HIC Talk

The first day of the Knitting and Stitching show saw record number of visitors flocking to the exhibition at Harrogate International Centre between 25-28 November despite poor weather conditions.  This continues the organiser’s trend for increased attendees across their portfolio of craft shows.

The success of the event can be largely attributed to the organiser’s pioneering marketing strategies and focus on client needs.

Knitting and Stitching organiser, Andrew Salmon from twistedthread said: “The exhibition was a great success. It started fantastically on the Thursday with huge numbers.  However, the icy conditions created challenges during the weekend. The exhibitors had brisk business and they loved it as was clearly demonstrated by the superb testimonials we have received.”

The twistedthread portfolio of shows has remained popular despite the recession because of their professional and creative marketing strategies, including:

• Data Quality and Use – High quality databases have been developed and maintained to target highly segmented groups through direct mail, emails and adverts.
• Long distance coach transfers – Using their data, the organisers were able to target and transport specific audiences from around the country directly to the event in Harrogate.

Salmon continues: “Whilst The Knitting and Stitching Show was taking place, Gok’s Fashion Fix, starring Gok Wan was being filmed in The Royal Hall.  Gok did come in to see The Knitting and Stitching Show and was very impressed – he said it was like haberdashery porn!  In fact, on the Thursday, he chose to stage his Recipes within the Show which caused a great deal of excitement amongst our younger audience in particular.”

Testimonials and comments included:

“An essential date for everyone’s diary… this annual extravaganza is not to be missed.  A knitter’s paradise – Woolaballoo is selling out of stock faster than Take That!” Lucy Bush, owner, Woolaballoo

“What a wonderful fair in spite of the terrible weather! We were busy every day and even whilst the heavy snow was falling on Sunday.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself! Well done Twisted Thread yet again.” The Cross Stitch Guild, managing director, Jane Greenoff

One of the visitors from Birmingham said: “It is wonderful to be here especially on a day like this. I was able to do some great shopping and find new products and ideas. It is brilliantly organised and the transport to the event was great.”

Alison Griffin, Head of Sales and Marketing at Harrogate International Centre recently wrote an article for Stand Out Magazine – further extracts from which are detailed below…

Destinations and venues need to focus on several key areas to excite and engage the audience.  Three of these include:

Marketing of the destination – no matter how little time they spend in a destination, event attendees will prefer to visit somewhere they actually like.  Somewhere clean, attractive and benefiting from the facilities they need.  The longer the event the more important this becomes, which is why it is vital to engage with the whole community and clearly demonstrate why you are not only capable of holding the event but have a destination-wide desire to.

Location – very different from destination, this is about geographical location and ease of access.  Events with delegates countrywide are likely to prefer somewhere central, with good motorway access, train links and an airport within twenty minutes.  A regional event on the other hand can afford to have less national links as long as the local infrastructure is in place.  In either case it is still vital to develop the destination-based links to ensure ease of access once the visitors arrive.

Going beyond the RFP – often the first stage in the planning is the RFP, which is often focused on the venue and essential facilities needed for the event.  Whilst it is of course paramount that this is completed correctly – and opportunities for embellishment are challenging – initial impressions count and this is an opportunity to make a difference.  Highlight the extra facilities you can offer: the links with the community, the newly installed equipment, the added value services that are free to organisers.

And finally – great service.  Despite the recession, despite this “time of austerity”, events go on and price is not the be all and end all.  Organisers still need to hold their events in a great destination that is easy for their audience to reach.  They need to know the hidden benefits’ of one venue and town over another and above all they need to be confident that everyone working on their event – from managing director to car-parking assistant will offer the best possible service and friendliest attitude to their visitors.

At Harrogate International Centre (HIC) we pride ourselves on delivering a first class service to our exhibitors and visitors. However, we’re very aware of the occasional inconvenience caused by having a world class venue in the middle of a culturally rich place like Harrogate, which is why we work so closely with the local community.

Harrogate is recognised around the world as both a friendly town and a leading destination for business tourism.   Locally, HIC has helped to create new jobs and boost local business and infrastructure, and we continue to look for opportunities to benefit the town and residents.  Some of this work however remains a little more subtle…

Tip-Ex –the only exhibition for the UK tipping industry – was scheduled to take place at HIC in 2009 but was scrapped because of the recession. Rather than impose large cancellation fees on the organisers, we were able to postpone the event till this year and it was a huge success. Crescent Gardens was the star of the show as several large tipping trucks were displayed and photographed there – and the Gardens were showcased around the UK as a result – benefiting both our business and leisure tourism industries.

In the same month, we stepped in to help the annual Toymaster Exhibition after its original venue, the Majestic Hotel, suffered a devastating fire. Along with Destination Harrogate, we were able to provide venues for several of the scheduled events at no additional cost, helping both the exhibition organisers and the local economy, which would have suffered a blow if the exhibition had moved out of Harrogate.

Working in partnership with a number of local businesses, our most recent initiative is a voucher scheme running between now and Christmas. Every attendee at an HIC exhibition or conference will receive a book of vouchers offering discounts or incentives at local restaurants, bars and retail outlets. We trialled the scheme earlier in the year and it proved to be a great success – because it is a win-win situation all round. HIC visitors get a great deal, the local economy gets a boost and participants are given the opportunity to demonstrate to visitors everything that Harrogate has to offer.

Too often we hear stories of towns being sidelined by venues and lack of local engagement.  We really don’t understand why when it is the local people that make a destination so memorable to the event’s attendees.

The 2010 Hearth and Home Show was an overwhelming success for both HIC and the organisers, The Fireplace Marketing Company, who staged their largest exhibition since 2005 from 13-15 June 2010.

The event, which took place across three halls at HIC, saw visitor figures rise since 2009 by 20% to 2,186.  This followed a rise in pre-registrations of 43%.  In particular, the show dramatically increased attendance from sales and marketing teams (up 75% on 2009), forging greater links between the exhibitors and reseller, which will have long term positive effects on the market.

Show organiser, David Spencer: “2010 has been a great year for the show as we continue to grow, attracting more visitors and exhibitors than ever before.  2009 was a turning point for the show – amidst the recession a number of businesses regretted their decision not to exhibit last year and focused tremendous effort on the 2010 show instead.  Both their feedback and the feelings of the industry as a whole point towards a strong 2010/2011 season with the Hearth and Home Show acting as a starting point.”

David Spencer continues: “An exhibition of this size requires a great deal of flexibility from a venue and the whole team at HIC worked with us to provide a 2010 event that eclipsed all others.  Harrogate is the perfect location for the event, sitting right in the middle of the UK it is easily accessible through the national motorway network – a fact that is clearly demonstrated by the regional breakdown of attendees.  One of our chief aims for 2011 will be to build on the international (particularly European) attendance.”

Just a few comments received by exhibitors at the show in the days following the event include:

“The show is the place to be.  The show is the industry.  You simply had to be there.” Mark Blewitt, Sales Director, ESSE

“We were very pleased with the exhibition.  Lots of interest in the products and a large number of stove retailers visited us.”  Vicky Naylor, ACR Heat Products Ltd

“2010 was our first year and we didn’t really know what to expect.  You can only really measure success by sales but I can tell you we received over 100 good leads that we are confident of converting into real business!”  Phil Mangnall, Flues Chimneys

“We had a great time at the show, and it ticked all the boxes with what we wanted to achieve.  And most importantly we had fantastic attendance from the retailers.  As you may have seen there were 8 of us on the stand and we were all pretty much flat out for all three days.   We made up a postcode map when we got back from all the leads we took at the show (we only wrote down viable leads not everyone who visited us) and we have pretty much saturated all the postcode areas across the country I think there are only about 5 or 6 where we didn’t have a good lead.  So all in all we couldn’t have had a better result.”  Anna Buckley, J Rotherham

“For us it was a great show, the response to the products was fantastic, we are all very busy collating the leads.  Congratulations to you all for this year’s show, now that we are expanding our product range and appealing to a wider demographic we will certainly be doing the show again.” Huw Williams, International Sales Manager, Chesneys

Tip-ex 2010, which took place from 27th-29th May was a great success for the organisers and demonstrated how as a town Harrogate can pull together and generate long term reward for a huge range of businesses.

HIC’s director, Stuart Quin “Economic changes over the last two years have impacted businesses of all sizes.  Where a town like Harrogate can work together to help a business facing tough times it is in our best interest to provide support and we look forward to welcoming Tip-ex back next year.”

Tip-ex, which is the UK’s only exhibition dedicated to the tipping industry was scheduled for 2009 but cancelled due to the recession.  Rather than impose heavy cancellation fees on an already beleaguered exhibition, HIC agreed to postpone the event, preserving long term revenues and ensuring the event’s success.

Despite the downturn in the economy and the cancellation of the 2009 show, more than 2,000 visitors attended, using a variety of the town’s business and leisure facilities, including hotels, restaurants and pubs.

One key factor of the event was the use of the Crescent Gardens – the council car park – for the spectacular display of several brand new tipper trucks.  Images of this have been and will continue to be used throughout the tipping industry, increasing regard for Harrogate as a world leading business tourism destination.

Quin continues: “Events like Tip-ex have a huge economic impact on Harrogate, providing revenues for businesses of all sizes.  Harrogate is a beautiful destination and the use of an outdoor space such as Crescent Gardens adds to the town’s superb business events infrastructure through the use of unusual spaces.  It has become more crucial than ever that the town works together to secure and keep these valuable business events – the ability to provide this, and other, outdoor space is an important element in the offering.”