London Online show has a new venue
Jinfo Blog

By Penny Crossland

Abstract

As Incisive Media announces a venue change for this year's Online conference, information professionals may be wondering about the future for such events in the current depressed economic climate. Day passes rather than full registration, or smaller and more specialised events might increase affordability and be the way forward.

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Veteran attendees of London’s Online conference and exhibition have been wondering for some time about the future shape of this event. Ever since the economic downturn, the major online vendors have been noticeable by their absence at Online and, as mentioned by Nancy Davis Kho in her round-up of the 2010 conference, there has been a shift away from traditional online information vendors to providers of digital and workflow products.

Conference organisers Incisive Media announced at the end of last year’s show that the event was moving to London’s Excel centre in the east of the city, marking the end of an era. At the same time, the conference organisers were contemplating a radical change in format, allowing attendees to buy day passes, rather than having to register for the whole event. This would have made it more affordable for information professionals on tight budgets, i.e. most everybody, and provided visitors with access to selected conference presentations as well as to the exhibition.

As I commented at the time, a move away from the drafty Victorian hall at Olympia to the modern space at the Excel centre would have been welcomed by many. It should be added that the move was also necessitated by planned cuts in transport links to the venue.

Then, a few weeks ago rumours were flying around the information professional network in London that the Online show was being cancelled altogether. Thankfully, this has turned out to be a rumour only, since last week we received notification from Incisive Media of another change of plan: this year’s show is taking place in November, in a new venue, the Victoria Park Plaza in London’s Victoria and, interestingly, will run for two days only.

Details of the pricing structure have yet to be announced. This year’s themes are focused on mobile offerings, social media and the future of the information profession, all topical issues, but whether this will be enough to bring in the punters remains to be seen.

Incisive Media doesn’t seem to be having much luck with its Online Information events. The much heralded launch of the Online show in Asia last year – referred to by Tim Buckley Owen here – turned out to be a one-off event. At the end of last year, the company announced the cancellation of the 2012 conference citing that its "audience can be better addressed in other forums".

And therein lies the rub. The information world is increasingly focused on content delivery, while content users are becoming more specialised in their information needs. Smaller conferences and more targeted exhibitions seem to be the way forward.

Another event, Internet Librarian International (ILI), run by Information Today Magazine, has gradually been encroaching on Online Information’s space. It bills itself as the "innovation and technology conference for information professionals", which is where the future lies. And - wouldn’t you know? – the 2012 conference is being held at the Olympia Conference Centre, over three days.

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