The Data-Driven Magic Behind EasyFairs' Success: My Conversation with Group CEO, Anne Lafère

If there's one thing I've learned from my decades in the events industry, it's that exceptional companies don't just happen by accident. They're built on visionary leadership, operational excellence, and—increasingly critical in today's landscape—a sophisticated data strategy. My recent conversation with Anne Lafère, Group CEO of EasyFairs, for the Revenue Room podcast confirmed this insight ten times over.

The Culture of "Easify"

Before diving into the tech and data that powers their success, it's important to understand the core philosophy behind EasyFairs. As the name suggests, "easy" is their central brand promise.

We 'easify' the life of our communities. We make experiences as easy, frictionless, convenient and enjoyable as possible for our visitors, exhibitors, guest organizers, and employees."

This philosophy extends from their customer experience to their employee experience and even to how they approach data and technology. It's not just about collecting data—it's about making that data accessible and actionable for everyone in the organization.

For those unfamiliar with EasyFairs, they're one of Europe's most innovative event organizers, now ranked among the world's top 20 events companies. With 870 employees across 20 offices, they organize 110 event titles across 12 industry verticals and welcome over 1M+ visitors and 23,000 exhibitors annually. Most impressively, they've achieved this growth while maintaining exceptional operational efficiency.

But what really captured my attention was the sophisticated data ecosystem powering their business.

The Magic of a Single Source of Truth

When Anne and I began our conversation, I couldn’t help but share my admiration for EasyFairs and their forward-thinking data strategy, which was years ahead of their competitors. My first encounter with EasyFairs dates back to 2017 at Feathr, when I had the privilege of meeting Stefan Forseilles, their Head of Technology and Digital Transformation, to talk about customer data and how to use that to deploy targeted and personalized attendee acquisition marketing campaigns. I was thoroughly impressed by how advanced they were in creating a unified technology ecosystem. Many organizations today continue to struggle with siloed systems and fragmented customer insights. In contrast, EasyFairs had already established a unified technology and data ecosystem, enabling them to implement a "single source of truth." This approach provided a comprehensive, clear view of their business performance.

When I asked Anne whether data insights and dashboards are democratized across the organization, she shared,

We are a highly data-driven company, and as EasyFairs, our mission is to 'easify' life for our employees. Our data lake and real-time dashboards are readily available, empowering our teams with the tools they need at their fingertips."

This isn't just talk. EasyFairs has built a centralized tech backbone where all shows run on the same system. This creates a solid foundation for leveraging AI and data science in ways that many event companies still only dream about.

Building a Data Infrastructure from the Ground Up

What truly sets EasyFairs apart is its commitment to building its own data infrastructure rather than relying solely on off-the-shelf solutions.

We did not wait for the pandemic or the AI wave to be digitally driven," Anne explained. "From the early start of EasyFairs, tech was central. And as an event organizer, you are collecting an enormous volume of data, and at some point, you need more storage capacity, more processing power."

Their solution? "We decided at that time to build an in-house data intelligence team with data engineers, data scientists, and machine learning engineers and to create a data lake with all the data coming from all applications."

This investment allows them to develop real-time dashboards that combine data from different sources and create comprehensive customer profiles to power AI-driven recommendations. Anne's vision is ambitious:

I like to say that we would like to be the Spotify, the Netflix of the event organization and come up with spot-on recommendations to have a more enjoyable, more personalized, more meaningful participation.

Their purpose-built data architecture serves two key functions: first, it creates real-time dashboards combining data from different applications to monitor business performance and drive decision-making; second, it builds detailed customer profiles that power their AI recommendation engines.

From Data Collection to AI-Powered Recommendations

Anne shared three examples of how EasyFairs uses its data ecosystem that frankly left me inspired:

Product Recommendations

EasyGo by Easyfairs transforms event interactions with its cutting-edge Smart Badge technology, designed to simplify data exchange and foster meaningful connections between exhibitors and visitors. This innovative solution enables exhibitors to share company information and collect leads through a smooth, contactless process. Understanding the value of personal information, EasyGo enhances the attendee experience by delivering personalized product recommendations tailored to each visitor.

Here’s how it works: Exhibitors are equipped with Smart Badge readers and can upload their company details via their My Easyfairs account. Visitors tap their Smart Badge on the reader, instantly linking them to relevant materials, which are conveniently emailed to them after the event. At the same time, exhibitors receive a detailed file of collected leads, providing clear insights into their potential connections.

But EasyGo goes further than simple lead generation. Powered by AI, it analyzes visitor behavior and suggests additional exhibitors aligned with their interests, creating a highly personalized and engaging experience. This intelligent system not only streamlines event participation but also delivers actionable insights, making it an essential tool for exhibitors looking to maximize their impact and elevate their success.

No-Show Prediction

Using 15 years of registration data, they've built a deep learning algorithm that predicts which pre-registered attendees are likely to no-show. This allows their teams to take proactive measures to increase conversion rates as well as manage who they match with exhibitors.

Voice of the Customer Analysis

Rather than bombarding customers with lengthy surveys, they send automated "60-second feedback" forms with just two questions. They then use large language models to translate and classify all responses, delivering actionable insights to event managers in a one-page summary.

As I told Anne during our chat, "This whole event tech space is shifting. There's tech that's clearly, obviously something you buy, but there's other tech that's so intrinsic to your business model and your business success that it is a competitive advantage if it's built and owned by you."

The Private Equity Shift and Co-CEO Model

One of the most significant recent developments for EasyFairs has been their transition from family ownership to private equity backing. After more than 25 years of private investment, they've formed a partnership with two private equity firms: Belgium's COBEPA and Britain's Inflexion, with founder Eric Everard reinvesting significantly.

Adding even more industry firepower to this new chapter, EasyFairs recently welcomed Douglas Emslie—a true legend in the events and tradeshow industry—as a shareholder and board member. As the former CEO of Tarsus Group and having served in leadership roles with major industry associations including SISO and AEO, Emslie brings invaluable expertise that will help fuel EasyFairs' international expansion, particularly in the U.S. market where his network and experience will be crucial.

What's fascinating is how they've structured their leadership alongside these changes. Anne now serves as Co-CEO with Matt Benyon in a model that divides responsibilities based on complementary strengths rather than geography. Anne focuses on talent, tech, marketing, ESG, and customer experience, while Matt concentrates on sales and M&A.

We truly see this as an asset," Anne shared. "Diversity of skills is really a strength and Matt and I are quite complementary."

This partnership has set ambitious growth targets, with plans to double in size over the next four to five years, and the U.S. market squarely in their sights.

The Hidden Superpower: Data-Driven Talent Management

The most unexpected insight from our conversation came when discussing talent management. When I asked Anne whether they use data to assess team members' skills and professional development needs, her answer floored me:

"I might shock you, for me, HR management is data management."

She then described a comprehensive heat-mapping system that evaluates all 900 employees across seven dimensions, including competence, talent, attrition risk, and compensation. The system identifies where action is needed—whether that's training for an underperformer or addressing retention risk for a star employee who's underpaid.

I have a full heat map of the 870 employees of EasyFairs," she explained.

This approach has yielded impressive results, with employee turnover at just 13%—extraordinarily low for our industry—and an employee Net Promoter Score of 40.

Looking Ahead: AI Value Creation

Perhaps most impressive is EasyFairs' approach to artificial intelligence. Rather than jumping on the AI bandwagon for its own sake, they're developing what Anne calls an "AI value-creation roadmap."

We need to be AI value creators instead of AI users," she emphasized. "AI itself is not a strategy... it's there to augment your strategy."

This thoughtful approach to technology perfectly encapsulates what makes EasyFairs exceptional: they never lose sight of their core mission to serve their communities, using technology as an enabler rather than an end in itself.

Impressive Results and Future Growth

The recent strategic changes at EasyFairs have already begun to bear fruit. Looking at their recent performance, the company delivered a solid 21% increase in sales and an impressive 47% leap in earnings in 2024. This strong financial foundation positions them perfectly for their ambitious expansion plans.

As Anne mentioned during our conversation, with the backing of their new investors, "the goal is certainly to double in the next four to five years." This growth will come through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions.

One particularly exciting development is their planned expansion into the U.S. market. "The U.S. is definitely one of the geographies we would like to explore further," Anne shared with me. "We would love to be more present in fast growing industry verticals like healthcare or tech, that would be great."

Final Thoughts

My conversation with Anne reinforced something I've long believed: the most successful companies in our industry will be those that combine operational excellence with sophisticated data strategies. EasyFairs exemplifies this approach, building systems that enhance both the customer experience and internal operations.

As Anne put it, their challenge—and indeed the challenge for our entire industry—is not just running pilots and experiments, but "to industrialize that... to embed these pilots into your processes, your system, so that everyone in the organization can benefit from it."

For those looking to stay ahead in the evolving events landscape, EasyFairs offers a powerful playbook worth studying.

To listen to the full podcast:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-revenue-room-by-h2k-labs/id1690675143?i=1000705698082

YouTube: https://youtu.be/mpcoyhyrnnk

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