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Anja Magry, Head of Events of the European Wind Energy Association, EWEA
You attended the UIA RoundTable Meeting 2011 on 17 October in Brussels. Did it meet your expectations?
It was the first time I attended a UIA workshop. I was positively surprised by the number of attendants and quality of support this event received. This is encouraging for future workshop plans and shows there is a need to meet and exchange in this group, especially in the “association capital” Brussels.
In your presentation you explained how the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) is publicising the social impact it makes. Please point out your main communication measures.
The best occasion for communicating our social impact is at our event itself, where we include the highlights in the opening and closing session, the latter being combined with a handover of a symbolic cheque of €1 per participant we donate to our charity. We also use our event publications, EWEA magazine and website for information and stories about our engagement. More practical advice is given in stakeholder workshops, with the aim of explaining our vision and encouraging our stakeholders’ participation in our efforts.
You asked the audience: Does your social impact information matter to your target group? How do you make sure that your content, your news are relevant?
Our target groups are high-level civil servants, politicians and industry representatives. From our experience, the social impact messaging from EWEA is not relevant to the target groups and – outside the events – does not align with our political key messaging.
Why will your next Annual Event, EWEA 2012 in Copenhagen, be relevant for the European and international wind industry?
Denmark is the cradle of modern wind power and a leading wind nation. It is home to the highest density of companies excelling globally in wind energy. Following the implementation of EWEA’s new Membership & Events strategy, our 2012 Annual Event will start a “new age” of EWEA events. Its theme will be “Innovating today, shaping tomorrow”. EWEA Annual Event brings together companies and individuals to play an active role in shaping the future of our industry - and enabling the innovation today that is crucial for building a better tomorrow for wind energy.
At the same time, we will roll out this theme across the whole event, starting with the call for innovative abstracts, a fresh approach to the event’s marketing and all organisational aspects. EWEA 2012 in Copenhagen will therefore focus on innovating - the major driver of the industry. With insightful sessions, more interactive and meaningful high level debates with the world's senior experts, the conference at EWEA 2012 will be a four-day programme of high quality educational value and opportunities for business networking. The 2012 edition is set to be bigger and better than ever before. Over 10,000 professionals from around the world are expected to attend and experience the power of the wind energy industry.
EWEA is the "voice of the wind industry“, promoting wind power in Europe and worldwide. What are your three main challenges these days?
From the Membership and Events department perspective, the first challenge is the maturing of the industry and on-going consolidation of associations and events, which can be considered as a threat, but also an opportunity. For EWEA this implies that members become more demanding and require more, better and tailor-made services. We are looking at our services portfolio and monitor the industry development very closely to align our activities with their expectations.
However, there is always a risk of new entrants with a competitive market offer, both in terms of events and membership services. The actual interest in the wind energy or renewable energy topic has made it an attractive market. There are a huge number of debates, workshops, conferences and exhibitions organised by different associations but also commercial providers worldwide. EWEA must therefore highlight its “industry for industry” advantage much more strongly, and excel in qualitatively high events and services, to remain the association that is most attractive to companies in times of budget cuts.
Also, the demand for associations specialised in specific technologies may emerge, based on the wind energy market evolution, potentially taking away membership from our European association.
If not appropriately tackled in the coming months, these challenges may result in the erosion of EWEA’s brand and eventually cost it its members if they are dissatisfied with the services. This is why EWEA’s Board has recently adopted a new Membership and Events Strategy, identifying steps to deal with these challenges and take actions to remain the market leader.
The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) is the voice of the wind industry, actively promoting the utilisation of wind power in Europe and worldwide. It now has over 700 members from almost 60 countries, among them manufacturers and component suppliers, research institutes, national wind and renewables associations. EWEA coordinates international policy, communications, research and analysis and provides various services to support members’ requirements. The next EWEA Annual Event, EWEA 2012, will take place in Copenhagen from 16 to 19 April. www.ewea.org/annual2012, www.ewea.org