Case Study – Reed Exhibitions
Ever heard of Oz Comic-Con or Better Homes and Gardens Live? Ever been to a boutique trade show such as Life In Style, Beauty Expo and Online Retailer? Even if the answer is yes, you probably have no idea of the organisation responsible for the execution of these and many more wonderful consumer exhibitions. Let us introduce you to Reed Exhibitions. They’re the world’s leading organiser of exhibitions and trade shows. A huge player in the global and Australian event industry. And one of our longest standing and valued industry connections. If you’re wondering what it’s like to work in exhibitions and trade shows, a closer look at Reed Exhibitions is invaluable.
Why are exhibitions and trade shows so important?
Whether you attend them or not, exhibitions and trade shows are super important; they keep the world of face-to-face trade and business alive and more relevant for us, they keep employing well-trained event management graduates!
Just to give you some idea of the size of an organisation such as Reed, check out these impressive stats:
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- 40 offices in 30 countries across the globe
- 39,000 employees
- 500+ events worldwide covering 43 industry sectors
- Internal career portal presenting a range of global job opportunities
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Giving back
Reed Exhibitions might be a big international corporate, but from our perspective they behave like a small and personal local business. Fleur Kearns, now Vice President of HR Director for the Asia Pacific region was one of our earliest industry connections. Fleur feels that it’s important to ‘give back’ by way of imparting her experience to students. She also realises the benefits to Reed of a reciprocal relationship.
The opportunities that I’ve had to come in and help the students understand our industry and to provide them with some insight into how it all operates and the opportunities that may be available to them has been extremely valuable to us as a business.
Volunteering for a global organisation
Fleur is referring to the CoEM students who volunteer with Reed events throughout the year. Some go on to earn internships and others secure permanent paid roles. This is great for Reed and great for our students.
Fleur shares her thoughts about CoEM volunteers,
They were keen, listened and learned, happily did the range of things I made sure they got exposure to, asked questions etc. Again, it was lovely to hear three or four of them saying that they would never have considered exhibitions but my talk sparked their interest and they were so glad they volunteered for the Hair Expo as they had a great time. They then wanted to talk about other volunteering or in-office opportunities.
Why volunteering is a good idea
Clearly, industry connections such as these are gold for all concerned; something of value that you cannot teach, cannot buy, cannot fake. The students, also, are very appreciative of their experiences with Reed because they are so beneficial in terms of practical and hands-one experience. One of our past students was so happy she communicated these words,
Just wanted to say a massive thank you for the opportunity to work at Beauty Expo. It was amazing working with such a cool team! I got some great contacts, and the hands-on training was insane. I literally had to renovate a room from a conference layout, to a beauty bar! SOOOO CRAZY! I then got to sit in a two hour makeup masterclass presented by one of the world’s best international makeup artists. Noelle from Reed was a great advisor and she offered me some great tips and tricks for being in the events industry.
College connections
As a Reed team member stated, “As always, it’s a pleasure continuing the strong relationship between College of Event Management and Reed.” And in view of the benefits to both organisations, we look forward to long and fruitful relationship where inspired students reap the benefits of such great hands-on practical experience with such a professional, grass roots organisation.
Working in exhibitions and trade shows not for you? Don’t worry, there’s many other sectors within the events industry. Read about them all HERE >>
Graduates from College of Event Management are job-ready! If you’re wanting to find out more about a career in event management there’s plenty of information on our website about our specialised event courses. Any of our course advisors will be more than happy to chat to you on 02 9280 4912 or you can contact us HERE>>
