrease per attendance fee.
Organisation
Name:
European Specialist Printing Manufacturers Association
The rapid advancements in the inkjet technology in the past five years have led to a high demand for digital technology in innovative and disruptive solutions. The idea behind The Inkjet Conference was to fill this demand by establishing a broad platform for both industry and academic players for a technical and educational conference on inkjet engineering and inkjet chemistry.
Our strategy was to focus on the technology in general rather than on specific applications and markets. We aimed to bring together all parts and subparts of the industry who lead the research and development in this sector and to motivate manufacturers of machines, inks and applications to come and meet all technology suppliers in one spot.
Discovery
ESMA had developed several technical conferences before but never in such innovative area as digital inkjet technology. Our previous events attracted a maximum of 150 attendees (delegates, exhibitors and speakers), the profits and expansion were very limited, and ESMA was perceived as a an organiser of rather small-scale events for traditional (analogue) printing community.
The growing importance of inkjet was reflected in the changing composition of ESMA member base in the last 3-4 years – the number of members and technology partners involved in digital field increased, a new market awareness grew also among the long-time members, thus the critical mass was reached to find sufficient support for the first edition of The Inkjet Conference.
Objectives
We targeted a specific group of developers within the industry and aimed at bringing together academics, reasearchers, engineers and other key people to provide them with two days of opportunities: new projects and collaborations.
Our target for the overall number of participants was 100 exhibitors and speakers, and 250 delegates, system developers, R&D engineers, chemists and technical experts, also coming from the academic field.
Targets and Figures (KPI’s):
Maximum 60 table tops (TT) (increase with 50% from the 1st conference edition) –
Speakers: 50
Delegates: 250
Financials:
Revenue: €220,000
Net Profit: €120,000
Sponsoring: €10,000
Timeline
Website TheIJC screenshot
October - November 2014: Post-evaluation of the 1st edition, accompanied by media campaign and announcement of the 2nd edition (45h)
December 2014: start of early exhibitor and speaker bookings (125h), hot calling and cold calling
February 2015: New website launch (website creation 275h)
March 2015: Start of the mailing campaign for exhibitors, speakers, call for papers (145h), promotion at other conferences in Europe
April 2015: Start of the campaign in Berlin (IDTechEx), followed by promotion at ESMA General Assembly and member motiviation programme (345h)
May 2015: First announcement of speakers and presentation titles (225h)
June 2015: Last call for exhibitors and speakers (350h) » July-August 2015: Acceleration of promotion toward delegates (650h)
September 2015: Further intensification of promotion toward delegates (875h)
During the whole period, the database was continuously expanded with relevant contacts.
Project period
October 2014 – October 2015
Project Team
The “founding fathers” of TheIJC were Peter Buttiens, CEO of ESMA and Steve Knight, representing one of the member companies.
The sales and promotion activities were coordinated by sales experts Peter and Steve, each of them with their own style and approach, both with years of experience in industrial printing sector.
In terms of event marketing and rollout, the support was provided by ESMA back office: Borbala Csala (administration), Maciej Bochajczuk (marketing and communication) and Luc vande Reyde (web design and development).
Everyone had their own specific function and responsibilities which made the final success possible.
Project Partners
Drupa - the world’s biggest print show organised by Messe Düsseldorf
Activities
Approach strategy:
Define the formula, target markets, content, location and partners
Choose for cost controlling rather than focusing on revenue
Think big, aim high. Focus on the end goal of a successful event
Innovate, innovate, innovate. Every idea, every move has been copied. Don’t look back, stay ahead of the pack
Provide professional exhibition area
Provide free WiFi
Close a special deal with Drupa for a free daily ticket for Drupa 2016 for each participant of TheIJC.
Offer high quality and practical goodies: conference booklet, power banks, drupa ticket
Key activities can be broken down into the following areas:
Content and format
Administration
Sales
Marketing
Relationships
Hotel arrangments
Exhibition area at professional level
To secure the technical and educational nature of the presentations, a scientific board was appointed – consisting of experienced scholars from University of Cambridge, iPrint Institute, University College Ghent and ISTEC Faenza. In the end eight conference speeches were delivered by representatives of the academic field.
The main challenge was to find the optimal format of presenting the developments in such a rapidly changing market and – while using the moment of change – to show an alternative conference approach. Given the major market change from graphical to industrial we have decided to include all links from across the supply chain. The chain is only as good as its weakest link, so a symmetrical representation of all industrial inkjet-related businesses was targeted for the event (printhead manufacturers, system integrators, software developers, ink suppliers, curers and dryers, chemists and engineers).
Winning an enabling partner for the conference was the next important step. Convincing the world’s biggest printing exhibition, drupa from Messe Düsseldorf, gave us an extra push in profiling TheIJC as a convincing and high-level conference. The upcoming drupa 2016 and location of TheIJC in the same city brought additional boost.
Expert articles across various topics relevant for the industry (labels, textiles, data management)
Flyers - 3 versions, each with a specific goal during for the period of 3 months; published 9, 6 and 3 months before the conference)
LinkedIn campaigns - event promotion via interest groups and individual messaging
Support from other associations for mailings (InnovationFab, Unitex, VOGC, Febelgra)
Other tools:
New mailing template
Expanding database to 7,000-8,000 contacts
Social media - LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube, etc
Presence at international shows and seminars
Challenges
In 2015 the challenge was to maintain the existing participants base and expand it with new names.
We entered a market on which an inkjet conference had already existed for more than 20 years. After analysing their approach, it became clear to us that no direct competition exposed them to certain weaknesses. They didn’t manage to develop real new opportunities and didn’t adjust their formula to the market changes.
We started our promotion campaign but after a promising start and lots of enthusiasm we hit a barrier. Promised support did not materialise, everybody was waiting to see who else would support us. We did not exaggerate, we did not make false claims, only when confirmed signed
documents had been received did we speak about our supporters.
We fell behind schedule on contents and participants and then spent many hours of “sales” activity, explaining why and for whom we were running The Inkjet Conference. This resulted in a snowball effect. Our formula turned out to be correct, our enthusiasm contagious – the message that we like and believe in what we are doing, came across.
As a matter of fact, the inaugural event was rolled out three months before the conference opened. The peak of our sales and marketing activities took place between June and September and the competititon was caught by surprise of their impact.
Success factors
The relationship between ESMA and Messe Düsseldorf, more specifically with the biggest printing show in the world, drupa, which became enabling partner and sponsor of TheIJC. It could be considered almost a unique support for a none German-based association but it fitted very well drupa’s strategy in advance of the upcoming fair in June 2016. In this context The Inkjet Conference was promoted as a technology springboard for everyone affected by the digital print revolution.
When using the classic SWOT model, our strengths lay in Peter and Steve, driven sales experts with a very broad network. ESMA could bring in its experience in managing technical conferences. However, as a “new kid on the block” we had to convince our contacts to the new formula.
At the basis of The Inkjet Conference was a mindmap connecting all stakeholders: delegates, exhibitors and speakers. We repeatedly asked ourselves the question: What do they need, what are they looking for at this moment? This empathical approach let us connect all the parts of the mindmap and inspired us to create a brand new value in this segment of the printing industry.
Stakeholders mindmap
The price setting that distinguished TheIJC from other events of comparable scale. With 40-50% lower entry fees we still could keep it profitable for the association and make it accessible for a bigger number of delegates, academics, students, start-ups and those “between the jobs”.
Hiring a Marketing and Communications Coordinator, initially through an on-the-job training program enabled by the Belgian government. The goal was to train the person but also have a full-time employee who could create all marketing collaterals such as flyers, brochures or mailings.
Setting up of a CRM - thecloud-based system which gave us 24/7 access to all necessary information. It was really the digital nerve centre of the conference, helping to control the whole system of activities and tasks in one spot.
Appointing the Scientific Board which helped to involve the world of universities and academic institutions. They are still an important group to show the commercial world that their ground breaking work is sometimes miles ahead of the markets.
Achievments
The first edition in 2014 might have been a lucky break but the conference in 2015 proved the viability of our concept and that we have found the right format:
The number of interested companies grew significantly and the number of delegates followed the same growth path.
The strategy and format of the conference was the biggest inspiration for the industry.
The atmosphere was open and friendly which was never seen before on such an event and this gave an excellent return toward delegates and exhibitors, as the format and set-up of the conference provided for ideal networking conditions.
The most important part and core value could be found in the nearly 50 highly technical presentations spread over two days which showed extremely innovative and challenging ideas for future developments.
The networking gala dinner included in the participant’s fee, was praised by many as the best networking dinner they have ever attended.
The strategic lay-out of the conference with a 2,000 sqm exhibiting area and two presentation rooms behind, kept all 400 participants closer together during two full days.
The IJC combined a healthy level of academic presentations and tabletop exhibitors which get a unique opportunity to present their research in front of the commercial audience. Basing on the attendees feedback and “foot voting” we can say that academic presentations enjoyed huge popularity among all participants.
You can’t have better promotors than your own exhibitors. By introducing videos provided by exhibitors, promoting their participation and announcing their latest product launches we have gained an excellent promotional vehicle for social media without extra costs.
The most important part to accelerate the development of the conference was the use of the cloud-based CRM system. The platform has been tuned for our needs and equipped with tools for the purposes of the conference. The sales tools and database were key elements for excellent communication with and between the speakers, exhibitors and delegates.
The new MarCom Coordinator together with Peter Buttiens developed video slide shows from the presentations which were offered to delegates and were purchasable by others. An attractive price and an easy online system offered an alternative option to access the speeches after the event and draw more attention to TheIJC.
During the first edition, 92% of the attendees stated that they would come back for the next edition. In 2015, 2 out of 3 attendees joined the event for the first time!
97% of the respondents rated the contents of the conference as “useful” and “inspirational” for their business or research.
82% of the participants said the conference organisation was “very good”, 18% marked “good” and 0% said “poor”.
Targets & Statistics
Achievement of targets
What would we do differently?
Not much, maybe be from the start a believer in the in-house strengths and experiences - because at a certain time, fear of failure was almost a tipping point!
Feedback & Testimonials
“The best industry conference I have been to.”
Derek Montgomery, Qres Technologies
“A fully packed, professional conference offering the opportunity to (re-)connect with key players in the industry and gather impressions on technological trends, do’s and don’ts in inkjet and market development.“
Jochen Christiaens, Atlantic Zeiser
“A premier networking place from scientific, R&D and commercial point of view for both starting and experienced professionals.”
Sebastiaan Kolmschot, Tanatex Chemicals
“A very enjoyable experience for inkjet researchers wanting a digital view of graphics printing industry. The networking was exceptional!”
Stephen Hoath, University of Cambridge
“This conference was not only excellent for learning and experiencing in two days a lot of high level information but it also brought together in one place all right people from all over Europe to sit down and discuss projects. It involved also other partners during the meetings which is normally very hard to fit in agendas nowadays. It saved me the work of three months traveling around the world.”
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