Dan Thurlow, Director of Exhibitions at SEC Glasgow talks to Farnborough’s Lucy Spensley on the power of exhibitions, current industry collaboration and the first successful event that will build confidence for future events.

Dan, family man and (currently frustrated) Leeds United fan is passionate about events. Prior to working with SEC Glasgow, Dan spent 20 years running trade events in the UK and Russia/former Soviet States, so he has great perspective from both an organiser and venue. Dan's seen a vast array of exhibitions bringing different audiences together, he explains “one

day we have thousands of optometrists at a conference, the next we had the BBC Good Food Show running in our exhibition halls…and then later that night, we have U2 playing”.

He adds “You have these thousands of people, almost these of the three different communities, all with their respective shared interests, all rubbing shoulders on the concourse or getting a drink...”

“You see the value they create. You see the experiences that they offer. And you see the smiles on the faces.”

As Chair of the AEV (Association of Event Venues), Dan highlights the impactful collaborative work taking place “This is not being driven by any one group of people or any one venue or any one set of organizers. Everybody is literally looking at it and saying, right, what part do we play?”

Looking towards a positive return “The next event to happen, we all want it to be a success because if that one is a success, it will breed confidence among the wider industry and that will be the first step on the path to getting back to where we need to be.”

Watch the full interview here:

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