Glaswelt – Mr Bleinroth, where do you see yourself as Stuttgart Exhibition Centre in the field of tension between digital trade fairs and their competitors such as BAU or Fensterbau Frontale?
Roland Bleinroth – At this point in time, we see digital trade fairs as a necessary solution to stay in touch with our community and to offer attractive content online via topics such as the Innovation Award, match-making, live lectures and virtual exhibitions. It is not enough just to organise the above-mentioned points individually. Visitors must also be able to find information that they were not looking for. That is the challenge.
Glaswelt – Do you see R+T digital as a bridge to R+T 2022 in Stuttgart?
Bleinroth – That would be too short-sighted, and is not our intention. Now it’s first of all a matter of picking up our customers with R+T digital. The question that then arises is, where do we go from here? The world, and with it the trade fair world, will change as a result of the pandemic. Our differentiator will be to extend the reach of the upcoming R+T 2022 in Stuttgart through digital components. We want to learn from the digital event in order to be able to offer our visitors tailor-made content as a trade fair in the future, completely regardless of whether it is real or digital.
Schmid – A very interesting point is that exhibitors have registered for R+T digital who have never been to R+T before. This shows us that our offer is coherent. This will certainly have a similar effect on visitors. Here, too, we will reach employees of manufacturers and specialist companies (clerks, craftsmen, trainees) who have not had the opportunity to visit R+T so far. Of course, a digital platform will not be able to replace a real trade fair, because multisensuality is a key factor that only the real world offers in unison.
Bleinroth – In the future, digital supplements to real trade fairs will become increasingly important. It thus becomes relatively easy for a company with a manageable amount of effort to get a taste, for instance, of the world of R+T and, if successful, to exhibit at the real R+T in the future. But even with limited travel options, the digital version will be a useful addition for exhibitors and visitors in the future.
Glaswelt – Mr Schmid, over 300 exhibitors sounds very positive. Are you satisfied?
Sebastian Schmid – I am very impressed by the great response from the industry. With regard to R+T digital, it was particularly important for us to be able to meet the expectations regarding internationality and product diversity of a R+T. We are all the more pleased that we can keep this promise to our visitors. Exhibitors from over 30 countries are taking part. 37 % come from national exhibitors, over 63 % result from international participation. Besides Germany, the top exhibiting countries are Italy, China, Spain and Turkey. But there are also some exhibitors from France, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and South Korea, among others. From that point of view, I am very satisfied.
Glaswelt – Will there be a “big” R+T Alliance industry platform in the future?
Bleinroth – That would undoubtedly be an advantage that the digital world offers. Creating multilingualism here is relatively simple. Of course, we are also planning in this direction to connect the entire R+T network in a meaningful way.
Glaswelt – Thank you for the interview, and good luck with R+T digital.
The interview was conducted by GLASWELT editor Olaf Vögele.—