Mexico. On the last day of Expo Seguridad México 2023 we had the opportunity to interview Hector Morfin Chong, CEM and portfolio director for RX Global, who gave us details about what the 2023 version of the event left behind and what is expected for the 2024 edition.
Hector began the interview by indicating that although there was still no official data on the number of visitors, since people were still entering, he anticipated a positive qualifier for the event, since they were exceeding expectations and numbers, "we are returning to pre-pandemic numbers and we continue to seeing growth for the following editions”.
VDS: What would be the general balance of the fair at this point compared to the 2022 version?
Hector Morfin: Last year the expo began at the peak of the third wave of the pandemic, it was something that we all suffered. Right now, without a pandemic, we are seeing confidence return, we have more than 300 exhibiting companies, more than 27,000 square meters of exhibition space, and the academic program included more than 45 conferences. So we are very happy with the overall result.
VDS: The improvement of the audio system on the main stage was noticeable, since it had a microphone for the speakers and headphones for those who attended the conferences. Why is this?
Hector Morfin: That's right, that's one of the things we've improved this year, a better visitor experience is important to us in everything we do.
Likewise, the manager indicated that the purpose of the strategy was that the parts that made up the fair (main stage and interactions in the stands) did not compete with sound among themselves and could be better articulated.
VDS What's next for the 2024 edition?
Hector Morfin: We are always innovating, hand in hand with our exhibitors, education committees, support organizations such as you, and listening all the time where we failed, what we can improve, what we are doing well.
Some things that we are going to do for the 2024 edition will be that we are going to support the issue of women more, we are going to bring the first Women in Security Summit, which is something that we do in other events of our portfolio at a global level such as the ISC West In Las Vegas.
We also bring some events for young professionals, which is the RISE program. Anyone who works in this industry under the age of 35 will be able to access a mentoring program with people who work in this industry.
VDS: Now what is the challenge?
Hector Morfin: I think the challenge is to listen to how our audience is evolving, how our industry is evolving. I always tell people that all our expos are a reflection of what the market is, but also what it is no longer. So the challenge is to stay current for the new generation, for the new professionals who use other technologies and other communication methods.
