XFAIR GmbH – The company evolution from pager to full-service provider

Mr. Fürst, XFAIR’s broad portfolio makes you a full-service provider for all aspects of trade fairs and events. How did this come about and what is the big picture behind it?

Well, before XFAIR, I worked as a technician and system integrator in the trade fair and event sector. I had a lot of customer contact, prepared the required systems and solutions, traveled to the respective trade fairs to set up and commission them and was responsible for on-site service during the trade fair. Of course, all of this had to be dismantled and transported back after the trade fair. It turned out that the company I was working for at the time, which was privately run, more or less closed down, simply because the owner wanted to retire. However, as I really enjoyed the job and could imagine trying my luck myself, I took the plunge and founded XFAIR in spring 2001.

The solution portfolio at that time was of course still very small. The systems were mainly pager systems, i.e. you went to the trade fair with one, two or more suitcases of pagers to hand them over to the customer. Installation wasn’t that complicated and didn’t take too long. In that respect, it was kept quite simple, but at the time it met the requirements.

„In “First and foremost, it was about facilitating communication at the trade fair stand.”

When I founded XFAIR, there was never a concrete vision behind it. I wasn’t planning to build a large company. Of course I wanted to grow a little, maybe have five or six people in the company, maybe even ten, but there was no clear objective. I took a more pragmatic approach and tried to use the solutions we had at the time to satisfy the customers we had right from the start as best I could. The aim was to improve our customers’ trade fair and event organization, mainly in terms of participant management, and to provide them with tools and solutions for their trade fair presence. First and foremost, it was about facilitating communication at the trade fair stand. Those were the main requirements at the time.

So there was no big picture back then, I think it developed over time. That’s how the whole thing started.

When and how were the software solutions added to the portfolio and which solution was the first domino that preceded today’s modular system?

The requirements have of course changed over the years and have become much more extensive and detailed. We have naturally seen where the requirements lie and where our customers’ shoes pinch. For this reason, we founded a small software department. It was always our intention to develop solutions in-house and not have them developed by a third-party provider or an external system house, because we want to be able to react quickly, flexibly and at short notice to customer requirements. That’s why it was important for me to have the expertise in-house right from the start.

The pager solutions were initially kept very simple – you pressed one button and text 1 was sent, you pressed the other button and text 2 was sent. The whole thing developed in such a way that this communication was controlled via a software application, i.e. a PC, a Windows application, so that it was possible to search for people in the stand service team by name. Further search criteria were then added: Who speaks a certain language, who is a product specialist for this or that product or exhibit, and so on. This is how it gradually developed.

“We want to be able to react quickly, flexibly and at short notice to customer requirements.”

Other modules were added, such as meeting room management and side solutions such as store and catering systems. At a later stage, we focused on the topic of lead management, for which we developed our own app.

It was always important to us to make the whole thing modular, which means that customers can only use sub-areas, for example if they have their own solutions or their own provider or supplier for room management or hotel administration. This sub-area is then not activated in our system, so it doesn’t interfere and we can serve the customer individually, which of course also has a transparent effect on pricing.

This is exactly how this modular system came about. We now have a central solution with a wide variety of modules, as I have just briefly mentioned. One major module, for example, is hotel administration, which makes it easy to manage all the hotel room contingents that have been purchased for a trade fair. We have also developed our own apps for check-in/out, catering ordering systems, lead management and even a complete event app. This is exactly how today’s modular system came about.

As a result, our development team has grown accordingly. Today, we have both web developers and app developers for iOS and Android in our team. This is exactly what it takes to be able to react quickly to any customer requirements that come to us directly from the trade fair. This confirmed that it was right to have our own developments and expertise in-house.

When you think about the future of the company, what projects and innovations do you see in your mind’s eye?

Good question! On the one hand, I am very satisfied and grateful with how the company is doing at the moment. You could say that there has always been a positive development in the company since it was founded. More customer projects have led to larger premises, more equipment and a larger team that has built up over the years. I would like to say that I am very grateful that we have remained very constant over the years. It’s been a very good few years over what is now more than 22 years. Even though we have had to get through crises – be it the financial crisis of 2008/2009 and of course the pandemic phase, which lasted two years – it has all been very positive. I am very grateful for the loyalty of the entire team. We survived the pandemic, which unfortunately not every company operating in the trade fair and event sector can claim. I am therefore delighted that the team stayed together even during the difficult phases and remained loyal to XFAIR. Because – and this is something that is not emphasized enough – a company is only as good as the team behind it. And I have to say that we have a very good team and I am happy to see the people in the company every day.

„I am very grateful for the loyalty of the whole team.”

When I think about the future, what can I say? Of course we want to continue to develop innovative solutions and have visions. But first and foremost, we always want to listen to our customers, because ultimately they are the ones who help us develop our solutions – whether in the software or hardware area. We are always receiving new requests from customers, which we then evaluate accordingly to see whether it makes sense to develop them. Of course, we also hold internal brainstorming sessions and go through life with our eyes and ears open. We move with the state of the art because ultimately – and especially in the trade fair and event sector – it is important and right to offer innovative and technically sophisticated solutions that make life easier for our customers when it comes to trade fairs and events. Be it in the pre-planning phase, during the trade fair and of course afterwards for evaluations, reporting, statistics, etc. We also want to keep revising these existing solutions – be it in terms of look & feel or usability – and also add one or two new functions. This applies to all the solutions and modules we have.

We operate throughout Germany and Europe, with recurring projects in the USA and Asia. Of course, we would like to expand this, but we also want to open up other trade fairs where we have not yet been so strongly represented. At the same time, of course, we also want to serve our existing customers in the professional manner to which they are accustomed, with high-quality, high-value solutions.

Of course, we still have the opportunity to generate new customers. Growth is always an issue, but not by hook or by crook. We want to go into the future with the good basis that we have built up over the last few years.

It’s not just in the area of software and hardware that things are happening at XFAIR: if you would like to find out more about our portfolio as a full-service provider, you are welcome to click through the latest blog posts, which are now gradually appearing on the website. There you will soon find more interviews – similar to this one – on the individual areas in which XFAIR is active.

XFAIR is not only active in the area of software and hardware: If you would like to find out more about our portfolio as a full-service provider, you are welcome to click through the latest blog posts. If you have any questions about our services or are interested in our job vacancies, please use our contact form. You can also regularly find new insights into everyday life at XFAIR on our social media channels. Feel free to take a look!