Dan Rivlin, MD of international organiser Kenes International

“Our industry is undergoing quick changes, which will turn us into one of the more competitive industries. While we do not feel these obvious changes, I believe that we will see in the near future much more competiveness. The competition will spread from price to value and will force companies to develop or obtain capabilities in areas such as media and new media, consultancy, strategic planning, fund raising and legal issues.

Professional conference organisers, a very outdated term by itself, will take vertical and horizontal integrations in order to become bigger and more diversified. This will be the only way to survive.
Therefore, we are likely to see additional spread of the bigger ones, similar expansions from mid-size companies and diversification into new areas. Kenes is planning to increase its staffing for 2011 with our figures showing an anticipated increase of 30 per cent over 2010.

The world is moving into a more competitive environment than ever before. If we translate it into price only, we are likely to miss the point. It is also about cost, as our clients are likely to look into increasing their own profits (or at least maintain similar profit levels), but it is mostly about value and this is the real story. We will need to develop new expertise for clients in order to help them and us survive.”

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