Positively CeBIT

New Zealand’s ICT sector was well represented at Europe’s biggest technology expo. Yvonne Carter was there.
440,000 visitors, 6000 exhibitors and 9000 journalists (9001 including me, reportedly the only New Zealand business journalist attending!)
Welcome to CeBIT, Europe’s largest hi-tech trade show.
Held over seven days during March at the Hannover Convention Centre, CeBIT showcased the very latest advances in computer and information technology.
The scale of the event was overwhelming – hall upon hall of products and prototypes vying for attention; which makes you appreciate just how many businesses compete in the technology space. It takes about 30 minutes to walk across the expo; there are 26 halls covering 300,000 square metres (about 20 times bigger than the Auckland Showgrounds) – this is BIG!
And at a minimum starting cost of $30,000 (excluding stand fit-out) for the minimum space of 40 square metres, exhibitors need to be extremely committed and very clear about their business objectives.
So how does a comparatively small New Zealand business compete in this type of environment? Rather than go it alone, it helps to present your offering and credentials as part of a wider team, which is how the Government approached the opportunity when it invited 17 New Zealand businesses to join them at CeBIT 2007.
Our stand
The New Zealand stand, spearheaded by NZ Trade & Enterprise (NZTE), was impressive. A collaborative exercise by Auckland’s Design Systems, it was very striking, open and welcoming. The angled partitioning, use of interactive touch screens (supplied by Next Window) and videos (Massive), plus onsite seminars by New Zealand Immigration drew people onto the stand, so it was always buzzing.
‘New Zealand – New Thinking’ is a brand developed specifically to promote New Zealand creativity and technology innovation to the global market.
CeBIT provided an ideal opportunity to launch the brand and 2007 is the third year that NZTE has led a contingent.
“NZTE has a mandate to generate export income for NZ and to assist our local businesses to achieve the capability to do so,” said Gordon Stevenson, NZTE’s project manager ICT, explaining their role at CeBIT.
“Our objectives are to raise New Zealand’s visibility as being an innovative technology country and to provide a high quality environment for our participating businesses to promote themselves in this light. It also gives them insight into how well they compete in a global market.”
NZTE invited businesses to participate in the event as part of a united, umbrella team leveraging off the brand and receiving ‘add value’ services to promote themselves and develop new opportunities (as well as perform valuable on-site market intelligence).
Those invited were identified by NZTE as companies with a product fit suited to the CeBIT environment and ready to go to, or expand within, the global market.
This resulted in a wide range of businesses from emerging to blue chip.
Participants were expected to be committed financially and to adequately dedicate resources and time.
“For many of the participants, the show is a catalyst to expose their business to a very important market within a protective environment. A lot of businesses, especially the emerging ones, suffer from a fear factor and are not comfortable with how to present their value proposition or their credentials. We help to eliminate this and instil a positive attitude when they realise they can compete on the international stage,” says Stevenson.
Essentially NZTE provided a ‘turn key’ operation that allowed businesses to plug in and go. It negotiated the space, organised the stand, and provided collateral (including brochures, shirts, gifts for guests and invitations and catering for networking events). Each participating company also paid an agreed amount for ‘space’ on the stand and paid for its own travel and accommodation.
NZTE also assisted participants in other ways. A two day pre-show coaching workshop in London helped build overall capability and provided media training. The workshop included:  
• Providing guidelines and framework   for presenting to potential customers   or partners at the show.
• Creating the value propositions for
 potential venture capital
 presentations and setting up    appropriate meetings.
• Networking opportunities such as    an investment evening attended by   over 80 guests – mainly investors    and industry contacts.

During the show NZTE provided huge support, such as:
• Researching, identifying and sourcing
 potential business partners (who
 were at the show) for the    participants.
• Organising on-site meetings with    potential partners and customers.
• Networking events on the stand    including invitation only drinks and   nibbles.
• Visits by dignitaries including our own
 Minister of Immigration and ICT,
 David Cunliffe, and the Minister-   President of Lower Saxony, Christian   Wullf (tipped to be the next President   of Germany)
• Translation services, administration,   technology support and secretarial   services.
Then there was the New Zealand networking dinner. An invitation-only event with each of the participating companies inviting their potential clients or partners.
It featured an opening speech by David Cunliffe and entertaining presentations from Andy Claughton, design co-ordinator Emirates Team New Zealand and Dianne Holland, CEO Massive Software – all received extremely well by the 150-plus guests.

It’s about results
It’s all very well to bask in the positive glow generated by the strong Kiwi presence at CeBIT (I did have a few “I’m proud to be a Kiwi” moments) but in the end it is all about results. So, was it worthwhile?
The participants were unanimous in the view that the show had been extremely successful in meeting, or exceeding, their expectations.
For example, both 4RF (point to point radio communications) and Intranel (teleconferencing solutions and information management) completed deals they were working on – face-to-face contact at the show demonstrated their substance and credibility.
Zephyr (smart fabrics innovator) achieved a top billing on the BBC New Technology page, creating more than 9000 hits in one day alone and initiating queries and potential business opportunities.
Prolificx (hardware for telematics and fleet management) was attending its third CeBIT and the opportunity to reinforce their credentials with numerous SME European contacts was invaluable. Likewise, Rakon used the opportunity to network with many clients, most of whom were exhibiting and therefore accessible in the one location.
Caroline Dewe from Fronde (mobile banking) summed up the event: “CeBIT has been very successful for us. We have gained some valuable contacts and potential global partners. We have developed some really great sales leads within a credible environment and at a cost that we could manage. All in all it has been great for us and we cannot speak highly enough of NZTE’s commitment and help with everything. We could not have done this on our own”. A sentiment shared by all the participants.   NZB

(NZBusiness will profile some of New Zealand’s CeBIT participants in upcoming issues - Ed.)

Yvonne Carter is co-publisher of NZBusiness magazine.