Next month I’ll be attending the Environmental Services & Solutions Expo (ESS) at the NEC. I’ve been visiting this and similar events since the early nineties, and over the years – especially post‑pandemic – the purpose of exhibitions has shifted.
For a long time, exhibitors justified their attendance using familiar metrics:
- How many people attended?
- How busy was our stand?
- How many leads did we collect?
But in an age where time is precious and attendees expect real value, do these metrics still tell the full story?
A widening gap between what’s offered and what’s wanted
Freeman’s 2025 End‑of‑Year Trends Report highlights an interesting shift: a growing gap between what organisers and exhibitors design… and what attendees actually want.
I still firmly believe that face‑to‑face events have a vital role in the sales and marketing mix. But visitor expectations have evolved. With the rise of online research, many attendees already know
- who they want to see
- what products/services interest them
- which seminars matter
before they even commit to attending. For exhibitors this means that they need to offer something that we cannot get from behind our desks, namely an experience.
What today’s attendees really need
In sectors such as environmental services, energy and clean tech – where technology, regulation and investment pressures are constant – exhibitors must deliver experiences that:
- deepen understanding of their product or service
- show real‑world applicability
- address real world pain points and operational challenges
- support a business case for investment
- make meaningful networking easier
- ensure attendees leave knowing more than they arrived with – this is very much on organisers!
The real question exhibitors should be asking
Perhaps it’s no longer:
“How do we get more people onto our stand?”
Instead, it should be:
“Who are the people we really want to meet – and what can we offer that makes spending time with us worthwhile?”
And for attendees I suspect I’m not alone in asking:
“What will I take away from this event that I couldn’t have achieved from my desk?”
I’ll be interested to see how that plays out at ESS.
Chris Hadley
Lead – Environment, Energy and Clean Tech
