The successes
As a major trade show 6/10
BETT is now fundamentally a large vendor trade show and many of those got it right with sizeable, interesting stands, good teams and a proper game plan. My badge hosts Wonde were a good example with a well-laid out series of adjacent stands, staffed by knowledgeable and personable staff and a barista whose coffee was 9/10 (even by Australian standards). There were probably 20 similarly successful large stands, mostly located in the South Hall from about S10 eastwards.
For the renewal of personal connections 7/10
For the renewal of personal connections, BETT is a modern-day ‘coffee house’ but with an overpriced, underwhelming offer. Trying to have a catch up/chat on a stand is nigh on impossible due to the noise and crush of people, although again the larger exhibitors had nooks and crannies for exactly this purpose. However, the noise and crush in the central section between the North and South Halls wasn’t easy as the number of people wanting to sit down and eat is always about 2.5 times the capacity.
Outright failures were few, with PowerSchool standing out as the most desolate and downbeat. No surprise given they have just had the largest hack in US and probably worldwide edtech history. Why a company with zero UK clients continues to exhibit at BETT I can’t understand, and PowerSchool HQ and their new owners Bain Capital did not reply to the question. Bain’s $5.6bn investment must have taken a big hit as I doubt they will get out of the hacking disaster for less than $500m.
National stands 6/10
National stands are my bête noire. Yes, these vast edifices seem to attract a few suppliers but the biggest beneficiaries may be their in-house staff, for whom BETT seems to be a holiday rather than a business event. There was one exception, Ukraine. Their stand had a big sign with arresting figures that showed why you might want to stop and speak with their small group of exhibitors. In fact, I would use their signage as a best practice model for any trade show.
The ‘must do betters’
Relevance for educators 4/10
The relevance of BETT for educators has been diminishing for a decade despite the marketing Hyve and the organisers put out. I spoke to at least ten educators, and of these five were from private school groups and the rest were classroom educators, almost all of whom were accompanied by what I can only politely describe as a mid-level IT person.
Aside from the dispersed specialised chats (AI yawn), the best bit of BETT was the miniscule ‘theatre’ in the north-east corner. Here real educators showcased what they actually do to an attentive audience who listened through headsets illuminated with blue LEDs. The short chats I had there were more realistic and relevant to the role of educators and edtech, puncturing 95% of the marketing claims made by exhibitors of all sizes. What this tiny atoll of innovation shows is the demand that exists for educator-led examples of edtech tied to pedagogy.
This is a big opportunity that did not go unnoticed by a few smart large vendors, who I think will start running small intimate events of this type but mostly outside London. For Hyve and Duncan Verry’s team this shift is probably the biggest threat they face (aside from the financial demands of their private equity owners). Educators matter and I think a combination of researchEd with mini, well-designed events is where the edtech marketing winds are blowing.
Relevance and value for edtech startups 2/10
This year’s dispersed startup zones were a continuation of BETT’s woeful approach for at least eight years, ever since Ty Godard and Ian Fordham stopped running it. If BETT really wants startups, which I doubt, then put them through a pre-event bootcamp to help them get some ROI. Why not get my friend and edtech SME guru, Jodie Lopez, to do a couple of Edtech 101 (stand and sales) videos with a mini exam to prequalify startup applicants? For those who complete this course and exam, give them a 5% discount – Hyve will have created a value chain that helps move successful startups to larger stands at future BETTs.
Media/press strategy and coverage 1/10
The lack of a press/media area understaffed by a contracted PR company made zero difference to any media coverage. Aside from the trade press (SchoolsWeek, TES and a few minnows) there was zero coverage by the mainstream media. Surprising, given that Bridget Phillipson is attracting almost as much MSM attention as Elon Musk (but for all the wrong reasons). Media for most of the larger exhibitors was really about ‘socials’, firstly Linkedin and in decreasing relevance, X, TikTok and Facebook.
Linkedin’s primacy is an open gate for even the most inexperienced, as you can mix some content, spiced up with a few images, to be pushed to your connections and adjacent audiences. Where BETT’s press strategy fell over was replacing a minimally useful PR team with one or two inexperienced people who wouldn’t know how to pick a great or even edtech-relevant story. When none of the MSM cover your mega event and you rely on dishing out press passes as rewards or punishments, despite this generating zero coverage of any actual influence, then you have a problem. Events like BETT, that want to leverage one event into a global series, need a loud voice and a compelling story. I doubt this will go unnoticed by Hyve’s owners at Providence Equity and Searchlight Capital Partners.
Post BETT wrap up
- Forget Early Stage, it’s a waste of space and sucks the limited lifeblood out of startups. Sadly most don’t know any BETTer…
- Stop pretending BETT isn’t in decline. The 50x50m food area was a joke. Three food trucks and no seating for two out of three days. Everyone could see it was a pitiful attempt to make BETT look bigger than it is and let’s not forget all the empty stands, many poorly disguised by exhibitor signage.
- Create a pay-for-play quiet space with time limits where people can connect. We all do it now in the food section in the middle and in the nooks and crannies around the North and South halls. Recognise this is a key part of why people attend and make it work for the event.
- Stop sending people out to tell big stand holders they need to change the direction of a small sign or something similarly irrelevant at 9.55am on the last day. These companies have paid big bucks; I was there when one of these officials pissed off a CEO who had just spent £150k+ and was already questioning the ROI. It’s insane. They should be helping exhibitors and when they see some trivial infraction say, “It’s a tiny mistake, no harm done. Let me know how we can help further so your stand next year is even more successful”.
PS Best Swag
- Coffee from Wonde
- Socks, cape and stickers (for nephews) from Kahoot
- Practical AI product (sadly I didn’t actually get to keep it) Merlyn Mind
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