Contact-Contract at MSV for the thirteenth time
The 63rd International Engineering Fair, the most important trade fair event for industrial companies in Central Europe, and along with it the matchmaking event Contact-Contract, came to an end at Brno Exhibition Centre on 7 October.The tradition continues
Contact-Contract is the name given to the successful format of an event whose aim is to make participation at the fair more effective and that was held at MSV for the thirteenth time by Brno Regional Chamber of Commerce and its partners at the Enterprise Europe Network.
Those taking part in Contact-Contract register on the special event portal where they complete their profile and describe their company and the services/products they offer. They then select the companies that interest them most from the catalogue of companies applying to take part in the event and ask them for a meeting. Half-hour initiation meetings are then held at the agreed times during the fair.
Visitors and exhibitors can both benefit from taking part. Visitors can prepare a schedule of meetings in advance and have a distinguished venue reserved for the agreed time. Exhibitors like to take advantage of the possibility of arranging meetings right on their exhibition stands, where they can give live demonstrations of their products.
This year’s Contact-Contract in figures
Radek Kopecký from Brno Regional Chamber of Commerce, manager of the Contact-Contract project, sums up the event by saying “Almost 400 companies from 24 countries around the world applied to take part this year. 650 meetings were requested over our system and 360 meetings were held, with almost another two hundred meetings taking place spontaneously on the spot. We estimate that another hundred meetings will be held later, either on-line or in person on another occasion.”
Delegations from Finland, France, Germany, Poland and Ukraine also took part in Contact-Contract. “We are extremely delighted by the participation of an eighteen-strong group from Ukraine which was faced with the great challenge of overcoming the administrative barriers associated with the organisation of its business mission,” says Kopecký of the difficulties connected with their arrival, and adds that “the Ukrainian delegation has an enormous interest in establishing co-operation with Czech companies, and this was confirmed by the signing of a memorandum on co-operation.”
Feedback from Contact-Contract
Those taking part in Contact-Contract include regular clients who participate on a regular basis and people who are taking part for the very first time.
“I have been taking part in Contact-Contract regularly since 2019” says Ing. Tomáš Hudec, Bid Manager at the company Mezinárodní Tendry, and goes on to assess the event by saying that “I believe that this year’s event has been the best so far, as the contacts I made were relevant to my business activities, my individual meetings were to the point, and the great majority of them are set to continue.”
Alexandre Yurchak, General Manager of the Association of Industrial Automation of Ukraine, attended the event for the first time and led the aforementioned Ukrainian delegation. “I haven’t yet received feedback from all the members of the delegation, but if I were to give an assessment on my own behalf, then I would say that I held seven meetings and that I was satisfied. As there was a big question mark hanging over my personal participation until the very last moment, I didn’t send any requests for meetings but merely accepted the requests I received. My participation was, however, extremely productive. In addition to meetings as part of Contact-Contract, I also took a tour of MSV and attended a conference.” He also appreciated the warm welcome he received and the will to help Ukraine expressed by people from the Czech Republic and other countries.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Brno Regional Chamber of Commerce and its employees for the wonderful Contact-Contract and its smooth running. The responses I have had from the event as a whole have been extremely positive, just like they are every year, and my impression of the event has been extremely good,” says Jaroslav Dohnal, director and owner of the company DV4 Ipsum s.r.o. in assessment of the event. “I greatly appreciate the personal approach and the way in which the event is targeted to the needs of companies and their business focus. Our company DV4 Ipsum has made new contacts for further co-operation, development and innovation at this year’s MSV in Brno. It is also necessary to revive and revitalise existing co-operation which can continue to deepen in spite of the recent unfavourable times we have seen on the market. It has proven to be the case that not only is close and honest co-operation with our partners reflected in a good impression made at our meetings and positive results, but that first and foremost it also provides the surety of support in difficult times. This year, we have focused on the development of our production company and we welcomed the opportunity of choosing specific meetings and dates on the Contact-Contract portal to obtain the necessary information and new technological possibilities. As previous years have shown, MSV Brno is an extremely good place for face-to-face meetings at a single venue. We look forward to future events held by Brno Regional Chamber of Commerce as part of the Enterprise Europe Network.”
A toast with Mendel
A social evening with informal networking was held at the close of the second day of meetings at the Mendel Museum, where those taking part took a look at the newly opened exhibition to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of founder of genetics Johann Gregor Mendel.
A tried-and-trusted format
Events of the Contact-Contract type are not organised just by Brno Regional Chamber of Commerce, but also by other partners in the Enterprise Europe Network (and other organisations). These events are also known as B2B, brokerage and matchmaking events. You might also come across the term networking, though this generally relates to informal meetings or chance encounters. These events may be face-to-face events, hybrid events or on-line events.
Other events of this kind that are to take place in the near future include International Machinery Forum (16–17 November) and DEICy 2022: the Digital Economy, the Internet of Things and Cybersecurity (21–25 November 2022).
In conclusion
The matchmaking event Contact-Contract took place 4–7 October 2022 at the International Engineering Fair in Brno as one of the activities of the Enterprise Europe Network. Contact-Contract uses the software tool b2match. The organisation of the event was financed by the European Union from the new Single Market Programme under grant agreement no. 101052765 and was co-financed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic.
Brno, 14th October 2022
Brno Regional Chamber of Commerce
Photogallery
