For two days in July, people can learn all about financial matters at the second annual Money Expo hosted by Moneyweb. Michael Bratt spoke to Moneyweb managing director, Marc Ashton, and Jolene van Heerden, project manager of the expo, to find out more.
Scheduled for 8 – 9 July at the Sandton Convention Centre, the Money Expo 2016 will be held under the theme ‘Earn It, Save It, Spend It’. It was created last year by Moneyweb as a way to help people understand better their money and various financial matters.
“Finance is very jargony and there’s a lot of people that you hear on radio and see on TV and they all look clever, but a lot of people have questions about money that they want to ask but are too scared to,” Ashton explains. “Ultimately the idea was to provide face time and interaction with the experts, and let the audience ask the burning questions.”
Engaging and informative
The expo targets all types of people, from students who have just earned their first pay check all the way to CEOs who have companies to run. The idea is to create an engaging, informative environment. This is done over two days; a Friday where content is more industry related, catering to the likes of financial planners, asset managers, financial analysts etc and the Saturday which has more fun personal elements, including a seminar on five ways to make your child a millionaire.
The main advantage for exhibitors at the expo is the type of audience it attracts. Last year 2 300 people came through the doors over the two days, but this year that number is expected to reach 5 000. There are already 1 400 pre-registered delegates.
As the biggest financial event of its kind in South Africa, it hosts investors, financial experts, entrepreneurs – basically anyone who has a genuine interest in money. This targeted group is filled with influencers as Moneyweb has always had a high LSM audience and the financial media powerhouse has been able to bring its digital and radio assets and event execution together to allow for maximum exposure for exhibitors.
High level insights
The main advantage for attendees to the expo is the access they are given to high profile people in the world of finance including CEOs of listed companies.
“Everyone wants interactivity when they come to these events. And they want those high level insights, so we think what works quite well for us is this access to high level delegates,” Ashton says.
Entrance to the expo is free, though some of the workshops have to be paid for as they are specialist ones that offer very specific skills and valuable interactions, which are well worth the investment.
Another benefit for the Money Expo 2016 is that has built on its inaugural event last year. Lessons were learnt from last year’s mistakes and challenges with a particular area of focus this year being the quality of the supporting speakers.
“To get the actual foot traffic, there have to be quality events and speaking slots,” Ashton explains. This year will see four workshops running simultaneously at any moment and the topics of these include ‘How to do business with government’, specialist financial planning workshops,presentations from CEOs of listed companies and other highly informative talks.
Moneyweb is also collecting a lot more data this year about the type of people who attend the expo. When they register for the expo they provide their demographic information which the financial media company is able to use to tailor workshops for attendees. Van Heerden also explains that feedback from exhibitors and attendees from last year is being taken into account to enhance the experience for both of these groups at this year’s event.
“While the audience is sophisticated, a lot of people still feel intimidated when it comes to talking about money. That reinforces the fact that while a lot of people have money they don’t always feel comfortable when dealing with it… A lot of people are still very intimidated when it comes to ‘this is me and this is what I’m interested in’,” says Ashton.
Moneyweb still has a couple of slots open for exhibitors and various packages are available for them to choose from, all of which are customisable. To enquire about becoming an exhibitor, contact Tracy Parsons (tracyp@moneyweb.co.za) or Jolene Van Heerden (Jolene@moneyweb.co.za) on 011 344-8600 or visit www.themoneyexpo.co.za
Follow Michael Bratt on Twitter @MichaelBratt8
