On 20-21 October 2010, an exhibition which simply smashes the mould is taking place at the Saatchi Gallery in London. It’s called londonlaunch:Live and it’s going to change the face of trade shows within our sector, forever.

It will be a shining example of how to create something that knocks the socks off its target audience and delivers tan­gible business connections with actual return on investment. Since when could you showcase a diverse array of London venues and creative suppliers in our industry by shoving them in a box and charging them extra for an internet connection? The notion is so antiquated you might as well travel to Earls Court on a donkey. Indeed, Earls Court itself is about to be torn down and confined to the annals of history as the exhibiting world re-invents itself.

We believe we have created something with the industry, for the industry that exemplifies the coming together of online efficiency and face to face humanity – londonlaunch:Live 2010.
 
Face to face
This time round the recession has had a very different effect on the events industry. Back in the early 1990s events (even conferences) were very definitely perceived as superfluous affairs which were inefficient and an expensive means of delivering a message. That notion was wrong. In the digital age, where the Inter­net is king and the traditional phonebook is on the verge of becoming a museum piece, there is more need than ever to get face to face with your mentors, clients and even staff.

In the twenty-tens, events are recog­nised as a professional activity and this has given rise to the events industry as a tangible, measurable means of effectively delivering a message to an interactive target audience. Indeed, the event (or conference) is often the central focal point of a wider, sustained, sales and marketing programme. The reces­sion has not destroyed this sector, even temporarily, but it has focused the mind and this is not a bad thing. Events now have to be relevant and deliver those three little letters that used to strike fear into the hearts of creative event planners the world over – ROI. In fact, an event is possibly the easiest way to conjure up a tangible return on investment as long as there is a clear objective and the right target audience. Events are all about build up and legacy. The event should sit at the heart of a much wider campaign and should compliment that campaign seamlessly, with an active ‘call to arms’ so that the direct effect can be monitored and deemed successful. Events are there­fore crucial to the success of any brand.

Enter worldlaunch.com
With a series of city specific interactive ‘event communities’ providing a detailed venue and supplier directory, offers, reviews, advice, a live show, industry specific education, networking opportu­nities and quality contacts, worldlaunch. com is a global resource for anyone in the events, conference or hospitality sector. The flagship of the group is the hugely popular and well known, londonlaunch. com, which is the template for the pend­ing worldlaunch.com global roll-out. This roll-out is to take on a franchise model and we are assessing which industry leaders worldwide would be best placed to spearhead each regional franchise.

Again, a dot.com brand (despite our world leading in-house technology) is only as good as the professional at the helm because hi-tech can never replace human interaction – it can only facilitate it and that is a very important notion to hold true to. Although worldlaunch.com is essentially a dot.com brand, it is crucial to note that quarterly networking events, an annual educational conference and a live show all come together to spark an effective ‘events community’ and a useful foundation for an increasingly profes­sional sector.

Think about it. Clients pay lawyers and accountants hundreds of pounds an hour to defend their brands, yet it’s a relatively new concept to accept paying good money to promote your brand and this is a direct result of the industry being perceived as ‘creative’, a byword for ‘cheap’ as is often the case with artists (aside from the few who break the mould such as Damian Hurst).

Simple model
The londonlaunch.com model is simple. Take a technologically detailed and bespoke website which forms the central hub of the ‘community’ enabling event professionals and ‘accidental event organisers’ alike to source, research and create their events at the best possible prices while being armed with as much advice and knowledge as possible, couple that with a series of live events which enables these organisers to see their venues and suppliers in action (as well as meet their relevant representatives) and top it all off with a world-beating educational conference which delivers something truly magical and unique as well as being inspiring.

Our annual conference, dubbed ‘londonlaunch:Learn’ takes place each March at Disneyland Paris and couples education from Walt Disney World’s ‘Disney Institute’ with a behind the scenes insight into Disneyland Paris’s impressive event and conference operation. The opportunity for event professionals to network with a plethora of leading corporate directors from a wide variety of blue-chip corporations is the icing on the cake.

Global portal
worldlaunch.com is the global portal for a series of city specific event communities which manifest themselves in three tan­gible entities. In London, for example, it’s londonlaunch.com, londonlaunch:Live and londonlaunch:Learn. This model can be picked-up and transposed to any major city in the world. But it doesn’t stop there. Based on our immensely detailed yet automated and user-gener­ated CRM/CMS system which we have named EasiCMS, this series of ‘products’ is designed to be transposed not just from city to city, but also from industry to industry.

luxurylaunch.com is the first in a series of ‘other sector’ websites based on the same technological platform, and it follows the logistical model of londonlaunch.com. Representing and launching aspirational brands to the consumer via a website, a live show and a series of high-end networking events is a new concept in the consumer world. Rather than being too elitist, luxurylaunch.com offers discernable consumers the oppor­tunity to acquire top end goods, brands and services at the touch of a button and, crucially, affordably and instantly. In the same way that londonlaunch.com works for events people, luxurylaunch.com provides fast-tracked access, advice and ideas to consumers.

Users of luxurylaunch.com do not buy private jets, but they may hire them. So, next time you are planning an inter ­national conference or event, remember how powerful a combination the web and ‘live’ can be and get it right. One is relatively ineffective without the other.

For events in and around London, have a browse through londonlaunch.com. Search as specifically as you like and you don’t even have to take our word for it as you can read the reviews of other professionals. Or perhaps it’s a little  afford-able  luxury you’re  after?  If  so,  you  know  where  to  go  -  worldlaunch.com!