THE SUMMER MEETING OF THE AEFI TECHNICAL COMMITTEE DEDICATED TO STUDYING THE EXPERIENCE OF OTHER COUNTRIES IN LONDON

The traditional summer meeting of the AEFI Technical Committee, coordinated by Giovanni Giuliani, was held on 23 and 24 June. As last year, this meeting was dedicated to an update based on the experience of other countries.
London was chosen as the location for the 2016 summer meeting, a city at the cutting edge in terms of infrastructure and logistical solutions for improving exhibition sites in order to facilitate the participation of visitors and exhibitors.

The whole of Friday the 24th was reserved for visiting the most representative venues, selected by AEFI as exemplary, helpful for stimulating reflections on the role of services in trade fairs and on how to optimise our exhibition districts.
The morning was dedicated to the ExCel Exhibition Centre and meeting with Jeremy Rees, Executive Director, and his technical team; the afternoon to the meeting with Gillian Kiamil, Venue Director, and Chris Morrison, Director of Facilities, at Olympia.

The ExCel Exhibition Centre is an example of an exhibition district located just outside the city of London, near the airport, the railway, the underground and the docks. The flexible, modular spaces allow several events to be hosted simultaneously; the high-quality hospitality services – large hotels in the immediate vicinity, highly diverse internal catering – allow all requirements to be met. The structure was conceived with a great focus on the customer and on creating an environment able to blend business requirements with a pleasurable visit.
Thanks to being privately held – owned by the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) – it can finance itself as a lessor and service provider for trade fair and conference event organisers.
Olympia, located near the centre of London in a prestigious historic structure, is one of the first exhibition centres built in Europe at the end of the 19th century and hosts mostly exhibitions and B2C events. Despite its historic structure, its functional and architectural characteristics meet the requirements of our times. 
In addition to the two centres, the AEFI Technical Committee had the chance to meet Fortunato Celi Zullo, Director of the Italian Trade Agency in London, who provided helpful information on the trade fair systems of the two countries, from corporate structure to the regulatory aspects that govern the sector.

The AEFI Technical Committee was represented in London by the coordinator Giovanni Giuliani, Director of Operations for Bolognafiere; Alessandro Savoia, Managing Director of Bolognafiere; Nazario Pedini, Technical Director of Rimini Fiera; Massimo Magnani, Operations Manager for Rimini Fiera; Mirco Zamponi, Operations Manager for Rimini Fiera; Gianni Simonelli, Operations Manager for Riva del Garda Fierecongressi; Roberto Frattarelli, Operations Office at Riva del Garda Fierecongressi; Mario Vescovo, Technical Director of Fiera di Vicenza; Beatrice Simonetti, Mkt&Development Office of Firenze Fiera. The delegation was accompanied by Loredana Sarti, Secretary General of the Association.

AEFI – the Italian Exhibition and Trade Fair Association – was set up in 1983 with a view to generating synergies between the most significant Italian exhibition districts. Specifically, AEFI would like to be seen as a privileged partner for operators and institutions alike, and its role is to support members through the development of activities and programmes in the sphere of training, marketing, promotion and research, as well as to provide services for trade fairs through the activities of its Committees: the Exhibition Hub Technical Committee, the Administrative-Legal Committee, the Trade Fairs Network Committee, the IT and Technical Innovation Committee, and the new Initiatives and Programmes Committee.
On an international scale, AEFI represents Italian trade fairs in UFI-Union des Foires Internationales. Chaired by Ettore Riello, AEFI includes 35 member exhibition districts, which organise over 1,000 events a year over an overall exhibition area of 4.2 million square metres. Most international trade fairs, and 85% of all trade fairs, which take place each year in Italy, are held in AEFI-member exhibition districts.