Ep. 49 – In Conversation with Tahaluf CEO Mike Champion

Mike Champion joined Trade Show Talk to share his experience as CEO of Tahaluf, a joint venture between Informa PLC, the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP), and the Events Investment Fund (EIF).

As head of Informa's Saudi operations and Tahaluf, he has grown revenue from $2 million per annum to projected more than $125 million in four years. 

How? With two of the largest B2B events in history: Cityscape Global and LEAP. In November 2023, Cityscape Global debuted with 350 exhibitors, more than 10,000 international investors, an impressive lineup of more than 300 speakers and an astounding 160,000 visitors. 

After launching LEAP in 2022, the second edition of the annual tech event, dubbed the Digital Davos by Wired, took place Feb. 6-9, 2023, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Over four days last year, LEAP hosted more than 172,000 visitors, 900 exhibitors, 700 speakers from 50 countries who spoke on 11 stages, 500 start-ups and 1,026 investors. 

With LEAP and Deep Fest 2024 set for March 4-7 — about 4 weeks out — Champion told us registrations are tracking 3X higher than they were last year at this point, and he’s excited about the fact that 53% of attendees are international.

In December, Tahaluf announced plans to launch 20 new sectors-specific trade and consumer events in the Kingdom within 18 months. The expansion is estimated to generate more than $1 billion in economic impact in Riyadh through exhibitor and delegate spending on travel and hospitality. 

Find out how he is recruiting and ramping the team at Tahaluf to support the Kingdom's Vision 2030 objective to become a truly diverse economy in six years, creating high-value employment opportunities for Saudi citizens. 

Champion shares the company’s ambitious plans to leverage Informa's global expertise to create a world-class events sector in the Kingdom to advance economic diversification, provide access to new markets for international businesses, attract foreign investment and support the modernization of business activity in Saudi Arabia.

 

Our guest

Mike Champion is CEO of Tahaluf, a joint venture between Informa PLC, the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP), and the Events Investment Fund (EIF).

Champion is Co-Creator of LEAP and @HACK (Now Black Hat MEA) — two of the most exciting and large-scale tech events in the Middle East, with extensive experience in commercial conferences and large scale exhibitions.

As head of Informa's Saudi operations and Tahaluf, he has grown revenue from $2 million per annum to projected more than $125 million in four years.

And the team has won multiple awards, including:

🏆 Best International Show (Middle East and Africa) for LEAP - AEO Excellence Awards 2023

🏆 Best International Conference for LEAP - AEO Excellence Awards 2023

🏆 Organiser Team of the Year for Black Hat MEA - AEO Excellence Awards 2023

🏆 Best Marketing Campaign for LEAP - Middle East Event Awards 2023

🏆 Leading The Way - Regional IM Awards Winner 2023

🏆 Moving Mountains Award for KSA Tech - Regional IM Awards Winner 2023

🏆 Best Marketing Campaign for LEAP - Middle East Event Awards 2022

🏆 Marketing Campaign of the Year - Best in Biz Awards 2022

🏆 Best Tech Event - Stevie® Awards 2022

🏆 Best B2B Event - Stevie® Awards 2022

🏆 Best Launch Event - Stevie® Awards 2022

🏆 Best Conference - Stevie® Awards 2022

🏆 Best Exhibition Experience - Stevie® Awards 2022

🏆 Event of the Year - Best in Biz Awards 2022

🏆 Best Marketing Campaign for @Hack - Regional IM Awards Winner 2021

🏆 'Fresher Thinking' Award for the @Hack Marketing Campaign - Global IM Awards Winner 2021

He has worked in the events industry since 2010, getting his start at an organization called IQPC, a global producer of more than 1,500 events annually around the world. In 2016, he joined the Dubai World Trade Centre as the Director - Exhibitions, where he worked for more than three years. 

Champion joined Informa in 2019 when he was appointed Regional EVP - MEA Informa Markets, in Saudi Arabia. In January 2023, he was named CEO of Tahaluf. He has more than 13 years experience working throughout the Middle East, North and West Africa, and developing a deep contact network.

In January 2024, inc. arabia published a feature story on Saudi Arabia's ambitions to become a regional hub as part of its Saudi Vision 2030, and how innovation across the region is creating opportunities for growth and collaboration.

Rachel Sturgess, Group Director at Tahaluf, and Chris Speller, Vice President at Informa, were featured on the cover of the January issue talking about the first edition of Cityscape Global Saudi Arabia, and how the kingdom is quickly becoming a global events hub.

Want to know more? Check out these YouTube videos: 

• #LEAP23: One Giant Leap with Mike Champion (CEO, Tahaluf)

• Launch of Tahaluf - Mike Champion - Saudi Arabia

 

His LinkedIn bio can be found here.

 

Podcast Host: Danica Tormohlen

An award-winning journalist who has covered the trade show industry since 1994, Danica Tormohlen is VP of Content for Informa Connect. In her role, she oversees editorial for Trade Show News Network, Corporate Event News and Exhibit News Now. These leading media brands publish websites, newsletters, social media channels, video, podcasts and online and in-person programming for the trade show, corporate event and exhibition industries.

Tormohlen currently serves as a board member for Women in Exhibitions Network North America chapter. She has been a speaker and moderator at major industry events, including the TSNN Awards, IMEX, IAEE, SISO, UFI, ESCA and Large Show Roundtable — to name a few.

 

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