PRAGUE, Czech Republic – As part of an ongoing effort to solicit industry input about The European Summit’s program, the conference’s organizers will host an open house at the Fall show’s new venue on 3 June. The event will begin at 14:00 at the ParkHotel Praha and will include a tour of the new facilities, a complimentary open bar and an opportunity to contribute suggestions for the upcoming show.

YNOT Europe asked TES organizers Walter and Andreas about the unusual approach to trade show management.

YNE: Hosting an open house with an open bar in order to solicit input and suggestions about a trade show is an uncommon thing to do. Why approach things from that angle?

TES organizers: We actually came up with the idea a while ago. Prior to our event in Sitges/Barcelona in 2013, we invited our sponsors to inspect the venue so they could orientate themselves and make an educated decision about what each sponsorship had to offer, from lounge placement to open bar advertising to additional venues for hospitality events. It was highly appreciated and worked well, so we simply decided to continue the effort.

We exist thanks to all our sponsors and participants, and we believe in their input about the events. It’s common courtesy and plain smart business to always have your ear to the ground.

What contributed to your decision to change host hotels for the show?

The reason we choose a different hotel in Prague this time was really very simple: Our former venue, the Praha Hotel, went bankrupt in December 2012 — which, by the way, also led us to move [the Fall show] to Budapest last year. With our new hotel, the ParkHotel Praha, we have encountered a very competent and pleasant management that is bending over backward to help us produce a brilliant event this coming September.

What kinds of impressive features can attendees and sponsors look forward to at the new hotel?

We think the best assets of the new venue are twofold. First, the venue hotel has 237 rooms, which will allow many more participants to stay at the venue at really good prices. Room rates start at €96 for a single and €106 for a double. Both rates include VAT and breakfast. Unfortunately, there are only a few rooms left.

The second important improvement is that the new show floor will be the biggest the show has offered to date. That means more exhibition space for our sponsors, better and roomier bar facilities, and direct access to the meeting rooms and terrace. All in all, that represents a big improvement on the logistical layout of the show.

What surprises does the September show have up its sleeve for attendees? For sponsors?

In March of this year, we introduced the Mobile Days to The European Summit. The conference-within-a-conference turned out to be highly appreciated and very well attended. Based on that response, we are putting a new schedule in place for September that will include not only a deeper and more focused look at the mobile sector but also an expanded educational offering for other industry segments including live cams, traffic and tubes.

The demographics for the Prague show tend to include more delegates from Eastern European nations, and we expect those numbers to justify the new additions.

A second and very important item we will be tackling is the productiveness of the speed networking sessions. We’re upending the standard format we see at all industry shows and restructuring the sessions to be more personal, more effective, more productive and super focused on what participants seek.

The European Summit’s Fall 2014 event will take place 22-25 September at the ParkHotel Praha in Prague, Czech Republic. For more information or to register, visit TheEuropeanSummit.com.