Fairs, congresses, conferences or any other event that brings together several agents involved in the same activity, become a great source of information for any of these agents.
In specific fairs, we find the highest concentration of information and movement on the same sector; all agents take the opportunity to make themselves known to the fullest - and therefore devote all their strength and energy to promoting their organization. Precisely for this reason, fairs become the place to collect / collect a large volume of information, either about the products / services of all participants -competition-, or about new trends and market expectations., and the future of the sector.
If the investigation is carried out by a company, it is understood as a Competitive Intelligence operation; if it is carried out in the private sphere, it is understood as individual intelligence (Tena and Comai, 2001).
Gathering this information requires "careful" planning and monitoring of the following techniques, each of which serves a different purpose.
Phase I: Planning
Depending on the strategy of the company or the objectives of the business unit, it will be defined what is to be achieved throughout the event / fair. It is estimated that planning should start around 4 months before the event. The key topics on which information is to be obtained must be defined.
On each of the topics, several questions are prepared that must be resolved on the spot.
Planning will focus on:
a) Identification of the key issues on which information must be collected.
b) Definition of critical questions for each topic
c) Organization of the topics into thematic groups
d) Prioritization of topics according to importance and urgency
e) Precise identification of the sources and their location, which will answer the questions
f) Resource allocation
g) Previous training if necessary.
One more and very important phase / part of planning is defining the profile of the people who will have to get the information.
Phase II: Preparation
Adequate preparation will include the development of special guides with the following information:
a) General catalog with all the activities of the fair and the location of information sources.
b) Map of the fair with key points
c) Useful telephone numbers
d) Addresses of all places of interest (hotels,…)
Before proceeding to the Action phase, it should be clear what the sources of information are, where and how we will locate them, and be provided with the necessary resources.
Phase III: Action
With the start of the event, the action begins. And if the investigation is scheduled to last more than one day, it is convenient to establish a place where to centralize, coordinate the actions and manage the search activities, verify, analyze the information collected, and receive new assignments as well as exchange information with the other researchers..
For the action to lead to the expected results, it is convenient to follow guidelines such as:
a) Be sociable: be open to varied conversations and encounters.
b) Asking questions respecting confidentiality (Barron, 2003)
c) Be attentive to all aspects, although at first they were not classified as very relevant, it may be that during the event they become relevant to the objective.
d) Exchange business cards with all people not related to the competition.
Phase IV: Review and Exploitation of Information
Once all the information has been collected, you must:
a) Analyze it
b) Distribute intelligence
c) As well as checking that the questions were answered correctly and defining the level of success achieved in relation to the objectives set.
This will also allow us to evaluate the procedures followed and improve them, if necessary, for future interventions at fairs and events.
Counterintelligence at fairs
If at fairs we go to collect as much critical information about a sector as possible, we must also take into account the information that we as a company can present at a fair. We must assess and plan what is the critical information that we should not discover.
The company must be prepared both to obtain the information it needs for its organization to succeed in its competitive decisions, legally and ethically, as well as to protect data that could give advantages to current or future competition.
Good planning of attending a fair, with the consequent action, and review and exploitation of the information obtained, is a source of innovation; it will help to be more effective in commercial and competitive action, and will support the maturation of the company's strategies.
Published in Puzzle, issue No. 9 - Intelligence for Export - January - February 2004
