February 28, 2011
Why paying for MIPIM is a sign of all-round honesty – Jackie Sadek, Chief Executive, UK Regeneration
Jackie denounces the dishonesty of MIPIM-squatting.
I have made some bold statements in the UK trade press in recent days about the behaviour of certain members of the British delegation each year at MIPIM. I really was shocked to learn that it is only the British delegation who behave in this way. I refer, of course, to the phenomenon of the well-heeled “British Property Professional” who will be flying out to Cannes, to blag their way around the edges of MIPIM, thus piggy-backing on the authentic delegates, who have made the investment that allows the event to take place. And the UK is “Country of Honour” this year, which just makes it ten times worse.
So I am really hoping (but sadly think my hope will be in vain) that we will not see a repeat performance this year. This sort of carpet-bagging is never defensible. And I speak from bitter experience of having created a thing of value that unscrupulous people have then plundered for their own commercial ends. It isn’t right. And it isn’t fair.
The primary culprits are certain UK lawyers and the Caffe Roma agents and assorted hangers-on. Indeed, I understand one very famous property investor (a household name in all British surveying practices) has been known to set up a desk on the Croisette. Needless to say all of these types could perfectly well afford the delegates pass, much more so that my poor beleaguered public sector partners (who pay up and play fair).
Notwithstanding that these “squatters” will miss out on the extraordinary joys of the UKR stand (not to mention my star turn at the conference) and the general benefits of being fully engaged in the flow of events taking place, the serious and chilling point must be that you can’t help but wonder if their business standards render them at all likely to honour their commitments to anyone they seek to do business with in Cannes.
I’m sorry but there it is. It is not good enough to respond with a sigh, eyes rolling to the ceiling, and a limp “boys will be boys”. In this climate, even more than ever, you must play fair. And so I said so, publicly, last week, and provoked a lot of response. Well, I don’t care who gets cross.
Image: Jamie John Davies
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Officials of Reed Midem have been known to interrupt meetings in hotel lobbies, requesting to see passes. For the Film Market (same time as the film festival), the main hotels have staff that stop people entering in the first place. And then there was that business with the Croisette café that was used as a stand…
But apart from the cop routine, I find it strange to go as far as Cannes and miss out on the conference programme and the attendant networking breaks. Access to the database and match-making functions are also pretty useful in my experience.