The New Way of Doing Biz
With two months to go before the first edition of VOICE, Corrado Peraboni and Marco Carniello give a detailed outline of the event, which promises to be a perfect, new generation business hub
In a year when the last time we shook hands at a trade show event was back in January, at Vicenzaoro to be exact, it is only fitting that a positive sign for the entire industry should be launched from there. And so, Voice was conceived, a new format that has a lot to say, a global event specifically for the gold and jewelry industry, scheduled to take place at Vicenza Expo Center from 12th to 14th September 2020. «We and the market share a mutual need and strong desire to get the relations system guaranteed by trade shows up and running again» said Corrado Peraboni, CEO at IEG, «by being ready for the “new era”. Traditional organizational procedures will co-exist with the new opportunities that the “digital world” ensures. New business prospects will open alongside new products and, therefore, new services. It promises to be a positive integration that will enrich the irreplaceable and productive experience of a live encounter. Two fronts on which IEG has invested with projects developed during these painful months of standstill.»
Marco Carniello, Director of the Fashion & Jewelry Division at IEG, outlines the details: «Voice is an innovative format that, while not replacing Vicenzaoro, could run alongside it in the future. It has three fundamental elements. Firstly, the company exhibition aspect will follow a new outfitting format organized by our architects. Secondly, it will be an event that we could define as a “world economic forum” of Italian and international jewelry, where the main engine is the content which, with the aid of modern technologies, we will send all over the world in streaming media. Events such as show coverage will be “digital native”. Thirdly, Voice will be a communication platform that will take collections and all our exhibitors, as well as the event contents, to every corner of the world. The channels will be our website, YouTube, Facebook and, of course, Instagram. Therefore, between 300 and 400 companies will be able to display what they have literally been keeping in their drawers since January until today. Just like at Vicenzaoro, access will be granted to all B2B traders, while for buyers, especially those from foreign countries, Voice will offer a unique chance to bridge the gap, and the impossibility of physically being able to touch the product, that these months of closure have created. That is why we believe that Voice could be a perfect, more compact and versatile “hybrid” that we could even export around the world, from Shanghai to Panama.»
Tasked with explaining the specific content of the “summit” is Michela Amenduni, Product Marketing & Communication Manager Jewelry and Fashion Division: «The idea of Voice arose from a need expressed by the entire community during the lockdown weeks. Category associations, the Italian Trade Agency (Ice), IEG’s stakeholders as well as the companies, implored us to give voice to the whole sector, to support them during this moment of enormous uncertainty. The concept of Voice, in other words, the voice of the industry, came from there. However, Voice is also an acronym of VicenzaOro International Community Event, which will see the sector’s key players reuniting for the first time in months. In January, we had discussed topics such as sustainability, traceability and innovation, mainstream arguments that will now be back to feature decisively during the three days of the event: the program foresees a series of interventions in the mornings from the main institutions and category associations, such as Assocoral, Federorafi, Ice, Federpreziosi and Cibjo, all of which will be bringing expert speakers for the audience. The afternoons, on the other hand, will see spokespersons from various sectors outlining their own experiences in terms of the three main subjects: sustainability, digital innovation and trends. The latter topic will be led, as always, by Paola De Luca from the Trendvision Jewellery + Forecasting Observatory. There will also be an area managed independently by the editorial staff of “our” VO+ Magazine, where editor-in-chief, Federica Frosini, will be able to host exhibitors, influencers and opinion leaders live on Instagram to share their content in real time. Meanwhile, in order to manage first-hand and virtual appointments between buyers and exhibiting companies, IEG has set up I-Mop, a business matching platform through which the three days can be optimally managed to avoid wasting precious time. Companies will also be able to enrich the platform with content and buyers will thus be able to view what interests them before the actual meeting. On the whole, Voice is therefore the result of a constant commitment that IEG had undertaken since the very first days of lockdown when we decided to launch a campaign to support the industry through the hashtag #labellezzacontinua. And it is also the chance to continue weaving the “fabric” of physical contacts that is, and will always be, extremely important in a sector like jewelry, where products need to be seen, touched and worn.»
Marco Carniello, Director of the Fashion & Jewelry Division at IEG, outlines the details: «Voice is an innovative format that, while not replacing Vicenzaoro, could run alongside it in the future. It has three fundamental elements. Firstly, the company exhibition aspect will follow a new outfitting format organized by our architects. Secondly, it will be an event that we could define as a “world economic forum” of Italian and international jewelry, where the main engine is the content which, with the aid of modern technologies, we will send all over the world in streaming media. Events such as show coverage will be “digital native”. Thirdly, Voice will be a communication platform that will take collections and all our exhibitors, as well as the event contents, to every corner of the world. The channels will be our website, YouTube, Facebook and, of course, Instagram. Therefore, between 300 and 400 companies will be able to display what they have literally been keeping in their drawers since January until today. Just like at Vicenzaoro, access will be granted to all B2B traders, while for buyers, especially those from foreign countries, Voice will offer a unique chance to bridge the gap, and the impossibility of physically being able to touch the product, that these months of closure have created. That is why we believe that Voice could be a perfect, more compact and versatile “hybrid” that we could even export around the world, from Shanghai to Panama.»
Tasked with explaining the specific content of the “summit” is Michela Amenduni, Product Marketing & Communication Manager Jewelry and Fashion Division: «The idea of Voice arose from a need expressed by the entire community during the lockdown weeks. Category associations, the Italian Trade Agency (Ice), IEG’s stakeholders as well as the companies, implored us to give voice to the whole sector, to support them during this moment of enormous uncertainty. The concept of Voice, in other words, the voice of the industry, came from there. However, Voice is also an acronym of VicenzaOro International Community Event, which will see the sector’s key players reuniting for the first time in months. In January, we had discussed topics such as sustainability, traceability and innovation, mainstream arguments that will now be back to feature decisively during the three days of the event: the program foresees a series of interventions in the mornings from the main institutions and category associations, such as Assocoral, Federorafi, Ice, Federpreziosi and Cibjo, all of which will be bringing expert speakers for the audience. The afternoons, on the other hand, will see spokespersons from various sectors outlining their own experiences in terms of the three main subjects: sustainability, digital innovation and trends. The latter topic will be led, as always, by Paola De Luca from the Trendvision Jewellery + Forecasting Observatory. There will also be an area managed independently by the editorial staff of “our” VO+ Magazine, where editor-in-chief, Federica Frosini, will be able to host exhibitors, influencers and opinion leaders live on Instagram to share their content in real time. Meanwhile, in order to manage first-hand and virtual appointments between buyers and exhibiting companies, IEG has set up I-Mop, a business matching platform through which the three days can be optimally managed to avoid wasting precious time. Companies will also be able to enrich the platform with content and buyers will thus be able to view what interests them before the actual meeting. On the whole, Voice is therefore the result of a constant commitment that IEG had undertaken since the very first days of lockdown when we decided to launch a campaign to support the industry through the hashtag #labellezzacontinua. And it is also the chance to continue weaving the “fabric” of physical contacts that is, and will always be, extremely important in a sector like jewelry, where products need to be seen, touched and worn.»
