The newly formed Council of Indian Exhibition Organizers is moving ahead with the core mission of survival of Exhibition Organizers and the Industry. Being severely affected by Covid 19 pandemic, the exhibition industry is struggling to survive.

CIEO has stepped forward to bring together Exhibition Organizers on one platform, the need for which was long pending. At CIEO the concerns and issues of organizers would be addressed and represented which could further complement and supplement the work done by existing industry bodies.

The statement was made by the steering committee members at the recently held virtual press meeting. The steering committee includes Balvinder Singh Sawhney from FICCI, Kailash Murarka from AIPMA, Manish Gandhi from ABEC, M Q Syed from EXHICON, Rajan Sharma from Interads, Rajesh Bhagat from Worldex, Seema Srivastava from India ITME and Sukhjinder Singh from Infinity Expo.

Mr. Bhagat mentioned the core objectives of CIEO while addressing the press meeting stating " CIEO is solely for the exhibition organizers and shall work towards protecting their interest, educate them and raise their voice for survival. We are not in competition with other bodies in the same domain, rather we are there to work jointly for the benefit of the industry at large."

Mr. Rajan Sharma zeroed in on the fact that CIEO is a body for the organizers and by the organizers. Our objective is to work in cahoots with other bodies for the betterment of the industry. Moreover, there have been several issues that are unuttered and need to be raised appropriately for the welfare of the business, CIEO shall work on these points as well. Pandemic has hit us really hard and we don't see returning back to the same business level till the end of 2022. Although we do see business picking up from Sep 2021 onwards. Hence it's imperative and demand of the present time is to work now for survival. 

Mr. Balvinder Singh Sawhney focused on the fact that CIEO shall approach the right government authorities and submit demands for the recognition of the Exhibition Industry. We shall work together to form a collective forum for discussion and negotiation with governments, venues, vendors, and contractors, provide a one-stop source of information pertaining to the exhibition industry. CIEO shall also be rolling out surveys and studies for providing statistics and information to the members and industry, formulate and implement standards, practices, code of ethics, and audit guidelines for the overall development and the credibility of the trade shows.

Mr. Syed shared his perspective on virtual events stating Face To Face is going to exist and virtual can just complement the show. Virtual is an added tool to keep the connections live with your clientele. Speaking about the membership drive, Mr. Syed shared " Welfare of MSME Organizers being the prime objective of CIEO, we have launched a special and subsidized membership fee for all registered MSME Exhibition Organizers”

Mr. Murarka  expressed "CIEO is a community platform to bring together all the exhibition organizers be it private or public organization, associations, councils, government agencies in India, in order to find a working solution for the development of the exhibition organizing industry"

The panel additionally shared - CIEO is the only "Association Without Designations" hence a steering committee is formed.

For joining CIEO, one may get in touch with CIEO secretariat or log in to www.cieo.in