Royal Jaarbeurs: the friendly, sustainable and innovative host for all of the Netherlands. A place where you meet, inspire, learn and grow. We'd love to tell you what's going on at Jaarbeurs and how we do things. How? By getting to know our most valuable asset: our people. Joyce van de Hoef talks about her work as exhibition manager for Jaarbeurs's construction and installation sector.
As exhibition manager, Joyce is ultimately responsible for several events for the construction and installation sector. "Bringing the construction and installation sector together is an important spearhead for Royal Jaarbeurs. We want to contribute to the positive growth of the industry with knowledge and attention," Joyce says. Together with a team of colleagues, she organises BouwBeurs and VSK, among other events.
Joyce sees herself as an architect: she looks at market opportunities and translates them - together with other experts - into various concepts. As she puts it herself, "I think of a country made up of cities that take shape bit by bit. I look at the strategic part, but we need each other to implement it. I get help from the industry and colleagues from different departments like sales, marketing, hospitality and different suppliers etc. Because only if we all go for it to the maximum will it succeed."
"Our goal is to bring question and answer together"
By working together with both internal and external colleagues, she manages to put on fairs that add real value for the industry year after year. Joyce: "There are a lot of opportunities, this market never stands still. There is a lot of construction going on and the energy transition is taking off. At the same time, we also hear that there are other issues in the sector. I see it as our goal to strengthen the industry in this respect. By bringing question and answer together, for example. We do this by creating valuable encounters by organising and facilitating trade fairs, conferences, seminars and other events. We also believe it is important at Jaarbeurs to innovate and to look for innovative solutions to bring the industry together and provide it with knowledge. Early this year, for example, we launched a new online platform, the Construction and Installation Hub."
The Construction and Installation Hub was created to strengthen collaborations in the construction and installation sector, 365 days a year. With sustainability and the energy transition, construction and engineering are becoming increasingly connected. The Construction and Installation Hub brings these two worlds together to strengthen collaboration and accelerate sustainable growth. Joyce: "The Construction and Installation Hub is an open community with over 300,000 profiles. Content is shared here from suppliers, media, knowledge institutions, government and industry organisations. It is a platform entirely dedicated to sharing knowledge, connecting and meeting each other. Of course, you can also meet live, via the trade fairs, conferences and seminars organised and facilitated Jaarbeurs. We are convinced that you create a strong connection with a combination of the online community throughout the year and highlights at the live events."
"In order to make the exhibitions as relevant as possible to the target audience, I gather information from industry associations, knowledge institutes, media, customers and visitors."
As befits any good event organiser, it is important to have the right knowledge about your target audience, as well as knowledge about possible concepts and opportunities. This allows you to match the content of your programme to the wishes and needs of the visitors in every detail. It is knowledge that Joyce, as trade fair manager, does not always have in-house. She therefore works with an advisory committee and various working groups. Here, they work together to make certain topics more practical and specific. Joyce: "Our advisory committee gives us input on the concepts at hand. Here, we work together with different people from industry associations, knowledge institutes, media, customers and visitors. We bring different disciplines together and present issues to them. The topics vary enormously: from electrifying the sector to creating more diversity and jobs."
Topics that are high on the agenda at Jaarbeurs, and therefore also at Bouwbeurs and VSK, are sustainability and inclusivity. Joyce: "We can only realise the energy transition if we work together. That is why we are organising a transition dinner where we brought people together at c-level. Here we have conversations about what is currently going on, where the opportunities and challenges lie in the future and how the industry, (and Jaarbeurs itself) can translate that into good building and installation concepts. This will be organised annually, one year it will have more of a focus on construction and the next more on installation." The other theme is inclusivity. We see it as our responsibility, together with the industry, to enthuse young people about the construction & installation sector. Joyce: "We therefore collaborate with various schools and colleges. By giving students assignments, we get a glimpse into their minds and how they experience the sector. This in turn helps us translate certain concepts."
"Our meetings create collaborations as well as friendships"
Another form of inclusiveness in the sector is by trying to attract more women. After all, it is no secret that the percentage of men still dominates the construction and installation industry. The team therefore organised a special ladies lunch during BouwBeurs: "I am very proud of that, we got 57 women from the construction industry together at the table. They shared knowledge and information with us and gave their views on the sector. It was not about showing the differences, but rather about highlighting the power of more women in construction. It is so special to see: collaborations as well as friendships develop from these kinds of meetings. I think it's great to help the industry move forward in this way."
Joyce is proud to work for the biggest trade shows within the construction and installation sector. By actively 'being in the market', sharing knowledge, networking and connecting people, she wants to remain at the forefront of the sector. This is in line with Jaarbeurs's strategy: to make Utrecht and Jaarbeurs the central hub for everything to do with the construction and installation sector. Joyce: "I love translating opportunities, ideas and concepts every day. I am really proud that we can help grow the market. Or rather: building on it together."
