When you have worked together for several years in a row, you know what the other person expects and needs from you. That can work enormously to your advantage during the run-up to an event. So it is between PBIG and Royal Jaarbeurs. Earlier this year, PBIG organised the PowerBI User Days for the seventh time at Jaarbeurs's Supernova and Media Plaza conference venues. And once again with success: the event manages to attract more visitors every year.
The Power BI User Days is an annual three-day event where volunteers, dozens of speakers, partners and visitors come together to share knowledge and network. It has now grown into a community where people help, learn and inspire each other in the field of Power BI.
Unexpectedly many more applications
Precisely because the event grows so much every year, it seemed to get tense with the catering last edition. Organiser Jaap van den Brandhof found out that they would probably not have enough lunches during the busiest day. Indeed, just under 24 hours before the final day of the event, 200 more tickets turned out to have been sold. 'A few weeks in advance we pass on the lunch numbers so Jaarbeurs can take them into account. But now we had sold a lot of tickets last minute. Fortunately, we were able to increase this number without any problems. I can imagine that not every event venue offers that flexibility.'
Volunteers take on organisation
And it is precisely this flexibility and helpfulness of Jaarbeurs that PBIG is so pleased with. After all, the organising team of the PowerBi User Days is quite busy. Not only does organising a 3-day event of this magnitude require a lot of time, it is also organised entirely by a team of seven volunteers with full-time jobs. Thus Jaap says: "We are not an official event agency, we are a foundation. In other words, we don't organise events on a daily basis. It's nice that we can rely on the venue's expertise.'
Relying on someone else's expertise
Co-organiser Albert van Dok agrees and adds: 'We initially chose Jaarbeurs because of its central location. This is also nice for our international speakers, who come from more than 10 different countries. In addition, there are good rooms and facilities here. Actually, Jaarbeurs meets all our requirements. Yet it is their knowledge and expertise that make the difference. Jaarbeurs knows very well what we want and need - and can meet it.'
Engaged with each other
'Unburdening' is what the men call it. As Jaap says: 'Our account manager, Bas, has had the PowerBI User Days in his portfolio since the beginning. It also feels like his baby to him. We can switch easily with him; he is accessible and easy to reach. On the day itself, there is a phone number you can call for all kinds of things. For instance, if there is something to do with the catering or technical issues with audiovisual aspects. And Bas always shows his face. Even on a Saturday, which is probably also a day off for him. In fact, I seem to remember that last year he had just had a baby son just before the PowerBI User Days. Then he even attended briefly with his baby. That does show that he is really involved.'
See you next year!
The Power BI User Group Foundation is pleased with the cooperation with Jaarbeurs. If it is up to them, they will continue it in the coming years. Indeed, they have already taken an option on a date for the next edition, in 2025. Whether they ever hesitate to move to another venue? Not really. So says Jaap: 'There is so much knowledge here about what we want and expect. If we were to go to another location, we would fall back to zero. Then we're really going to run into ourselves.'
Number of visitors/participants: over 900 unique visitors
Visitors/participants come from: more than 10 different countries (Netherlands USA, Portugal, Poland, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Germany, UK and Italy)
Location used + session rooms: Media Plaza and Supernova (10 rooms in total)
Purpose of the meeting: knowledge sharing
Special element:
- entire event runs on the basis of volunteers
- Grown in numbers every year
- Last ticket was sold on Saturday at a little past 9am (event started at 9am)
Account and event manager Bas
Do you have a cool idea for an event or trade fair? We have the space, knowledge and passion for your event. I would be happy to tell you more about all the possibilities at our event location in Utrecht.
Email jaarbeurs or contact us on +31(0)30 295 5023.
