picture courtesy @Innovation Award for Siegfried Haider/experts4events by GSA (German Speaker Association 2021).

MICE markets change. Buyers expect smarter choices. Destinations and suppliers must adapt!
Target groups in MICE changed their behavior: Travelling to international destinations needs better reasons in times of climate crisis and geopolitical issues. Therefore the meetings industry needs innovation at all steps of the supply chains. Siegfried Haider has 20+ years experience as a global buyer/planner for experts4events and 15+ years as a CoachSultant for brand positioning and marketing. His „sold out!“ system (book) is approved by hundreds of clients.

Question 1) How open are your customers to consider sustainable options for their programs? What extra miles are walked by your company to convince customers about sustainable options?

experts4events is specialized on events with experts: Trainings, conferences, educational meetings etc. In the topics of these areas, sustainability has been important for a long time. Right from the start when the topic gained prominence, the demand came from customer side – because it’s easy to consider and to realize in the kind of events we do.

The extra mile we walk, is being competent in this topic and having enough innovative sustainable suppliers pre-selected. Sustainable concepts need substance and too many suppliers just claim to be sustainable but are not and don’t proof it, e g through serious certifications.

Corporate Customers mostly follow competent and professional agency recommendations so agencies play an important role in “selling” sustainable concepts in destinations and elsewhere. It’s a difference, if hotels claim to be sustainable themselves or if we as a competent and professional agency confirm it with a recommendation. For us, sustainability is not a positioning topic anymore because the topic has been used inflationary. In my opinion, nowadays it’s a must for an agency being competent in this area.

Question 2) What is your motivation for joining the ecomice explorers group at IMEX?

Enlarging our selected supplier network and getting new ideas. Even though sustainability has been a major topic in the meetings industry for a long time it’s still at the beginning of it’s innovation and actual application potential. Society, movements, and politics make clear the relevance and importance and accelerate developments.  It is on the agenda constantly and fortunately – therefore it will be a topic in MICE projects even more in the future.

And if I personally watch the news: We must change our (travel) industry as well to a cleaner one to stay relevant: Because of pandemic where buyer recognized that live events and travelling is probably not necessary so much and even harmful. And just because of our planet and future.

Question 3) Can you give an example of a conference, event or other program that you have organised taking sustainability aspects into account?

With our sustainable concepts I always focus on the most important and effective services:

  1. Transportation: Using all kinds of available e-mobility and reducing / compensating CO2 emissions.
  2. Venue and F&B: Preferring the ones who are sustainably innovative and proof it. And just ask your buyer: Do you want your participants eat and drink cheaper “normal” mass production low value food OR clean, healthy, organic and sustainable F&B. Most answers are: We save here and there but of course we don’t skimp on F&B.
  3. Activities: We more and more avoid the “polluting” ones and prefer e-Quads, Yachts with e-engines etc.

It’s with every “new” topic: If the suppliers offer and communicate it attractively, the buyer will buy. And getting it sold is mostly not a matter of higher price and money. The best way selling it is to present a value- and purpose-oriented narrative and thus support the customer with good reason to sell it internally.

The client must be supported by us, to shine as an environmental responsible employee and a role model in their organization.

siegfried!haider – attract your clients (brand consulting)
experts4events – meet your clients (MICE agency)
Phone: +49 8141 2279930
Email: s.haider@experts4events.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siegfriedhaider/

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ecomice is a consultancy and PR / marketing unit for sustainable legacy and supply chains in destinations.

It is an initiative of tmf dialogue.

Travelling today means to reduce negative impact as much as possible and to take responsibility for the destination. Our collaborative business model integrates all stakeholders to jointly follow the sustainable goals of the UN Agenda. We support building legacy projects (environmental and societal) and creating new programs. Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/ecomice

Thanks so much for your interest and support in showing the industry that we can be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.