The International Federation of Boat Show Organisers, (IFBSO) represents the world’s leading boat shows and helps with the development of boat shows and marine trade exhibitions worldwide. Their aim is to help their members produce viable shows, while encouraging growth of the recreational marine industry and promoting the boating lifestyle. IFBSO members are also one of many joining a fast growing movement to eradicate single-use plastics from packaging in an effort to tackle the global pollution crisis.

The IFBSO executive has recently appointed Goetz Jungmichel  to succeed Renate Maddocks-Born in the important role of IFBSO Secretary General. Goetz is also the Global Marine Business Advisors representative in Germany.

‘‘Boat shows have traditionally been and will no doubt continue to be the key platform for global and domestic networking.“

Goetz-Ulf Jungmichel

Research tells us this has not changed despite the global pandemic and the covid restrictions imposed that have seen the cancellation of so many shows over the past 18 months. Dieter Dohr, Managing Director of the Gesellschaft für Handwerksmessen IHM, Germany, stated recently: “In our fast-paced times, networking is more important than ever!”.
Goetz Jungmichel confirmed networking is a key ingredient to driving a successful business and said,

’‘I couldn’t agree more with Dieter’s statement. I was honoured to be appointed by the IFBSO executive board to the role as Secretary General of the International Federation of Boat Show Organizers succeeding Renate Maddocks-Born. Renate, the current Secretary General, has announced that after 8 years in the role she will be stepping down at the end of the year.

’’Renate has done an incredible job and it is exciting to be able to continue her great work. As a seasoned industry professional and a past IFBSO President, I am looking forward to creating synergies between my work for IFBSO and GMBA for the benefit of the maritime industry worldwide.”

Goetz went on to say, “We have all experienced the tremendous changes in our business and exhibition culture due to Covid-19 worldwide. Maintaining our business activities and building long term relationships using video conferences, online workshops and modern technology has been thought of as a useful substitute for business travels, meetings and even fairs & exhibitions in the pandemic times. However, after almost two years of gathering experiences in virtual communication, it is a common understanding that personal interaction at any stage of business relationships and processes cannot be substituted by anything else. Having said that of course the virtual forms of communications that we have all used since covid, are useful in educating and supporting client relationships, saving time and resources and as many companies have found they can be a very cost-effective business tool in the absence of travel.

’’ Networks such as IFBSO, associations, business clubs, special interest communities or entities like our Global Marine Business Advisors network (GMBA) and the networking opportunities they present continue to be vital to industry“.

These organisations tend to gather information quicker due to their significant networks; they condense and disseminate the information for their respective members and hopefully in the process add value and benefits to everyone they work with.  The networking via these groups whether virtual or in person has always been essential to our industry.

As a seasoned industry professional and having served as IFBSO President in the past, Goetz is looking forward to creating synergies between his work for IFBSO and entities like GMBA for the benefit of the maritime industry worldwide.

Goetz went on to say; “Boat shows for our industry are still considered the pivotal platform for networking.  Support for the continuation and importance of boat shows has been the subject of many articles globally and it is exciting to see our key industry boat shows going ahead this year. It is good to see that boat show organisers are also endeavouring to make these shows as safe and cost effective as possible for exhibitors and visitors.

IFBSO as the representative body for boat shows worldwide is focused on providing resources to assist boat show organisers to maintain their high-quality standards.  I look forward to working closer with GMBA and other organisations enhancing the platform of boat shows to significantly expand their spectrum for information acquisition. Conversely GMBA as a network at these shows can provide market insights gathered by our consultants in the countries we represent. All in all, it will be beneficial for the further development of the maritime industry, which is an affair of the heart for both organizations.

Goetz concluded by saying.

’’In both my role as Secretary General of IFBSO and as a consultant for GMBA I am looking forward to supporting the facilitation of innovation, to work through managing any occurring crises and to facilitate quality communication between market players, politics and media.

For further information 

N.B. Global Marine Business Advisors and its associated website www.gmba.blue are not registered legal entities. GMBA is a network of independent marine industry advisors.