Summary
We catch up with programme manager Steve from Fieldays. His job involves looking after the 7 different hubs as well as finding, attracting and interacting with all sorts of exhibitors.
We learn how the visitor numbers are looking for Fieldays this year and how things can change depending on who is visiting.
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Show Transcript
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Sam [00:00:21]:
Hello, Chris and Sam fans. We’re in for a treat right now.
Sam [00:00:24]:
We’re we’re we’re here with Steve Chappell from Fieldays himself, and I don’t wanna get your title wrong, Steve, so you better tell us what exactly you do.
Steve [00:00:32]:
So I’m the program manager here at Fieldays. So I look after the 7 hubs that we’ve got at Fieldays, including the Innovation Awards and Hub, and the International Business Center.
Sam [00:00:41]:
Sounds like a very busy job, and, we know that the innovation guys, they’re really great. So that process of finding them or liaising with them, I guess, and bringing them in, it gotta be quite a rewarding, part of the role.
Steve [00:00:55]:
Yeah. Definitely. I I feel like I’ve got a little bit of a relationship with all of them, you know. I go out and, and do a bit of shoulder tapping if I see cool stuff on LinkedIn or whatever and say, hey. Have you heard of our awards? But but also just, you know, taking inquiries and and suggesting the awards to people who are interested. So I really enjoy seeing the variety that comes in each every year, and it’s always different, and we follow the trends and see what’s happening. So, yeah, really happy.
Chris [00:01:18]:
And how do you, get them to come to you? Like, if if somebody listening to this goes, I’ve got a mate who’s doing something in this space, 2 things, where would they go to to sort of tap you and say, hey, have a look at this, and b, who would you, consider and who wouldn’t you consider?
Steve [00:01:35]:
Yeah. Good questions. So, The if people go to our website, Fieldays dot co.nz, you can actually put an expression of interest in for next year now, for the next year’s awards, and I’ll keep in touch when we open the applications. And, yeah, so the criteria for each category is on the website, and also the the breadth of the sector that we accept entries from, and we’ve kind of evolved over the years. It used to be really in invention focused and, you know, tool sheds, and people come out with ideas, and and we stay true to that, but we’ve also seen a lot more apps and software coming, into the awards. You know, we’re not just dairy or beef. There’s horticulture and apiculture and aquaculture and all of the different cultures entering, and we wanna showcase the whole breadth of the primary industries, so but anyone can enter, and then you get approved, and if you’re in, then you’re in.
Chris [00:02:23]:
And how how long ahead of time, do you go through all of that? Like, you can’t do it a couple of weeks before.
Steve [00:02:29]:
People do, no. The entries usually close at the end of April, sort of, 6 to 8 weeks out from the event, and then that’s when the but you can enter as early as October and know that you’re in and and accepted, but we do see that the majority of them come in right in the last sort of 24 to 48 hours as always, you know.
Chris [00:02:45]:
this isn’t specifically to your, your part of the world, but for the exhibitors that are here, how how far ahead do they book, and and those big ones particularly, we were talking about it earlier, and we were saying they must book like multi years ahead.
Steve [00:03:01]:
Yeah. Pretty much. You can book the next year straight away, so we’re we’re introducing this new system this year where you can say, I want my exact same site for next year, and we’ll have those conversations with you. If you wanna move or grow your site, you can, you know, we’ll chat about that as well and and, sort all of that out. But, yeah, people are coming straight away wanting their same sites if they’ve had a really good event, you know, and it’s gone well for them they’ll book in, and and that’s what we like to see. The repeat exhibitors are the bread and butter of, you know, like, that’s what people come and see. They wanna see certain products and and, ideas, and then but we love the new ones as well, so so it’s always good to bring new exhibitors in too.
Sam [00:03:36]:
On the radio on the drive in, as we were stuck in traffic and dealing with some, questionable driving decisions by people of the Waikato, It said that you guys were looking at potentially having the largest crowd here in 5 years.
Steve [00:03:49]:
Yeah. It certainly feels like it, today. It’s it’s good numbers through the gates. Obviously, with COVID interruptions, we had to just do an online event in 2020. We had, a bumper event in 2021 because people had the FOMO and missed Fieldays and wanted to come after 2 years off. 2020, we had to postpone to December because of COVID, so we ran that, and then last year was only 6 months after the previous event, so we’re hoping to see the numbers grow from, you know, from 2022, 2023, and into 24, back to those sort of pre COVID numbers.
Chris [00:04:19]:
And so what what’s changing? So Fieldays is always changing, as you sort of alluded to before. Where do you think is going forward? Is it gonna be more international, less international? Is it yeah. I mean, just generally, is there something you see in the trend?
Steve [00:04:34]:
Definitely this year with the international inquiry, it’s up to pre COVID levels because, you know, with borders being fully open and and all of our partners and, like, the NZTE and MFAT are working really hard to bring people back to Fieldays. So we’re seeing a lot of that this year. I think it’s that balance of staying true to what we are as an event, but also moving with the times and understanding what the punters, if they’re changing the makeup of visitors. And so what we’re seeing is a lot of, sort of, the, farmers and primary sector workers coming Wednesday, Thursday, and a lot more of the urban visitors coming Friday, Saturday. And it’s about tailoring our event and the exhibitors tailoring their sights to that more, and maybe having a change of what they’re offering for Friday Saturday because the audience is gonna be different. So we’re kinda challenging them to think about that kind of change.
Chris [00:05:19]:
That makes sense.
Sam [00:05:20]:
That makes sense. So we’ve been asking The innovation people, if they’ve been using AI in their product or in some part or if they’re gonna think about using it in the future. How is Fieldays thinking about the use of AI?
Steve [00:05:33]:
Definitely showcasing it in all of these different exhibitors, but we’ve, we’ve got a new chatbot on our website that, you know, is learning as people ask questions. Providing that better customer service and that kind of thing. And so, yeah, that’s something sort of simple that we’ve added this year, with that capability. And then, yeah, the the sort sky’s the limit, isn’t it, for for ways to involve things, you know, writing press releases, you know, image manipulation, all of that kind of stuff. We can do whatever with AI now.
Chris [00:06:01]:
Ask the final question.
Steve [00:06:02]:
Do you listen to podcast, Steve? I do listen to podcasts.
Sam [00:06:05]:
What are your top 3? Can be any genre, any type.
Steve [00:06:08]:
The Chris and Sam 1, the Between Between 2 Beers, obviously, and and just sort of anything that’s related to the sector just to see if I can hear the latest of, you know, whatever’s coming hot off the press for innovations.
Sam [00:06:19]:
Is there a is there a top podcast for that
Steve [00:06:21]:
The to mind? I mean, the Chris and Sam podcast is really the place to go if you wanna hear those kind of stories being told.
Chris [00:06:29]:
There must be one, industry sector podcast. Is there 1 that
Steve [00:06:33]:
can No. No. I can’t think of and off the top of my head. Maybe that’s the sleep deprivation kicking in, but but, no. There’s there’s plenty out there, and there’s some really, really good ones. Yeah.
Chris [00:06:41]:
Very good.
Sam [00:06:42]:
Thank you so much, Steve, for talking to Chris and myself.
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