The above advice was given to me, armed with my two page YTS questionnaire, in my first month in work by Rodney Bick, who was then the Commercial Director at Amec Projects, and it’s a piece of advice that’s stuck with me throughout my career. I’ve attended the international property show held annually in Cannes, MIPIM, in March for the last 12 years as a delegate and I pretty much know it inside out, or as much as one can – this year, I’m staying in Manchester (unless a good reason to attend arises in the next three weeks!).
In 2011 MIPIM’s 21st “Year of Honour” title goes to the UK and the official line from my previous employer is that “if you’re going to go to MIPIM one year in four, 2011 is the year to attend”. The concentration for the event is likely to be on funding - those attending are likely to be the companies with money to spend or schemes to fund and if London is a target for you, then go for it. Boris Johnson and the Lord Mayor of London will be in attendance and there’s more London boroughs represented on the London stand than ever before and the plan is to have national political figures in Cannes too.
All that said about London, the public sector attendance is not ‘silly’ – our great city, Manchester is there with more supporters than ever from the private sector but for obvious reasons Manchester City Council hasn’t put its financial share in the pot. Word on the street is that chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein might stay home, Manchester Airport's new ‘MIPIM flight’ is under subscribed and Women in Property’s planned “How to Tackle MIPIM” event where I was scheduled to speak a couple of months ago sparked very little interest. Birmingham is attending and others are represented on the UK Regeneration (the former British Urban Regeneration) stand and Liverpool, for the second year, won’t have a formal presence.
The fact is that the figures are right down – 2008 was 30,000, 2009 19,000 and 2010 18,000 but because of the “Year of Honour” tag, attendance is expected to rise slightly this year. MAPIC (the retail version) attendance was 10,000 which remains fairly steady and in November 2010 the focus was international retail. One of my clients with a big retail scheme is considering MAPIC for 2011 so maybe I’ll give MAPIC a go instead this year. Another client is attending MIPIM 2011 “under the radar” and my advice remains to ensure they have a packed schedule and an obvious strategy which I’m helping them with. MIPIM News has a double page spread about the UK and I sourced some commentary from Manchester for my Marketing International colleague who writes for MIPIM News annually.
Given the current economic climate and the fact that I have an extremely focussed business strategy for Just PR & Marketing kicking in on April 1st, MIPIM 2011 feels like an unnecessary distraction at this point and I feel that it’s unlikely that companies will be looking to source a good PR consultant through their visit to MIPIM this year. It remains to be seen whether my competitors return to the UK with a clutch of new instructions or just a massive dent in their budget and in need of a champagne detox!
On the positive side, I’m looking forward to taking advantage of some of the networking opportunities that seem to have sprung up in the UK from the “Not MIPIM” crowd. Maybe I could even stretch to a week off but I suspect that’s just wishful thinking! As a sole trader, MIPIM 2008 (where historically I supported the UBS/Lehman Brothers cocktail party through my international partner!) and 2009 had a clear strategy but MIPM 2010 was just a business development exercise for Just PRM and I blogged from the event for the newly formed “Downtown Manchester in Business” and at that point I was keen to attend in 2011. Given the changed landscape, however, all I can sensibly see MIPIM 2011 being is a “bit of jolly” and whilst I’m generally all for that, I’m taking the sensible approach.
MIPIM remains the world’s largest and most successful property event and I’m sure that those who attend with a clear strategy will have great fun and meet some very influential people. If you’re going – enjoy! Most of all make sure that you plan well in advance and ensure that your strategy is in place to yield strong results.
Go here for your “MIPIM survival guide” http://www.mipimtoughguide.com/ and see other links http://www.mipim.com/en/mipim/; http://www.manchesteratmipim.com/ ; http://www.downtownmanchester.co.uk/blog/?p=35; http://ukregeneration.org.uk/2011/01/11/join-the-uk-mission-to-mipim-2011/
About Just PR & Marketing http://www.justprm.co.uk/; http://www.marketinginternational.com/
In 2011 MIPIM’s 21st “Year of Honour” title goes to the UK and the official line from my previous employer is that “if you’re going to go to MIPIM one year in four, 2011 is the year to attend”. The concentration for the event is likely to be on funding - those attending are likely to be the companies with money to spend or schemes to fund and if London is a target for you, then go for it. Boris Johnson and the Lord Mayor of London will be in attendance and there’s more London boroughs represented on the London stand than ever before and the plan is to have national political figures in Cannes too.
All that said about London, the public sector attendance is not ‘silly’ – our great city, Manchester is there with more supporters than ever from the private sector but for obvious reasons Manchester City Council hasn’t put its financial share in the pot. Word on the street is that chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein might stay home, Manchester Airport's new ‘MIPIM flight’ is under subscribed and Women in Property’s planned “How to Tackle MIPIM” event where I was scheduled to speak a couple of months ago sparked very little interest. Birmingham is attending and others are represented on the UK Regeneration (the former British Urban Regeneration) stand and Liverpool, for the second year, won’t have a formal presence.
The fact is that the figures are right down – 2008 was 30,000, 2009 19,000 and 2010 18,000 but because of the “Year of Honour” tag, attendance is expected to rise slightly this year. MAPIC (the retail version) attendance was 10,000 which remains fairly steady and in November 2010 the focus was international retail. One of my clients with a big retail scheme is considering MAPIC for 2011 so maybe I’ll give MAPIC a go instead this year. Another client is attending MIPIM 2011 “under the radar” and my advice remains to ensure they have a packed schedule and an obvious strategy which I’m helping them with. MIPIM News has a double page spread about the UK and I sourced some commentary from Manchester for my Marketing International colleague who writes for MIPIM News annually.
Given the current economic climate and the fact that I have an extremely focussed business strategy for Just PR & Marketing kicking in on April 1st, MIPIM 2011 feels like an unnecessary distraction at this point and I feel that it’s unlikely that companies will be looking to source a good PR consultant through their visit to MIPIM this year. It remains to be seen whether my competitors return to the UK with a clutch of new instructions or just a massive dent in their budget and in need of a champagne detox!
On the positive side, I’m looking forward to taking advantage of some of the networking opportunities that seem to have sprung up in the UK from the “Not MIPIM” crowd. Maybe I could even stretch to a week off but I suspect that’s just wishful thinking! As a sole trader, MIPIM 2008 (where historically I supported the UBS/Lehman Brothers cocktail party through my international partner!) and 2009 had a clear strategy but MIPM 2010 was just a business development exercise for Just PRM and I blogged from the event for the newly formed “Downtown Manchester in Business” and at that point I was keen to attend in 2011. Given the changed landscape, however, all I can sensibly see MIPIM 2011 being is a “bit of jolly” and whilst I’m generally all for that, I’m taking the sensible approach.
MIPIM remains the world’s largest and most successful property event and I’m sure that those who attend with a clear strategy will have great fun and meet some very influential people. If you’re going – enjoy! Most of all make sure that you plan well in advance and ensure that your strategy is in place to yield strong results.
Go here for your “MIPIM survival guide” http://www.mipimtoughguide.com/ and see other links http://www.mipim.com/en/mipim/; http://www.manchesteratmipim.com/ ; http://www.downtownmanchester.co.uk/blog/?p=35; http://ukregeneration.org.uk/2011/01/11/join-the-uk-mission-to-mipim-2011/
About Just PR & Marketing http://www.justprm.co.uk/; http://www.marketinginternational.com/
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