We are in 2013 and the Nordic Ski World Championships are held in Val di Fiemme (in the Trentino region). It is there that Patrizia Battisti, after a degree in Linguistic Mediation for Business and Tourism and a Master in Tourism Management, discovers her passion not only for organising events, but also for territorial marketing. A passion that led her, the following year, to be part of the Riva FiereCongressi family where she had been taking care of the Congress Area for 6 years, before arriving to the Innovation-Marketing & Development Area in 2020.

What were the biggest challenges you faced during this past hard year?
“Definitely preparing the ‘digital’ fair edition of January 2021 and organising Expo Riva Show (the series of webinars dedicated to the footwear market that brought sector operators together online) trying to find new ways to adapt the strategic lines of the fair to the challenges of a sector completely changed by the pandemic.
Having supported the buyer office in planning telemarketing activities aimed at visitors is also very important. It was crucial to carry out in-depth surveys and maintain a direct contact with our interlocutors”.

What commitments await you for the next July edition (from 18 to 20)?
“For the summer edition I am working on the development of engagement activities between exhibitors and visitors, before, during and after the fair. Ever more trade fair events will have to guarantee their community of reference an involvement throughout the year, as a tool to support relations between the stakeholders of the event. Relationships that are finding new ways, mixing different meeting and confrontation opportunities: in person, through the digital platform, and thanks to new trend anticipation contents. Among long-term objectives, the aim of being increasingly able to represent a connection between communication and marketing, intercepting new opportunities and identifying new markets”.

What are the markets your are focussing on the most?
“Undoubtedly the Chinese market, which is very important for the fair, considering both the number of exhibiting companies from China and the role that this country plays as major footwear producer and consumer in the world”.

What initiatives have you implemented?
“The need to communicate more directly with this market emerged right away, in the first place to consolidate and strengthen the Expo Riva Schuh brand, a well-positioned fair among the ‘historic’ operators in the sector, but little known in some regions of the Chinese state.
Another objective of this activity is being able to increase the number of visitors from China. In addition to creating communication materials in the language (brochures and videos), we have thus thought of new communication channels:
– We launched the Chinese website www.exporivaschuh.net
– We opened a WeChat profile (the most used social network in China)
– Develop a promotional activity on Baidu (the main Chinese language search engine)
The attention that Expo Riva Schuh has started to dedicate to this market has been perceived by the Chinese audience and, also thanks to the inclusion in the workforce of my colleague Ying Zang, a Chinese mother tongue, a fundamental objective has been achieved: strengthening relations with agencies and associations that support Expo Riva Schuh”.

How will the project evolve in the future?
“For the next editions of the fair we will further consolidate the promotional activities carried out in collaboration with the ICE Agency, with which we organise incoming actions for profiled and selected buyers. Moreover, to strengthen our presence in the country, we will organise events in the ‘Around The World’ format so as to make ourselves known closely and directly on the territory”.