Digital Solutions to Daily Problems

A recent brief we received entailed studying the UK Event’s Sector to present a case for Government support and to provide a solution to the impending collapse as exhibitions, trade shows, conferences and other events are forced to cancel in the wake of recent Government restrictions. Exhibitions and events are a key component in international trade and business. They are the place where business is done, where new ideas are demonstrated and orders placed.

Our research looked at the size of the sector, and its impact on the UK economy. They remit was specifically exhibitions and trade shows which have been hardest hit. The knowledge herniated would be used to make a case for support and a rescue plan to Government and also a solution to address the problem.

We identified the recent Innovate UK Competition as a good starting point and have been working with a number of local businesses to draw down funding to support their crucial Covid-19 solutions. Innovate UK as part of UK Research and Innovation, is set to invest  invest up to £20 million in innovation projects aimed at easing global disruption.

Through their competition, they aim to support UK businesses to focus on emerging or increasing needs of society and industries during and following the Covid-19 pandemic. Our task as knowledge brokers was not just to find the potential funding support but then to assist in the research project development and build a case to submit in what will be a very competitive process. The application had to demonstrate both realistic and significant benefits for an industry that has been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Building the Case

When we talk about advocacy we often think of a court room, however much of our advocacy work involved helping clients build a case for funding, or policy change or in advancement of their charity or cause. That case must be based on the right balance of fact, reasoning, and persuasion. Many clients feel passionate about what they do, they are excited about their latest idea, or focused on their solution to a problem. We love that passion and pride but our job is to examine it, to see if the facts support it and to take a wider view. Then together we build a case to present to politicians, policy makers or funders, trying to persuade them that our ideas will work.

In this case with a government focused on front end medical services, the research community focussed on finding a vaccine it can be difficult to draw attention to other seemingly less pressing problems. The events sector is often pigeon holed as entertainment, so the first task is to state the case in terms of the real economic impact of the sector.

We turned to our events partner Eventbrite whose mix of event management and online services give them a particularly good view of the wider events sector. They provided easy to navigate statistics and interesting infographics which show just how valuable this sector is in terms of the economy and our social economy.

This gives a clear idea of the scale of the sector and the economic impact of its closure. Our focus is the exhibition sector and in particular trade shows. Here our research and stakeholder mapping services located those in the know.