CABSAT announces changes

What are your plans for CABSAT 2011?

For one, we have brought the show forward from March to February in line with requests from exhibitors and visitors. CABSAT will run from February 8-10 in 2011.

We will also move the show to the Sheikh Saeed Halls at the Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Centre (DIECC) next year to give us one continuous exhibition and additional floor space. These halls are close to DWTC’s Metro Station.

A study done in conjunction with the RTA (the Roads & Transport Authority) suggests that a significant proportion of visitors to all shows at the Trade Centre in the future would use this form of transport. I expect it will have a positive reception with international exhibitors, who can now stay in hotels as far afield as Ibn Battuta in one direction and the airport in the other, and still be only 20 minutes commute away from the show.

This venue also provides additional benefits such as more catering outlets, and a vast outdoor area where we can feature outside broadcast and satellite technology solutions.

How has the industry reacted to the change in dates?

We were careful to consult our clients before arriving at this decision. We are now further away from several of the big international broadcast and technology shows, so there

should be fewer issues in terms of date clashes.

We hear you have renamed the Conference The Academy?

The Academy was previously called Knowledge Exchange. We were conscious that after several years in the same format, we needed to expand our conference proposition, give it a greater appeal, and a wider focus.

With regards to the Conference, it’s a question of variety, target audience and format. Broadcast is a vast industry, and successfully representing the entire workflow process in one conference programme is challenging. We will now have a format whereby we can offer C-level knowledge exchange (aimed at CEOs, CTOs, CIOs and CFOs) alongside educational workshops for entry-level professionals. This also allows third parties the opportunity to bring in their own ‘ready-made’ tutorials and master-classes, and maximise the ROI because of the sheer scale of the CABSAT MENA visitor numbers.

The Conference will continue to be the central event within the Academy. However, we will also offer exhibitors the opportunity to make presentations to visitors in a specially designed Vendor Presentation Theatre throughout the duration of the event. This will give exhibitors a point-of-reference beyond their stand. I expect it to appeal to not just the big players, but also some of the smaller, first-time exhibitors who cannot afford to have a special presentation area on their own stand. We will publicise all Vendor Presentations well in advance to preregistered visitors, so that appeal and exhibitor ROI is maximised.

In tandem with this, we will also include an educational element to The Academy – a workshop and tutorial area where interactive, half-day, free-to-attend sessions will be held. Having transformed this component of the event, it also made sense to rebrand it.

Any other value additions?

The Creative Media Zone feature, which debuted at CABSAT 2010, was very exciting. Sponsors’ equipment will be used in the exact context they were designed for – live, interactive, end-to-end broadcast. It gives sponsors the opportunity to put users in direct contact with their equipment.

What were the statistics for CABSAT 2010 and what was the strong point of the show?

Visitor numbers were slightly up year-on-year, with 8,837 attendees from 104 countries. However, what was really impressive was the type of visitor we attracted. For a fairly niche B2B show in a developing market, it’s all about quality, and the large amount of deals that were done on the CABSAT MENA show floor are testament to that. We invested heavily in targeted marketing campaigns designed to bring in the right kind of visitors to the show – people with real buying power from both local and international markets.

We also invested in visitor-driven features designed to bring people to the event on the strength of their proposition alone. The Creative Media Zone is a perfect example of this. Not only did it succeed in bringing in new visitors from different industry backgrounds who wouldn’t normally attend, it also provided  the sponsors of the feature with additional ROI. As a result, we received better exhibitor feedback than ever in terms of the quality of visitors we attract, and hope to further build on this for 2011.

Have companies confirmed bigger stands? Do you have new exhibitors?

It’s still early days, but in terms of a year-on-year comparison we are significantly ahead of where we were at this stage last year. Al Mazroui, Gulfsat, Harris, MediaCast, Newtec, Noorsat and Vizrt have all confirmed bigger stands. Advanced Media Trading, Arabsat, Blusens, Evertz, Sony, Tek Signals, Telespazio and Televes are some of the other big exhibitors that have confirmed their space.

We have expanded the profile of the event to appeal to a more creative audience and anticipate this will be reflected in the exhibitors we attract. The next couple of months will be key, so expect some major announcements in this respect, and a few surprises as well!

In terms of new exhibitors, the big news is that we have just confirmed twofour54 from Abu Dhabi as a first-time exhibitor with a 100 sqm stand. We are also talking to them about a wider involvement in the event, and The Academy in particular.