‘The industry is ready for a fresh approach to real-world systems presentations,’ says Mark Cunningham, the force behind the newly-unveiled liveculture media brand and Wembley Stadium trade show.
‘Historically, the demonstration environments available at most trade events are so removed from the reality of their use to make them virtually meaningless. liveculture expo2012 will change all of this.’
And so Wembley Stadium will to stage the inaugural liveculture expo convention over three days in spring 2012, offering the international live event production industry a new, and carefully considered, option.
Between 29 April and 1 May, the iconic London venue will host liveculture expo2012 – which incorporates the liveculture awards2012 gala dinner – promising ‘an unrivalled technology showcase and business networking opportunity for today’s live event producers, technicians, technology providers, designers and scenographers’.
Behind the venture is Cunningham, who took very many people by surprise when resigned his position of Editor-in-Chief (and co-founder) at Total Production International (TPi) in May. Taking up the role of CEO with the new company, he promises to roll out a portfolio of fresh initiatives with colleagues Clive Morton, John Hill and Jay Green.
Showdown
Alongside the suspicion greeting some show organisers’ attendance figures, the most common trade show complaint is of noise on the show floor – lots of it, most generated by ‘demos’. Not only does it undermine demonstration of anything but SPL impossible, it also frustrates conversation. Then there’s the expense, timing, transport, location… there’s been a lot of dissent, a few complaints, but precious little remedial action.
The most successful rebellion to date has come from the co-ordinated action of Australian commercial and entertainment technologies companies – and resulted both in a reshaping of Australian trade shows and the recent formation of the ACETA ‘peak body’ to formally represent its interests. Elsewhere around the world, there is ready agreement over trade show woes but very little consensus on how to address them.
Wearing his TPi hat and being closely involved in organising the TPi Awards, Cunningham is well placed to appreciate the shortcomings of shows and the practicalities of staging a large event.
‘I feel that many shows have continued to be successful because they’ve been the only game in town,’ he ventures. ‘There has not been a viable alternative to date, and if you don’t exhibit, the perception is that you must be in trouble. But many regular exhibitors I have spoken to have shown signs of boredom and dissatisfaction for some time. It’s all become very much like Groundhog Day, and I feel they are ready for something different.
‘My opinions are based on my experience of trade shows over a 20-to-25-year period, most of which has been as a journalist, attending product launches and demos. In that time, show technology has been moving at a very fast pace and yet the basic template for the trade show, in most cases, has remained much the same as the early 1990s. No-one seems to have done anything radically different, just change the logo and dress up the marketing. It doesn’t add up for me.
‘It’s largely about products on cake stands looking lovely, with people talking about how revolutionary they are, while sipping a glass of vino. That’s all well and good, and that does have a place, but I’m not convinced it’s all manufacturers want from what is often an expensive form of promotion. Unfortunately, it’s all most exhibitions offer.
‘The organisers of one major trade show have regularly asked me to contribute ideas, and this has left me wondering why. It suggests to me that they are happy to reap the financial rewards, while not offering much in the way of their own creativity.
‘I’ve been imagining of a new kind of show since 2004, when I had a lot of time to think while recovering from a major operation. I have put forward ideas on a few occasions but, for one reason or another, they weren’t a good fit. I suppose the last major conversations I had about this were in 2007 when Clive Morton and John Hill saw that I might be in a position to inject a “pro” element to an MI show they were involved with, but the discussions didn’t progress very far. Meanwhile, I was still very dissatisfied with the existing trade show model.’
Backstage… and FOH
Now fully operational for events, Wembley Stadium has 9,400m2 of exhibition space including high-quality break-out rooms for seminars, 50 VIP boxes for meetings and demos, and catering areas to give exhibitors a ‘real world’ environment in which to showcase their services – including fully-rigged sound stages. Wembley’s world-class infrastructure includes a choice of six nearby hotels, easy transportation access and parking for 4,000 vehicles.
‘Choosing to base liveculture expo2012 at Wembley Stadium was a very considered move,’ Cunningham says. ‘It’s a 21st century venue for 21st century show technology, and in my mind it’s a perfect match that has not been explored until now. It’s an incredibly exciting prospect.
‘It is a genuinely game-changing trade expo. For the first time, we can present a practical demonstration facility for new audio, lighting, video and scenic technologies – with pitch-side stages in the Wembley Stadium bowl itself. This is a unique opportunity for manufacturers to give meaning to their developments. Showcase slots will be available on a first-come, first-served basis and, naturally, priority will be given to “visual” technologies later in the day as the ambient light fades. I know of at least two loudspeaker manufacturers who see this initiative as a big step forward.
‘Of course, we will be offering conventional space inside the stadium in the form of shell schemes and versatile space options, as well as the VIP boxes for meetings, interviews and private demos. We want to promote a flexible, holistic approach and rather than a set formula; we’ll be consulting key people in the industry in coming months to see how we can best use these fantastic resources to their full potential.’
And for the trade press?
‘We’ll be drawing on my own experience as an editor/journalist to take a fresh approach to the exhibition press office function, and making life as simple as possible for the press. They will be treated with the utmost courtesy and given a quality environment in which to organise one-to-one interviews away from the open product launches. This is something we are working on at this moment. Wembley Stadium also has broadcast facilities, and we are considering how we might integrate this resource.’
The show is timed to sit immediately before the live industry embarks on its summer events schedule (and London Olympics). ‘Great care has been taken over both the show’s concept and its timing,’ Cunningham confirms. ‘While we emerge from recession, businesses want a trade show that will not break the budget. Along with low-cost hotel options, liveculture expo2012 will deliver precisely this – in a flexible London venue that truly represents the live entertainment industry.’
Supporting the exhibition itself will be a programme of collateral events – discussion forums, keynote seminars and liveculture training workshops – and a gala dinner for 1,000 industry guests in the Bobby Moore Room on the second night of the show. ‘The liveculture awards2012 will have a historical theme, celebrating 40 years of the most significant live industry achievements with All-Time Greatest awards,’ Cunningham states. At the same time, he recognises that with the first generation of industry pros ready to pass the baton to a new generation, there is a duty to find ways to achieve this. For liveculture, this will involve a series of masterclasses and case studies.
‘These will be an ongoing programme throughout the year. I see the audience as a mix of professionals and students on live production courses. We’ve entered a period when the original industry pioneers are either retiring or slipping off their perches, so it’s vital that they pass on their hard-earned wisdom and experience to the new, young guns. What we’re providing with the liveculture masterclass sessions is a quality vehicle for that to happen. There will be a few templates for how we present these sessions. One of which will be a ‘chat show’ environment with full A/V support, in which we invite a specialist panel of guests to talk about their work on a specific classic or contemporary tour or event.’
Winning ways
It is appropriate that the debut of the show coincides with the 40th anniversary of the first concert staged at Wembley Stadium – 1972’s The London Rock & Roll Show.
‘The awards evening will feature a notably different format to the event I’ve previously been associated with,’ Cunningham states. ‘Wembley Stadium, in both its old and current guises, will celebrate its anniversary as a live music venue, and we are using that milestone to theme our inaugural liveculture awards. For the first time in the world, we will be presenting a programme of award categories that recognise outstanding technical and creative achievements in live production over the past 40 years.
‘We’re holding this in the wonderful Bobby Moore Room which has a 1,000 capacity and a mezzanine balcony, and to maximise the kudos we’ll be restricting the categories to a sensible number, allowing greater time for socialising and celebration. We’ll be starting the voting process and announcing our star host very soon. On a personal note, I know my mum and dad would have been very happy to know we’re doing this in a room named after a hero of our family (I was brought up a stone’s throw from West Ham FC).’
Handling sales for the events is former co-founder of Live! magazine, The Live! Show & Awards, Jay Green, who promises space options to suit every strategy and budget: ‘From an exhibitor perspective this show can be anything they want it to be,’ he says. ‘Foremost in our minds was that we needed to keep real estate costs – wherever they want to set up in the Stadium – to an absolute minimum.’
Unsurprisingly, the show and awards are the first move for the new venture – there will be more…
‘We’ll be launching a liveculture publications division in the not too distant future,’ Cunningham confirms. ‘We’re going to be looking at how we can harness digital publishing tools to create something a bit different, but that’s a long-term project, and what comes out at the start will only be the tip of the iceberg. One of the things we’re working on is an app that will enhance the visitor-exhibitor experience in a very positive way at liveculture expo2012 and as soon as it’s ready we’ll be shouting from the rooftops.
‘Digital books of various types are definitely on the horizon, and so is printed media, but I’m not the business of giving away ideas to other publishers before they are fully formed. Put it this way, I am not going to ignore the fact that I am a writer.
‘I do have a vision for how the industry is represented and cross-promoted, and for the most part it is a different vision to what has been out there to date. Hopefully, people will vote with their feet and walk in this direction.’
Goodbye, TPi
‘As much as it might seem like it, I didn’t leave TPi purely in order to start this project. My reasons for leaving were already formed quite separately. What it meant however, was that I was immediately free to revisit my shelved exhibition plans. My new colleagues – whom I knew from back in the days of Live! Magazine, when I was a freelance contributor – were ready and waiting at the coalface while I took a break for a couple of weeks, giving direction from a deckchair on the beach in Southend! It only took a couple of meetings with Wembley Stadium’s team to get the wheels moving, and I have to say they are very positive about the whole thing. The momentum has been astounding.
‘I felt that 13-and-a-half years with TPi was enough. I felt mentally and emotionally drained by the time I left in May. Outwardly, it may have seemed like a bolt from out of the blue, but I had been wrestling with it for a good 12 months. There were many contributing factors but overall I would say that I had achieved what I set out to do with the magazine and the awards, and that if ever I was going to make an exit, this was a good time. Better to do it when I’m approaching 50, rather than 60 – and I sincerely wish my former colleagues the best of luck for the future.
‘The fact that Andy Lenthall and I were able to launch a new magazine on a shoestring and have it accepted pretty much immediately gave us both a great sense of pride and achievement – although relief would be a more appropriate word! We shared a great brotherly feeling about the whole enterprise. It was Andy who came up with the title, Total Production, and we did what it said on the tin. Three years into the life of the magazine, we were really up against it with a nightmare cashflow situation and Damian Walsh at Mondiale Publishing valiantly stepped in to rescue us from disaster.
‘What I’m most proud of is establishing the long-form production review as a standard of industry journalism. I know I’ve probably taken that to the extreme sometimes – with Ginny Goudy often telling me that the only thing missing was a full audience namecheck. But I’ve mostly felt that what I’ve done was for good reason. You cannot properly represent tours like U2’s 360° or Roger Waters’ The Wall Live with a two- or three-page feature. Period.
‘Of course, I’m also very proud of the major part I played with the TPi Awards and bowing out after the tenth edition seemed appropriate. The highlights of those ten years are too numerous to mention and I’m sure that with the liveculture awards we have plenty more to come.’
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