The third edition of the pan-European survey of the live communication industry, using data
from seven member countries, maintains showing positive growth trends with an average of
45% of respondents expecting budgets to grow across four key markets (2017: 43% in seven
key markets, 2016: 36% in six key markets) . Additionally, three key markets (Spain, Germany,
Switzerland) present a substantial average growth of 8%.

The LiveCom Alliance European Industry Survey 2018 captures existing data from Belgium,
Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, France and Switzerland. More respondents expect
budgets to increase than decrease in all markets. Belgium (51%) and Netherlands (59%) have
the highest number of respondents expecting budget increases (2017: Belgium 59% and
Spain 84%) . France expects an average 10% decrease.

The rate of expected budget growth is 4% in Spain and 5% in The Netherlands, Germany and
France (2017: Italy 13,7%, Germany 6,5%, Spain 5,6% and The Netherlands 4,2%, 2016: UK
6.3%, Italy 4.3%, Spain and Sweden both 3.7%) .

Maintaining growth
Summarising the above, this year’s edition shows an average 45% growth expectation for
events and rising event marketing budgets by 4 to 5%. Live communication and events
represents a substantial share of the total marcom budget in four countries.

Industry challenges
We distilled three major industry challenges: 1) WAR ON TALENT | How to get or remain in
contact with the industry talents and keep your network (of potentials) up to date. Also how
to remain connected to the next gen and make sure we secure the best educational phase
before they enter the industry. 2) STAYING TECH-SAVVY | How to stay up to date and
comfortable with the fast moving trends and innovations in technology. 3) BECOMING
PURPOSE-LED | Finding your why. Weather you are an organisation, a brand, an agency or
even a consumer, this question is what should drive you. This is how you become authentic.

Trends
We identified these three industry trends: 1) DATA MINING | Collecting data to drive our
decisions is an ongoing trend. With data also fueling AI innovations, data analysis remains an
actual topic across the industry. 2) GENERATING CONTENT | Live is being recognized as the
most authentic content generator. Content captured during events provides ways to prolong
campaigns and create extended impact and ROI. 3) LIVE AS A STRATEGIC DRIVER | More
and more, live is being implemented from a strategic standpoint rather than purely as a one
off occasion. The planning of live within an effective marcom campaign is extended to a
much earlier phase, making it an integral part of the campaign execution from the get-go.

Validation
The LiveCom Alliance European Industry Survey aims to capture the major trends and
economic impact drivers for the live communication industry in the world’s biggest free
trade area. This 2018 edition is a third step towards building a comprehensive overview of
this important industry. Therefore LiveCom Alliance collates data provided by its member
associations, as well as non-member associations and media, and will produce future
editions of the survey annually.

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​The prestigious Bea World Grand Prix 2018 goes to an Educational/Training Event from India. This was also the first year of the Best Location Awards, assigned to Valencia Convention Bureau and Finlandia Hall. The perfect ending for a record-breaking edition of a 3-day Festival that gathered the most influential community of event professionals from across the world.

November 26th, 2018. The ‘Oscars’ of the events have finally been unveiled. Last Friday night Bea WorldFestival celebrated its 13th edition awarding the best events of the year worldwide. A parade of excellences shined on the stage of the Grand Auditorium at Convento São Francisco in Coimbra, where over 700 delegates attended the ceremony. 
The global contest reserved for events and live communication professionals was once again an exceptional opportunity to receive qualified visibility at an international level. After a full day of live presentations and voting, and very intense debate, the Jury Panel led by Gerd De Bruycker, Marketing Director at Cisco Systemswas able to proclaim the winners of 2018, a year with three records established: in terms of entries (303 total submissions, +2.4% compared to last year), competing agencies (122, +10.9% compared to 2017) and countries represented (28). 
The Bea World Grand Prix 2018 went to Google Home Training an event by Laqshya Live Experiences (India) for Google. When Google Home was launched in India, the first aim was to launch the product to the sales-staff that needed to know the product first-hand. The event replicated the ‘Escape Room’ format: without prior notice, mobile phones and devices were taken away from the attendees before they entered the venue, and all exits sealed. The only way out of the event was by navigating the training with the help of Google Home. No one could enter, no one leave – till the mission was accomplished 100% with a combination of quick-thinking and problem-solving. A suite at the hotel was done up to look like a Google Home. From the minute the 25 people (per event) walked in, everything from lighting, technical, to the training modules had to be controlled using the Google Home device till they figured out for themselves how the product works and how they could leave the room. 
“The Jury decided to award this project with the Grand Prix because of its excellency in all its components” motivated Jury President Gerd De Bruycker. “After identifying the target audience by using data analytics and insights about the market, Laqshya Live Experiences came up with a very creative and fun idea and a flawless execution, paying great attention to business results”.
Mercedes #24RIDE produced by JAD Productions (Czech Republic) for Mercedes-Benz Cars Ceská Republika got the second place,while the bronze went toEqual Streets, againby Laqshya Live Experiences for Times of India. Laqshya Live Experiences also won the title of Best Bea World Event Agency while the title of Best Bea World Corporate Client went to Google and Mercedes-Benz Cars Ceská Republika (ex aequo).
The Best B2C Event <€500,000 Marco Category Award went to VM I DØDS - World Championship in "Death Dive" - Belly Flop jumping by 6.Sans (Norway).The Best B2C Event >€500,000 Marco Category Award was assigned to “Light up the FIFA World Cup” experiential activation, produced by Wink (The Netherlands) for Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch InBev, while the Best B2B Event >€500,000 Macro Category Award went to Cisco Live 2018, produced by George P. Johnson(United Kingdom). 
The Time is Now by The Story Group-Born to Tell Your Story(Italy)for BTicino won a Special Mention for Best Creativity. 

The Press Award was assigned to Event Horizon 2018 by HiveWise & Media Apparat (Austria) for GridSingularity-Gsy. They also won "Silver" in the category Use of Technology
and „Bronze" for the Best Conference. Huge congratulations to both agencies.

The People’s Choice Award, assigned through a popular vote carried out via the mobile app, went to the 29th Summer Universiade Taipei 2017 - Opening Ceremony (Taiwan) by Interplan Group (Lead Agency) & Elements Entertainment (Consultant for Creation & Production) for the client Taipei City Government.
Winners were also proclaimed in 15 event categories and 4 feature categories. It is possible to check all entries and winners on Bea World website.
All Jury members, chosen among corporate event and marketing managers from a representative range of sectors and countries, plus senior representatives of event agencies’ associations from different countries in the world, committed to abide by a Code of Ethics. The result was a transparent, live and face-to face competition that avoided conflicts between Jury members and candidates, by preventing jurors from corporations to vote for a project from their own company and jurors from associations to vote for projects from their own country.
2018 saw also the launch of the first ever Best Location Awards. “Our commitment is to increase the culture of events and live communication worldwide, enhancing all aspects of the value chain”, explained Salvatore Sagone, President and Ceo of ADC Group and Founder of Bea World Festival. “For this reason, launched this year the Best Location Awards, aware as we are that the venue and destination play a fundamental role in the success of any event”. A selected Jury comprising senior representatives of national associations of events agencies from around the world thus assigned thetitle ofBest Destination Convention Bureau to Valencia Convention Bureau (Spain) while Finlandia Hall (Finland) won the Best Congress/Conference/Convention Venue Award. 
The ceremony, inspired by the theme ‘Creative Thinking – The Art of Breaking Routines’, was hosted by world-famous Portuguese illusionist Luis de Matos – winner of several important prizes such as the ‘Magician of the year’ (Hollywood Academy of Magical Arts) – who also entertained the audience with his magic.  
“We are living a great time full of opportunities for the event industry. Live communication is indeed becoming more and more relevant in the media mix in terms of investments”, said Salvatore Sagone. “This is happening because a new kind of relationship between brands and consumers requires an emotional relationship. Event professionals have therefore to be proud of their job that has a great future, as I am of Bea World Festival that this year has registered another record-breaking edition. And I am strongly convinced that it will grow even bigger in the next future”.
Bea World Festival is an initiative by ADC Group and it is made possible thanks to the collaboration of APECATE, the association that gathers and represents the Portuguese companies of Congresses, Events and Tourism Animation, along with the institutional support of Tourism of Portugal, Tourism of Central Portugal and Coimbra City Council.
For more details, please visit www.beaworldfestival.com.
Press Office: 
Brenda Debiasio 
brenda.debiasio@adcgroup.it // +39 02 84190323
 
***
 
About ADC Group:
ADC Group is a media holding company, co-founded in 2002 by Salvatore Sagone. The group includes the communication news agencies ADVexpress and e20express and Nuova Comunicazione magazine. ADC Group also issues the I Quaderni della Comunicazione reading series and since 2006 it has organised the Best Event Awards, as well as other Awards and initiatives dedicated to the Italian communication and event market (BEA – Italian Best Event Awards, Best Location Awards, NC Awards, NC Digital Awards).
 
About APECATE:
APECATE is the association that gathers and represents the Portuguese companies of Congresses, Events and Tourist Animation. APECATE focuses on the representation of sectors of relevance in the Creative Industry and Tourism, which include companies that design, organize and produce innovative products and services of great strategic interest for the Portuguese Economy: small and large congresses, national or international, conferences, meetings, corporate, marketing and cultural events, team-building activities, outdoor incentives and activities of tourist animation (outdoor tourism and cultural tourism activities). In 2010, for the good services provided to Tourism, APECATE was awarded the Silver Medal of Tourist Merit, awarded by the State Department of Tourism and Tourism of Portugal, IP.

Wo ausgebildet wird und welche Schwerpunkte die Fachhochschulen setzen, hat die emba, das event marketing board austria, aktuell erhoben. Denn Ausbildung zählt im Live Marketing. Erfolgreiche Live-Marketer müssen „all in one“ sein: Projektmanager, Sicherheitsprofis, Rechtsexperten, Finanzplaner, Strategen und kreative Köpfe und nicht zu vergessen Präsentatoren und gute Verhandler. Umso mehr zählt eine fundierte Ausbildung als Sprungbrett in die Praxis.
Das Angebot der Ausbildungsinstitutionen ist groß. Die Schwerpunkte variieren deutlich. Mit ein Grund warum die emba eine detaillierte Analyse in Auftrag gegeben hat. Diese liegt nun zu den heimischen FHs mit Schwerpunkt Event- und Live-Marketing vor.

Bachelor- und Masterstudien, zwischen Uni und FH wechseln, alles ist möglich
 
Mit dem Fachhochschulstudiengesetz verfügt Österreich über eine praxisorientierte Ausbildungsschiene von der Studierende und Wirtschaft gleichermaßen profitieren. Das Bologna System mit den Bachelor- und Masterstudienprogrammen bietet die Möglichkeit, zwischen Uni und FH zu wechseln. Bachelor an der FH und folgend Master an der Uni. Oder umgekehrt, weil an den Fachhochschulen viele Master­programme berufsbegleitend angeboten werden. Dementsprechend vielfältig und professionell sind die Ausbildungsprogramme der Fachhochschulen und anderer Institutionen wie das Wifi in der Sparte Marketing. Besonders erfreulich ist für die emba der hohe Stellenwert, der dem Thema Event-Marketing zu Recht eingeräumt wird.

Wie international, wie praxisnah, welche Themenschwerpunkte?

Die Vielfalt des Angebots hat allerdings auch zur Folge, dass es schwierig geworden ist, sich einen genauen Überblick zu verschaffen. Wie international, wie praxisnah, welche Themenschwerpunkte? Das sollten die künftigen Studierenden im Detail wissen, bevor sie sich für eine Ausbildungsstätte entscheiden. Aber auch die HR-Verantwortlichen in den Betrieben und Agenturen wollen wissen, welche Expertise sie einkaufen, wenn sie Absolventinnen und Absolventen der einen oder der anderen FH einstellen. Dabei hilft der vorliegende Ausbildungskompass zum Angebot der Fachhhochschulen.

Alle zentralen Infos standardisiert auf zwei Seiten dargestellt

Auf jeweils zwei Seiten pro Ausbildungsinstitution standardisiert sind die zentralen Infos zu finden: erreichbare Abschlüsse, Lehrinhalte und Schwerpunktsetzung in Sachen Gesamtkompetenz, Strategie, Praxis, und Spezialisierung, Lehrgangsleitung, Referenten, Ort, Kosten und Dauer. Ein perfekter Ratgeber für alle, die sich intensiv mit der Ausbildung auseinandersetzen wollen und eine Karriere im Live-Marketing planen.

Kein „nine to five Job“ aber einer der abwechslungsreichsten die es gibt

Wer sich für diese Ausbildung entscheidet sollte aber bedenken, in diesem Job gibt es kein „nine to five“, aber umso mehr Herausforderungen. Live-Marketing zählt zu den spannendsten, abwechslungsreich­sten und emotionalsten Kommunikationsdisziplinen die es gibt. Live-Marketing ist das einzige Werkzeug im Kommunikationsmix, mit dem man alle fünf Sinne gleichzeitig ansprechen kann. Genau darin liegt die unvergleichliche Stärke und daraus folgt die hohe Herausforderung für jene die unvergessliche Events schaffen wollen. 


Photo by Climate KIC on Unsplash

Die Bedeutung des Live-Marketings als Wirtschaftsfaktor wird in einer Studie des Instituts für höhere Studien (IHS), die mit der emba gemeinsam konzipiert wurde und im Auftrag der WKO gerade aktualisiert wurde, deutlich. Die Event-Branche erzielt eine Bruttowertschöpfung von rund 8,9 Milliarden Euro und sichert damit rund 140.000 Arbeitsplätze. Damit sind rund 3,4 Prozent der Erwerbstätigen im Live-Marketing Sektor tätig, mit steigender Tendenz. Seit 2010 haben vor allem die Umsätze der über 5.500 Eventagenturen massiv zugelegt. 

Martin Brezovich, Vorstandssprecher der emba dazu: „Die Studie lässt damit den Rückschluss zu, dass Unternehmen bei ihren Veranstaltungen wieder mehr auf Agentur Know-how setzen. Eine Entwicklung, die auch darauf zurück zu führen ist, dass Live-Marketing heute fixer Bestandteil im Marketing-Mix ist und die Ansprüche an strategische Konzepte und kreative Umsetzung in den vergangenen Jahren stark gestiegen sind.“