The Voice was one of Frank Sinatra’s nicknames. Now, instead, in Italy the Voice is Michela Amenduni, Ieg’s product marketing & communication manager Jewelery & Fashion Division. That is, the woman on whom the burden and honor of making Voice known (Vicenza, 12-14 September), the cousin event of Vicenzaoro September, the fair that was canceled due to the well-known global health emergency. Although Italian Exhibition Group, the company that organizes Vicenzaoro, has tried to organize it until the last, this year it was impossible to re-propose the classic fair dedicated to jewelry, which weighs about 13% of the turnover of Ieg (a company that is listed on the Stock Exchange ). Here, then, is the idea of a different format, but no less interesting for this. “In fact, in the future he could also walk with his own legs,” the manager anticipates.
How the idea of Voice was born.
“We have collected requests from companies and sector associations, but also from many buyers, especially from Germany. During the lockdown, when only Italy had stopped, the perception from abroad was that everything was over, that businesses had disappeared. But no, Italian companies are alive and active. But it was not possible to propose Vicenzaoro with half the world blocked because of the virus. Too many question marks”.
The format.
“The idea is Voice, an acronym for Vicenzaoro International Community Event, but it is also an evocative name: we give voice to the jewelry sector. A summit. The Basel and Hong Kong fairs have been canceled, Voice for businesses is the first occasion of the year, after VicenzaOro January. Three days full of opportunities for meetings, including moments of training in collaboration with universities, debates, followed in streaming on social media. But also business. With the help of the ICE there will also be buyers, in particular we are focused on those from the Schengen area “.
The staging.
“Impossible to recreate the same environment of Vicenzaoro. Participating companies will have booths of 15 square meters available, which can double and which, of course, are customizable. We will also try to recreate a color code that relates to the division into homogeneous areas of activity, as is the case for Vicenzaoro. And a lot of space available to comply with health security measures “.
Exhibitors and business.
“300 exhibitors have already confirmed their presence, but the number could go up again, perhaps up to 400. For them there is the Buyer Virtual Room project. How does it work? It is a platform (I-Mop Ieg Meeting Omnichannel Platform) that has already been tested in the Rimini tourism fair, and already used for GoldItaly in Arezzo. For the virtual meetings some rooms will be set up “.
Who is there, who is not there.
«To help exhibitors we are collaborating with Alo, a company that creates 3D videos: in the rooms dedicated to remote connections with foreign buyers you will have the opportunity to project videos of the jewels with a much better performance. This can be useful for brands that sell a lot abroad and who have not yet decided whether to participate in Voice.
The future.
«The Voice format could support Vicenzaoro in the future. But don’t replace it. For example, Voice could become an event that walks with its own legs, a hybrid format, more compact and versatile, which could also be exported to the world, from Shanghai to Panama. We’ll see”.
