What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 11 April 2016

Welcome to another week and its certainly all go here at Cloud 9 Towers with a whole host of client events, conferences and awards looming. One of the key things we're looking forward to is the Conference & Hospitality Show in Leeds which takes places on 26 April at the First Direct Arena and is now recognised as one of the leading Trade Shows, and certainly the most prolific in the North.

It's a bit different for us this year as in addition to attending the show as hosted buyers, part of the team will also be on hand to man a stand, and we're representing the spectacular St Mary's Church in the Lace Market, Nottingham.

Following  major and significant refurbishment, St Mary's is both a living church and the latest Nottingham venue 'with a difference'; as such it offers a unique historic and atmospheric setting for a range of events. There is a spacious interior with 8,000 sq ft' of flat floor space, under floor heating, comfortable and flexible seating possibilities.

St Mary’s is an ideal location in Nottingham's Lace Market and Creative Quarter situated just a few minutes walk from three car parks, tram stops, the railway station and the city centre itself. There is a world of possibilities available at St Mary's with seating available for up to 500 guests. The Nave Space can accommodate up to 200 guests for Gala or Formal Dinners. With our range of local suppliers able to deliver everything from superb catering to stunning audio visual solutions, you are guaranteed a truly spectacular event at St Mary’s. So we look forward to telling you more about this amazing venue the show.

Also, this years Show will be the platform for announcing the shortlist for the CHS Awards and following record entries, we are expecting a bit of a rush on ticket sales, especially as we sold out in record time for the inaugural awards last year. 

But getting back to being Hosted Buyers though and its a term that is used frequently in our industry and accompanies all sorts of invitations. For the uneducated though, exactly what does it mean to be a Hosted Buyer, what are the qualifications and obligations? honour?

Hosted buyer programs are springing up everywhere. The hosted buyer concept was designed by Ray Bloom, founder and director of the IMEX Group originally and although still relatively new in North America, these programs have been around for years in Europe.

Hosted Buyer Lounge at the Meetings Show London

In a nutshell, hosted buyer programs are a way to engage buyers (event planners) and sellers (suppliers such as hoteliers, DMC's, Venues etc) outside of the traditional trade show. Accepted hosted buyers set appointments, share RFPs and have the opportunity to meet with suppliers they want to meet before the conference. Relationships are established pre event so that come the actual event, the face-to-face appointments are productive. The key benefit for both parties is the time efficiency and also making sure you are meeting the people you need to meet. No point in only meeting suppliers with whopping great convention bureaus if your average group size is only 40 or 50 people.

Hosted Buyers are normally invited to apply and then have to go through a qualification process so that the organisers can determine the potential for business, any buying power and more importantly that any needs are being met by the suppliers in attendance. If its unlikely that you will ever have a need for a hotel or venue in certain parts of the world, then some of the Trade Shows are simply not for you and you are wasting your own and the suppliers time.

Qualified buyers normally then can expect that their travel, accommodation, transfers and any event registration fees will be covered, and in most cases with our own experience, usually some fantastic dinners and social events too. This is of course funded by the income that the suppliers bring in and it also guarantees a good audience at the event for the organisers or hosts - hence Hosted Buyers! 

World Travel Market Stats

As a Hosted Buyer you are normally expected to attend a number of pre-arranged appointments or workshops but as you can usually select just who you want to see, being hosted has lots of benefits. Of course having that investment in you means that you are duty bound to attend your appointments, be on time and be professional at all times, and its important to try and maximise your experience at the event, so we never expect anything less from our our team here as we are always appreciative of the invitations.

We also recognise that its a sizable investment also for the suppliers, and we all know that its not always easy to establish a measurable sales ROI at Trade Shows. Having buyers there at least ensures an exhibitor or not standing around all day waiting for an opportunity to talk to someone! With a Hosted Buyer Programme the supplier knows that the meetings they schedule are with buyers that want and need their specific services.

 

So the next time someone mentions being a Hosted Buyer, you will now know the terminology and what to expect - and it will also help you ensure that the suppliers are the ones you want to meet and to talk to!

We look forward to seeing you at CHS, whether you are hosted or not! Have a great week!