This article was first published in Vol 45 of Business Events Africa in March 2025.
Fans of the Marvell movies know that every hero has her/his specific superpower, allowing them to stand out. The same goes for successful convention centres. Each of them has something which makes them special. The big difference with the superpowers of the Marvell characters is that these superpowers are the result of very hard, data driven, work – which makes it an achievable goal for every convention centre.
The notion of superpower has been around for a very long time, in almost every culture across the globe. It became even more popular since the introduction of the comic books in the 1930s, featuring heroes like Superman or The Flame. More recently, the notion of superpower is also applied to companies which have one institutional capability which separates them from the others.
We all know the classic examples. The Toyota Way: an amazing manufacturing process based on continuous improvement and respect for people. LEGO: a journey of continued innovation, allowing them to stay relevant for every new generation. Amazon: challenging the status-quo as a mindset. Their superpower has allowed these companies to become the absolute champions in their field.
The same is seen in the area of convention centres, which could be considered as a very commoditised market: very often a conference room in a convention centre in Canada will look very similar to one in Germany. It is especially in these markets where it is important to stand out.
A number of convention centres are doing a great job at this. Take the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne, Switzerland. This is a boutique venue, based on an university campus where some of the brightest minds in the world can be found. This collective brainpower is the superpower of the centre in two ways. On the one hand, it provides access to great content and speakers. On the other hand, because a lot of the professors on the campus are member of a board of an association or scientific committee, they have access to a large number of decision takers when it comes to the location of upcoming conferences and meetings.
Now, how do you go about defining and implementing your superpower. First of all, it is important to know that there are two types of superpower: functional capabilities and enterprise-wide capabilities. A functional superpower is about an activity that any convention centre does (sales, operations, etc.), but you are consistently better at it than the competition. Data analytics at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, would be an example. I do not know of any other convention centre that is so focused on data and that excels in translating data into yield. An enterprise-wide are strengths that truly span the entire company (such as speed of decision making, ability to innovate, the operating system, customer centricity). A nice example of an enterprise-wide superpower is ICC Sydney: the mindset with the entire staff – from CEO to usher – is about making a difference for the customer. That is the enterprise-wide focus point. How that is done of course differs per person and function, but it creates a company-wide drive toward one goal.
Secondly, one you have defined your superpower (you might actually have more than one), you need to build it/them. This is not straightforward, as it requires a holistic approach. The leadership needs to have a clear vision on what needs to be achieved and needs to be able to adapt, as the environment continuous to change. Employees need to receive the skills, functional framework and support to develop their talents to feed into the superpower. A culture and mindset need to be implemented and measured to underpin the superpower. The appropriate technology required to deliver the superpower needs to be put in place in a structural way. The organizational structure and ways of operating must be designed and constructed to ensure clear roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities to enable the capability to grow and thrive. And finally, well designed routines and processes need to be in place and practiced continuously.
Thirdly, a the top management team will be driving the journey of building the superpower, it is crucial that this team is fully aligned on what needs to be done, what the expected outcome is and how it will be measured.
Putting a superpower in place is definitely not an easy endeavour. It is not a “one-off”, as maintaining the superpower – similar like staying in shape – requires continuous training. However, as the examples – both from the event industry and outside the industry – demonstrate: it can make a significant difference and in some case make THE difference.
Sven Bossu
CEO, AIPC
