July 16, 2025 • 43 mins
Benoit Honnart - Inside Electra: Building a Turnkey Event Production Powerhouse.
We kick off Season 2 of EventNewsDXB with Benoit Honnart, CEO of Electra, as he pulls back the curtain on the high-stakes world of event production in the Middle East. Behind every spectacular luxury event lies a finely-tuned operation juggling impossible deadlines, creative demands, and logistical nightmares.
With manufacturing facilities spanning 53,000 square meters across the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Electra has positioned itself as the powerhouse that transforms creative visions into reality. Benoit shares why vertical integration gives Electra a critical edge, how a “people first” culture drives quality and what the industry needs to do next on sustainability and AI.
Whether you're a seasoned pro or new to the industry, this episode is packed with real-world lessons, leadership wisdom and inspiration for anyone in the business of events.
EventNewsDXB is powered by -45dB - Sound Reduction Specialists.
Production Credits:
Presented by: Ian Carless
Studio Engineer & Editor: Roy D'Monte
Executive Producers: Ian Carless & Joe Morrison
Produced by: EventNewsDXB & W4 Podcast Studio
Support us!
It takes time and effort to put the EventNewsDXB podcast together and we hope it's worth something to you. If it is, please consider supporting us to keep the podcasts coming. Contact us for details.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ian Carless (00:19):
Thank you.
Let you know that Event NewsDXB is brought to you by
Minus45DB, the team transformingnoisy event spaces into slick,
sound-reduced environments.
From full-size conferencetheatres to compact meeting pods
, minus45db builds modularspaces that are quiet,
customisable and completelyturnkey.
(00:40):
And they're sustainable tooSmart design with zero waste.
Check them out at minus45dbcom.
Before we dive into the podcast, I just want to take a moment
to reflect on this week'sconversation with our guest,
benoit Honnard, ceo of Electraand I hope I pronounced that
right, because my French isatrocious.
(01:02):
In an industry where pressureis high and timelines are short,
benoit offers a rareperspective, one grounded in
empathy, structure and genuineleadership.
We spoke about the reality ofexecuting luxury events in
extreme conditions, why verticalintegration gives Electra a
unique edge and how building astrong internal culture has been
(01:23):
key to delivering excellenceunder pressure.
He also shared some prettyfrank insights into industry
challenges, from last-minuteplanning to sustainability, and
why embracing transparency,technology and purpose-driven
work is vital for the nextgeneration of event
professionals.
I have to say it's a realpleasure to be able to kick off
(01:44):
season two of Event News DXBspeaking with someone who leads
with both vision and humility,and I think anyone working in
this industry, whether you're onthe ground or at the top, will
take away something valuablefrom what Benoit has to say.
So, without further ado, let'sget into it.
(02:14):
Benoit, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you for hosting me thismorning.
You're welcome, most welcome.
Now, obviously, I'd be remissif I didn't do my due diligence,
and I was looking through theElectra website last night and
you are.
I mean, my head was spinning alittle bit Events, exhibitions,
fit out, tents, marquees andfurniture rental.
I mean I feel that we couldspend a whole podcast on any one
(02:36):
of those elements, let alonetry and talk about all of them
within 30, 35 minutes.
But let's give it a go, shallwe?
How did you get into eventsfirst?
Benoit Honnart (02:45):
you never know it's it really came out of an
opportunity.
I've been in china for 10 yearsand work in supply chain for 13
years, so I actually was not inthe event industry initially,
but I had in the supply chainbusiness one vertical
specifically dedicated to arthandling, art transportation and
(03:08):
event supply chain.
And then I started to work inthat sector.
And then I had the opportunitywhen I moved to Dubai to take
over Electra that had just beensold to a group in Europe and
they were looking for asuccessor for taking over the
company.
That has been in Dubai for 30years.
So they wanted to make sure youknow that company was stable
(03:32):
and it's a manufacturingbusiness.
So my supply chain backgroundwas obviously very helpful
because at the end of the day,you have to produce and deliver
on time.
Ian Carless (03:42):
So just expand a little bit on those sections of
the business that Electra nowencompasses.
Benoit Honnart (03:47):
So Electra all business model is to be a
turnkey solution.
So basically, we are not anagency.
We work with agencies that havethe creative concept and we
make it live.
Sometimes it's difficult, Ihave to admit that the creative
can be very creative, and thisis where Electra comes in the
(04:08):
picture and trying to find a wayto make the dream true.
So the whole idea was to say weare the provider of all the
things you need to make an eventhappen, and that's the reason
you explained that we have avery diversified type of
(04:29):
solutions, from rental toproduction.
So today we have 53,000 squaremeters of facilities across UAE
and Saudi Arabia, so that's abig space for manufacturing.
We do everything in-house thejoinery, the fabric, the graphic
, the steel work.
So we literally do everythingin-house, which gives us a real
(04:51):
nice flexibility, controlquality, and we have the rental
business.
So on top of what we have tocustom-made, we also have our
furniture and our structures tohost any type of event across
the region.
Ian Carless (05:07):
And we'll dig into that a little bit later because
I'm curious to know sort of thereasoning behind that sort of
vertical integration, because onthe one hand, it makes a lot of
sense, but there's also, youknow, an argument for going the
other way and outsourcing, butwe'll come on to that in a
minute.
So, I mean, you mentioned youwork with creative agencies.
It's always a fine balance,isn't it?
It's always a case of walkingthe tightrope between the briefs
(05:29):
that you get in and then beingable to fill those briefs
without blowing the budget outof the water, and also in terms
of feasibility as well andtimeline.
What's some of the craziestsort of briefs that you've had?
And also, how do you managethat tightrope walk?
Benoit Honnart (05:44):
well, we, our core business, or actually one
of our main business, is theluxury world.
Yeah, so you can imagine, interms of craziness, I have seen
quite a lot, I have to admit,because all these brands and the
agencies working for the brandscome with some very, very
concept and you need to reallydifferentiate yourself from the
(06:06):
other brands and you need tosurprise your clients.
And the region also is pushingthe limits.
You know they want all the timebigger, you know more crazy in
the type of concept.
So I would say, what was themost creative or crazy concept?
(06:26):
Let me think a little bit here.
Um, off the wall, I've seen somany.
There was one particular weworked for hermes and we had to
build, and that was at the timeof expo 2020.
So at the time of expo 2020, wehad to build on a complete
remote island, a full structure.
Andpo 2020, we had to build ona complete remote island, a full
structure, and within thatstructure we had to build.
(06:48):
I think it was 10 differentrooms for each of the bags of
Hermès, and some of them we hadto fill with water with a seesaw
, and another one we had to do aracing track for in the desert.
Then we had to rebuild the moon, then we built a cinema, we
built a plane.
Even the security belt of theplane, the fabric was coming
(07:11):
from a old antique store or inparis, all in velvet.
We had the bags flowing aroundat the window of the plane.
It was a crazy concept,absolutely crazy concept.
Actually I do have anotherexample, one event we had to do
on the world island, one of theworld island, and we arrive on
the spot and then, um, suddenlysay we will do a site inspection
(07:34):
.
But I have to tell yousomething there are two cheetahs
on the island.
I'm like what do you meancheetahs?
Ian Carless (07:39):
yeah, there are two white cheetahs.
Benoit Honnart (07:41):
Yes, and I'm roaming freely, thanks for
telling me, because I justalready put a feet on the ground
.
Shall we be worried?
No, no, don't worry, they'rehidden in some place.
And then there we had to builda tent, again on this world
island, so the only way toaccess is a boat.
You had to load your structures.
Obviously, it's all sandy, soyou have to have to, you know,
(08:02):
settle the grounds.
And then we had to build allthis event with cocktail dinner
terrace, with a very nice viewon downtown Dubai.
So this is the kind of thing,and avoid the cheaters.
And avoid the cheaters.
Welcome in our world, yeah nokidding.
Ian Carless (08:17):
So what are the most common mistakes do you
think, or oversights that yousee from not just brands but
obviously the agencies that youwork with when it comes to
production planning?
Benoit Honnart (08:26):
First of all, the budget.
I mean, they have brilliantideas but they don't always have
the budget to make it happen.
So this is where we come withsolutions engineering to find a
way of trying to find a middleground between the creativity
and the budget they haveavailable.
(08:47):
In terms of planning, the issuewe also are facing in this
region is the last minute.
I mean, event has always been alast minute business, but here
in this region you're reallypushing it to the extreme limits
because things change until youknow 24 hours before the
opening, and that makes thewhole planning and operation
(09:10):
extremely complex, as much as weare doing everything in-house.
When you have changes 24 hoursa huge event, a fashion show, an
exhibition and so on it makesthings very complex.
So you need to be extremelyresilient and you need to have a
structure which is capable ofstretching to a certain limit so
that you can adapt to thesekind of changes and bring you
(09:31):
know 100, 200 guys just to makeit happen and change all scenery
that you have been talkingabout for six months.
Ian Carless (09:39):
Yeah, why do you think it is?
I mean, look, it's a commoncomplaint across just about
everybody in the industry thetimelines that were often given
to produce the events.
Where does that come from?
I mean, I still don't have asort of I have some thoughts on
the issue, but I still haven'treally been able to sort of pin
it down to where it's comingfrom.
Benoit Honnart (09:57):
Why do we?
Ian Carless (09:58):
continually get such short deadlines, you know,
to produce these events.
I mean, I've worked with umevent producers who come over
from the us and the uk andeurope and they typically
complain that you know thatthey're given sort of six weeks
on a for a project, whereas, uh,you know, in in other markets
they'd be given six months Ithink I am the one to blame
because I'm not saying no Ithink we're all to blame, then
(10:21):
aren't we?
Because I mean, if we actuallyturn around and said, no, that's
not possible.
Benoit Honnart (10:25):
There is always here someone that will say yes,
we just delivered the USAPavilion in Osaka.
Ian Carless (10:32):
Japan.
Benoit Honnart (10:33):
So we worked with Japanese contractors.
I can guarantee they are sayingno.
So whenever someone is sayingyou need to change this and this
and this, they will just say no, we can't do it.
It's very cultural and anyluxury brands that is doing an
event in Japan will tell youthat in Japan you need to
(10:55):
understand that they are notflexible and that you cannot
change 24 hours a whole concept.
I would think in this region weare all to blame, because I'm
usually not saying no.
I'm sometimes saying no, butmost of the time we're like all
right, let's, let's make ithappen.
Why do we say yes?
Well, first of all, because wehave a, you know, great skills,
(11:18):
um uh, in the region.
We have some great people, umcarpenters, painters that are
extremely skilled and flexiblein their capacities, and also, I
think the region is offering usa lot of options.
It's a very dense network ofvarious suppliers, especially
here in the UAE, and you canfind pretty much anything
(11:41):
anytime.
Everything is quite accessibleand it gives that opportunity of
doing things in a very shorttime.
But I would say maybe we shouldbe a bit more strict in what we
can accept and try to educateor explain the impact, because,
as much as we say yes,ultimately there is always an
(12:01):
impact.
There is a cost and there isalso an impact on the quality.
I mean you cannot do somethingof the same quality within 24
hours that you can do within twoto three weeks.
It doesn't happen.
There is no surprises.
Ian Carless (12:14):
You mentioned culturally, I think, in my
experience of it and I've saidthis in other podcasts as well,
but in the sort of 20 plus yearsI've been here, I think we have
a little bit of an issue with,you know, delegating
responsibility and there oftenseems to be a bottleneck at the
top of the management scale andI think for me, what I see is
(12:34):
that that results has obviouslya trickle down effect and
because people aren't empoweredand also we don't necessarily
have a very positive culturetowards failure.
So I think for me, what I seethat happens is that, you know,
managers are not the decision atthe very last minute when it
absolutely has to, and he makesthe decision that will
(13:10):
ultimately have the least impacton him if it backfires and
bites him in the butt, and thatresults in us getting
ridiculously short timelines andoften, you know, not
necessarily the resources withwhich to produce what they're
asking.
Benoit Honnart (13:23):
Yeah, it's very cultural and I was lucky to come
from China because that hastaught me how important it is
for Asian culture to not beblamed or lose what they call
losing face.
And when I was in the supplychain world, obviously you need
to anticipate.
(13:43):
It's all about anticipation.
Otherwise you end up into latedeliveries and potentially huge
impact.
And when I arrived in China,very quickly I understood that
the team were not giving me allthe information, or if they were
, they were giving it to me atthe very last minute.
And the reason why they werenot?
(14:03):
Because they were not ready toadmit they had made a mistake,
especially to the boss.
So very quickly I turned itaround, or I tried to turn this
around and say guys, wheneverI'm going to make a mistake
because everyone does mistakes Iwill tell you.
And that has changed the mindset.
(14:24):
So I was going to them and say,oh, you know what, today I've
made this mistake and thismistake From the Chinese culture
.
They were really surprised Iwas coming to them and saying
admitting my failures.
But then they understood thatfailure was okay.
And when I took over inElectron I did exactly the same
thing.
I mean, mistakes is absolutelyhuman.
We are all human.
Otherwise we all become robotsmoving around.
(14:46):
So admitting a mistake is okayas long as we come with the
solutions, because you canalways hide it under the carpet,
but at some point, you know, itcomes out.
Ian Carless (14:56):
It does.
You mentioned leadership.
I'm really glad you broughtthat up, because I wanted to
talk to you about that.
I mean, obviously you're you'rea large company.
You've got what did you say 550employees.
What kind of leadership do youthink is needed, then, in an
industry that you know is veryhigh pressure, moves very
quickly?
And what sort of reportingstructures, for example, have
you?
Because you can't operate witha bottleneck at the top.
(15:18):
I'm sure you don't make everyfinal decision or every lick of
paint that goes on, everythingthat goes out of your door.
So what reporting structures,for example, have you found that
work best for your business?
And what are the sort ofcultural things, as you just
mentioned, then, that you'vebrought to the business?
Benoit Honnart (15:33):
I mean, your questions have different angles.
Ian Carless (15:35):
Yeah, there's a couple of questions in there,
sorry.
Benoit Honnart (15:37):
No, no, no, it's super interesting.
I would start with the firstpart of the question what kind
of leadership in a manufacturingcompany?
Because, at the end of the day,as much as we're working in
events, it's a manufacturing.
Ian Carless (15:50):
Correct.
Benoit Honnart (15:50):
And out of the 550 employees I have, I have
roughly 400 plus workflows Okay,working at the factory, living
in the accommodations that weare providing them, away from
their family, dedicated to theirwork, very hard workers.
And how do you work with thatteam of people that are giving
(16:12):
everything for your company?
The most important for me isthe respect.
Going on site, going going tothem, thanking them every time
you can, trying to have alltheir names and you know, trying
to support when things aredifficult, being late on site
all over the night, I've done it.
If we have to push it through,just to show that we are all
(16:35):
together and we're going to makeit happen all together.
Trying to understand their ownproblems I mean COVID has been
obviously a huge topic becausethey were worried about the
family.
They were stuck in the UAEbecause there were no flights.
They were worried about theirhealth.
So you get into their life andyou really need to understand
(16:58):
how you can make their lifebetter, obviously from a money
point of view, but not only,also from a well-being.
I mean we have implemented aCSR committee seven years ago.
Try to organize crickettournament, football tournament
to make their life better sothat they see that the company
respects the work and dedicationthat they are putting every day
(17:27):
to make this event happen.
Ian Carless (17:28):
Now, talking about the organization and the
structure, obviously having 550,employees is a lot, and a lot
of them are in the departmentsas well, obviously.
Benoit Honnart (17:33):
The manufacturing, the logistics,
the procurement, the back office, so it's a big structure.
So today we are structured.
I have an executive committee,so one director is in charge of
the front office.
I have Willin, which is incharge, as a CEO, of all the
(17:57):
operations, from themanufacturing to the warehousing
to the procurement and so on.
And I have a back office, a CFOin charge of the finance, the
legal, it and so on.
But there's one department thatI'm keeping direct is the HR,
because for me it's extremelyimportant.
People first, it's really a DNAof Electra, so HR is reporting
to me directly.
So today I have four directreports and then, below that, I
have a middle management thatobviously has to take care of
(18:18):
all their departments and it'sit's a difficult structure.
And you mentioned before the,the middle, uh, management.
And how do you empower, yes,that middle management?
Uh, what we try to do istraining.
When the employee grow, we grow.
Um, some of them are comingwith a lack of experience in
(18:39):
terms of management and we needto help them and support them to
be able to be managers anddrive the business below, and we
need to trust them.
I mean, as you said, I'm notaware of absolutely everything
as much as I like to be, becauseI'm really very focused on
operations and make sure theclients are happy, but you need
to trust your management and totrust your management, they need
(19:02):
to be supported in theircapacities to manage.
Ian Carless (19:05):
Now you mentioned earlier it was interesting that
you mentioned it earlier yourbackground in logistics.
You've brought a lot of whatyou do under one roof and you've
obviously seen a benefit inthat.
Can you talk to me a little bitmore about that, about the
specific reasons for for being aI'm not going to say a one-stop
shop, but certainly that levelof vertical integration?
Benoit Honnart (19:26):
in our industry you need to be able to control
your quality, your speed ofdelivery and you need to be
extremely flexible.
That's the three key aspectsthat makes your offering better
than the others, especially whenyou work in luxury sports, some
government conferences, whereit's all about the speed and the
(19:47):
quality you can deliver.
So I would say the reason whywe have integrated everything in
our facilities and operationsis to be able to provide that
Now facilities and operations,is to be able to provide that
Now.
Is it always the best?
Clearly not.
And today there are few aspectsor few of the production that we
are doing which we areoutsourcing, because we quickly
(20:08):
realized that you cannot doeverything, especially when your
company is growing that fast.
There are some specificproduction that others do better
than you.
I'd rather keep in thefacilities of Électra the most
added value offering that wehave, especially on the luxury
business, because our team isextremely skilled, the workforce
(20:30):
we have is trained, has a lotof experience, so they should be
doing, you know, the crème dela crème, as we say in French,
and the rest of the production,which is a bit more basic,
knowing that the UAE hasimproved a lot in terms of
quality.
The overall suppliers networkhas improved.
We are now more and moreoutsourcing some elements and
(20:53):
giving the priority to ourfacilities for the most premium
quality production the priorityto our facilities for the most
premium quality production.
Ian Carless (21:03):
Are there any particular sort of processes or
innovations that I don't knowyou may have brought in from
your background in logistics orfrom maybe your time spent in
China, that perhaps that you'veintroduced into your workflow
that perhaps the clients don'tsee but benefit from?
Benoit Honnart (21:14):
Yeah, it's more about, I think, the processes
trying to standardize the wayyou work.
We have implemented ISOcertification, health and safety
45, sustainability 14, tryingto implement some processes in
logistics, a new ERP which wasmuch more dedicated to a
(21:37):
manufacturing model.
So it's more about theprocesses that you put in place
to make sure your quality isalways the same, with a quality
control aspect, your delivery ison time.
You have also a proper trackingof your deliveries.
Your warehouse how is it sorted?
How is it organized?
We have, for, for example,tagged all of our furniture with
(22:00):
RFID systems so we are able totrack live where they are.
So it's all about the systemsand the processes that you're
putting in place.
It's not rocket science, it'spurely organization.
Especially when you're in ourbusiness, you need to make sure
you always deliver the samequality, because that's's
ultimately what your clientswill see.
Ian Carless (22:21):
Yeah, absolutely.
And you mentionedsustainability.
I mean, obviously it's a hottopic at the moment and you've
made well, electra have madesome very sort of public
commitments as well, haven'tthey, towards sustainability.
I know you were one of thefounding signatories on the net
zero carbon events by 2050.
How much of that notnecessarily within Electra, but
(22:43):
across the industry how much ofthat is taken seriously, I'm
going to say here in Dubai, theUAE, versus other regions, and
how much of it perhaps is stilljust an exercise in ticking
boxes and a bit of lip service,the greenwashing you mean.
Benoit Honnart (22:57):
Yeah, correct.
Ian Carless (22:58):
Yeah, let's not beat around the bush yeah who's
greenwashing, who's not?
Benoit Honnart (23:01):
yeah no, I mean I mentioned earlier this morning
um, yesterday we had a, a panelum on on the middle east even
show about sustainability, and Ithink I've done that panel on
the similar topic.
I think was the third time.
Yeah, yesterday the room wasfull and it was not anymore
about we care or we think it'sgreat or we need to do it.
(23:24):
It was about what do weactually do and measure, with
clear kpis and commitments ofthe companies that are in the
industry.
So I think we have moved tofrom a uh, oh, yeah, we need to
take this in considerationbecause our industry has a
massive impact on carbonfootprint, to what can we do and
(23:46):
how can we do it, and let'smeasure what we can do better.
So we are definitely seeing animprovement and I've seen really
a switch in the mentalitiesafter Expo Expo 2020, because of
all the people that came fromaround the world with a lot of
expertise and standards from theWestern world, came here and
(24:08):
said this is the way you have todeliver a pavilion or an
activation and without certainstandards, especially in terms
of sustainability.
And when we've delivered theUSA pavilion, we had to make
sure it was 100% repurposed.
That was the commitment we hadin the contract with Expo, from
(24:28):
the building itself to all theinteriors, and that was
completely new In this region.
No one had considered anythinglike that before.
It's going to go into thatdirection.
Yesterday I mentioned there wasone question about the moderator
.
What do you wish in the next 12months?
I say well, I would like thegovernment, the authorities, to
(24:49):
impose some specific regulationthat makes sure all of us have
the same commitments tosustainability, have the same
commitments to sustainability,make sure everyone has recycling
, repurposing, reusing in theirmindset and mentality of
delivering an event.
So I've seen the switch.
(25:10):
Now is it where we should be?
Definitely not.
There's so much to do and thetechnology is also helping us,
because yesterday I mentionedthat we are developing a ai tool
which basically analyze mystock, check the design that we
are receiving and, based on thedesign, say, well, you know what
(25:31):
.
We can use this and this andthis out of your stock to
deliver your design.
So this is where technology isalso going to help us.
You know to be a bit moresmarter in the way we do things
and manufacture, but there is along way forward and probably
the reason why I took acommitment to 2050, I wish it
was earlier.
But I also know what's behindthe scene and I think at this
(25:52):
stage, companies likeElectro-Art it's good to commit,
but we also need to prove thatwe are actually delivering the
KPIs that we put in place.
And now we are in that phase.
We are measuring our reductionof consumption of energy.
We are measuring how much weare reusing, repurposing,
recycling.
So everything is aboutmeasuring and make sure every
(26:12):
year we are decreasing with aultimate objective of being net
carbon zero.
Ian Carless (26:17):
And you mentioned AI as well, which is obviously
another hot topic at the moment.
How are you looking at AI interms of your industry?
You just mentioned one specificinstance there.
Are you looking at other areaswhere you can implement AI as
well?
Benoit Honnart (26:30):
I would surprise you because the first
department we have implementedAI was HR and, frankly speaking,
I was absolutely not supportingthe idea when my HR manager
came and said this could besomething to explore.
I'm like HR AI For me it'scompletely opposite.
Ian Carless (26:52):
I'm sure you were thinking where's that personal
touch gone?
Benoit Honnart (26:54):
Completely opposite.
But in fact, what I realized is, for every position we are
posting, we are receivingroughly 1,000 to 1,500 CVs.
That's massive, and if youreally want to do the job
seriously about screening theCVs, you need to hire an army of
people in your HR department tolook at all the CVs in detail
(27:17):
of people in your HR departmentto look at all the CVs in detail
and ultimately, what it ends upwith is you have a few of the
CVs which are selected based onnames or pictures or things
which are not pragmatic at all,and you don't really know if you
are selecting the best.
So we have implemented AI,which is a tool that is
(27:38):
basically helping us to screen.
So he's first of all postingfor us, so he's building the
offering the job description andpromoting it on social media,
specifically LinkedIn, receivingall the CVs.
We are defining the criteriasthat we are looking for hard
skills and soft skills and then,based on that, we have a list
(28:00):
of 10 to 15 CVs that the AI toolhas selected and then they are
being interviewed.
And guess what A result I wasreally not expecting.
It has increased our diversityin Electra.
The nationalities haveincreased massively because
we're managers that usually weregiving a preference to their
(28:22):
same nationality.
Suddenly the tool was pushingCVs from different backgrounds
and they had no choice but tohire.
And on top, they were happybecause they were finding new
skills and new talents thatprobably they would never have
seen before.
So in that extent, ai has been,for us, a real improvement in
our recruitment we haverecruited faster but we have
(28:44):
recruited better and diversitynow I think we have 33
nationalities in Electra and wehad 24 a year ago.
So it really shows what AI canbring, and it's not always what
you think it's interesting,isn't it?
Ian Carless (28:59):
I mean, there really are sort of two sides to
the story.
I mean, I'm sure you wereacross the news recently as well
.
There was something in thepress I don't know if you saw it
from Mark Cuban basicallypredicting that AI will trigger
an explosion in face-to-faceengagement.
Co-founder Alexis Ohanian asdid I pronounce that right
predicted that live theatre andsport will become more popular
(29:26):
than ever as AI grows.
And I guess that what that sortof heart speaks to is the need
for that personal touch, thatinterconnection that you can't
always get through online oresports or gaming or whatever it
is that you do, and certainlyAI.
Could you speak to us a littlebit about that from your own
perspective?
Benoit Honnart (29:46):
Well, I'll give a very simple example.
Look at what happened duringCOVID.
During COVID, I remember verywell on the first weeks, I was
told, benoît, the future ofevent is going to be virtual.
And I was like, okay, that'sinteresting, but what about, you
know, having people togethersharing emotions?
(30:09):
No, no, but you will see it,we'll do a virtual concert,
we'll do virtual fashion shows.
I'm like, okay, well, try it.
I knew it was not going to workbecause ultimately, as human
beings, we like to be together.
And how can you spread anemotion?
And events is all about emotion, right, it is.
(30:30):
How do you spread an emotion onthe screen?
I mean, as much as the 3d modelthat you're building is great
and it's creative, butultimately, people want to be
together.
Going into into a stadium,going to a concert, going to a
fashion show, you have emotionsthat you cannot share on a
(30:52):
screen.
So I'm not surprised whenyou're saying that AI will even
be a neighbor for more liveevents, because AI is a neighbor
for people to do things faster,but at the same time, it's
going to give us more time to betogether, and I think that in
that extent, I think AI will bea great evolution for our world.
(31:16):
I know a lot of people areworried about AI.
I'm a big supporter.
I think it's going to enable usto be better and have more time
for things that we really liketo do.
Ian Carless (31:25):
That's so interesting because I found
another little nugget when I wasdoing some research yesterday
and the day before, and this wasfrom a chap called Stefan
Dieran, who's the co-founder andCEO of Vendilux, which is a
leading AI platform for eventmarketeers and conference
organizers, and he wrote in anarticle in Forbes that as AI
(31:46):
generated content saturates ourfeeds, real world face-to-face
experiences become precious,offering authenticity and trust
that AI can't replicate.
And that's from somebody who'sin the field of AI, yeah.
Benoit Honnart (32:02):
What do you remember in some of your events
that you're attending?
The things that were not normalor things that were absolutely
outstanding, amazing, thatyou've never seen before.
Ai is a lot about puttingthings into a model, into some
kind of perfection, or thingsthat you know have been
(32:24):
bulletproofed or tested.
So AI is generated fromexisting information and sources
, but in an event, sometimes youhave something completely new.
I'm a big fan of Daft Punk as aFrenchman and I remember going
to that concert back in, I think, 2007 in Paris, and these DJs
(32:48):
that I've been listening since Iwas young came in the concert
and decided to mix all theirsongs.
None of the songs were like theCDs that we heard before.
They were all mixed and it wasoutstanding and we were like so
excited to hear somethingcompletely new.
Never anyone had heard, heardbefore.
They were all mixed and it wasoutstanding and we were like so
excited to hear somethingcompletely new.
Never anyone had heard thatbefore.
(33:08):
A new scenery, a newscenography and I was like wow,
you know, it's something I willalways remember and that emotion
AI will not be able to provideit, at least for now.
As much as you can do a designon Midjourney, or you can do a
video out of AI.
Yes, but AI is using existingmodel to create new things where
(33:33):
artists or sportsmen will dosomething which is unexpected.
Ian Carless (33:38):
Yeah, Now I guess we couldn't have a conversation
about the event industry in thisregion without mentioning Saudi
.
I know you've got a presence inSaudi already.
How is the rise of Saudi Arabiaas a destination not just for
events but obviously tourism aswell, impacting your operations
and planning and the developmentof your business as you move
forward?
Benoit Honnart (33:59):
We've been working in Saudi for over 10
years, initially providing fromthe UAE, the Saudi market.
The big switch is that we nowneed to be locally present, we
need to manufacture in Saudi, weneed to hire Saudis.
The make it in Saudi is acrucial part of the journey of
(34:21):
development for Saudi Arabia,which makes sense.
I mean it's a huge population.
I think there are 34 million,if I'm right a lot of people to
employ.
They want to work.
They really definitely arecurious about being involved
into a company, an organization.
So the change in Saudi since thefirst time I went in 2019, is
(34:42):
tremendous.
I mean the country is nowhaving a huge concert.
The country has now some of thebiggest sports events Every day
in Riyadh.
There is a new restaurantopening in Jeddah as well.
So the country is opening upwith a population which is very
young.
50% of the population is below25 or below 30.
(35:03):
So this generation of new Saudiswants to discover the world.
They want to have the access tothings that they were not able
to have the access in the past.
So we, as a company in eventindustry, we need to be there,
train the new generation ofSaudis to be able to work with
(35:24):
us at every level and we need tobe part of this amazing journey
.
The World Expo is coming, AsianGames, the World Cup I mean,
for a country that was not intoevents 15 years ago they are
bringing to the country thebiggest event you can even dream
of a World Cup, a Expo, andthey're going to go big.
We mean, and they're going togo big.
(35:44):
We all know they're going to gobig because they want to
impress and they want to showthe world how saudi arabia has
changed?
Ian Carless (35:52):
you mentioned the, the younger generation.
Are you seeing a tricklethrough of the younger
generation, the youngergeneration?
I sound really old now, don't I?
I am um are you?
seeing that, that um adoption ofthe event industry from, say,
gen Z, inverted commas.
And if not, how do you think wecan keep that supply chain
(36:12):
coming through?
Because obviously we're only asgood as our people, aren't we?
And I'm going to go out on alimb here and say, you know
again, anecdotally of course,but from what we read a lot
across the press, there is a bitof a reluctance from some of
the generation to roll up theirsleeves and get stuck in.
They don't seem to want to workquite as hard, and maybe that's
just me showing my age.
But you know, the eventindustry it's long hours, it's
(36:35):
stress, it's a lot of hard work.
It's not just.
You know, often what people seeobviously is what you and I see
as guests at events.
We just see the finishedproduct.
So how do we keep that supplychain going?
I mean, again in relation tosaudi, I know there's a middle
beast.
Obviously they've got some verygood schemes at the moment and
training schemes that they'reintroducing into the market.
(36:55):
Is that the way to go going?
Benoit Honnart (36:56):
back to the young generation, this gen z
generation that we're allhearing about, which we are
currently hiring, is not thatthey are not willing to work,
but they are willing to work fora purpose Right.
And if, as a company or aorganization, you're not giving
(37:17):
them the right purpose of wakingup in the morning, going at the
office or the factory orwhatsoever and do something that
is meaningful, then you willnot engage that young generation
.
So the mindset is not anymoreabout I get a wage and then you
know I can afford the educationof my kids or have a nice house
(37:40):
or travel, traveling isimportant, but for them it's not
anymore about just the money,it's about what purpose they
have in the job or the missionthey have in the organization.
So going back to Saudi, you canreally see that that young
generation, which is the one weare currently employing, they
(38:02):
want to understand why are theyworking, and in Saudi it's quite
easy because they want to bepart of the opening up of Saudi
Arabia.
They want to be proud of theircountry, they want to show the
world that Saudi Arabia has somuch to offer.
And having them involved intoan Expo World Cup, I'm pretty
sure they will be excited,because it's all about being
(38:25):
proud of what they're showing tothe world.
Ian Carless (38:28):
Yeah, that's a really interesting insight.
Actually, that's a really goodway of looking at that.
The point about purpose I'mglad you brought that up.
That's definitely informed mythinking a little bit.
Yeah, before we wrap up, how doyou, as the CEO, how do you,
measure success for your companyand what does success look like
for you as we move forward into2020, well, the rest of 2025
(38:50):
and 26 and beyond?
Benoit Honnart (38:52):
I have two main KPIs.
So every week I have adashboard that I receive and
there are two KPIs I'm lookingevery week.
First one, client satisfaction,second one employee
satisfaction.
Second one employeesatisfaction.
That's all I'm measuring.
Obviously, as a result, I'mhoping to have a revenue and a
profit, but it all starts withthe client and we've been super
(39:15):
happy to have a satisfaction ofour client above 92% for the
last four years.
So we are measuring this.
After every project delivery weare sending a anonymous link to
our clients and they aremeasuring their satisfaction
with us.
So that's, for me, is the keyclient number one.
That was my chinese educationof you know making sure the
(39:38):
client, the client, the client,the client that's the most
important.
And obviously the employeesyeah, because to satisfy your
client, usually it the mostimportant.
And obviously the employeesyeah, because to satisfy your
client, usually it starts withyour employees.
If your employees are waking upin the morning with a smile,
with the passion and thewillingness to go the extra mile
, most of the time your clientwill see the difference, because
(39:58):
that's where you differentiateyourself.
So client satisfaction,employee satisfaction, and after
that you will probably get ahigh revenue and a good profit.
Yeah, Benoit.
Ian Carless (40:10):
Finally, what are you hoping for in the future on
a personal level?
It's a personal andprofessional.
Let's not keep it just apersonal.
Benoit Honnart (40:16):
Yeah, first of all, I would love to stay in the
region.
I think the quality of life wehave here is outstanding.
I really like being in theregion.
My kids love it, my wife lovesit, so it's really important for
me to stay here and enjoy thatjourney of development that we
see.
The energy that you see in theregion Professionally, of course
(40:39):
, is to learn, I learning, uh,every day is met.
You know what makes a?
Uh, your journey so interestingand and from a personal level,
I would say, you know, stillhave that passion.
For me, it, everything isdriven by passion.
I want to wake up in themorning with that passion,
because that really what makesmy day different brilliant,
(41:01):
fantastic.
Ian Carless (41:02):
Benoit, thank you for joining me on the podcast.
Benoit Honnart (41:04):
Thanks again for hosting this morning.
It was a pleasure.
Ian Carless (41:10):
Event News DXB is brought to you by Minus45DB, the
team transforming noisy eventspaces into slick, sound-reduced
environments.
Check them out at minus45dbcom.
This episode was presented bymyself, ian Carlos, the studio
engineer and editor was RoyDeMonte, the executive producer
(41:30):
was myself and Joe Morrison, andthis podcast was produced by W4
Podcast Studio Dubai, and ifyou haven't done so already,
please do click that follow orsubscribe button.
See you next time.
Thank you.
Let you know that Event NewsDXB is brought to you by
Minus45DB, the team transformingnoisy event spaces into slick,
sound-reduced environments.
From full-size conferencetheatres to compact meeting pods
, minus45db builds modularspaces that are quiet,
customisable and completelyturnkey.
(00:40):
And they're sustainable tooSmart design with zero waste.
Check them out at minus45dbcom.
Before we dive into the podcast, I just want to take a moment
to reflect on this week'sconversation with our guest,
benoit Honnard, ceo of Electraand I hope I pronounced that
right, because my French isatrocious.
(01:02):
In an industry where pressureis high and timelines are short,
benoit offers a rareperspective, one grounded in
empathy, structure and genuineleadership.
We spoke about the reality ofexecuting luxury events in
extreme conditions, why verticalintegration gives Electra a
unique edge and how building astrong internal culture has been
(01:23):
key to delivering excellenceunder pressure.
He also shared some prettyfrank insights into industry
challenges, from last-minuteplanning to sustainability, and
why embracing transparency,technology and purpose-driven
work is vital for the nextgeneration of event
professionals.
I have to say it's a realpleasure to be able to kick off
(01:44):
season two of Event News DXBspeaking with someone who leads
with both vision and humility,and I think anyone working in
this industry, whether you're onthe ground or at the top, will
take away something valuablefrom what Benoit has to say.
So, without further ado, let'sget into it.
(02:14):
Benoit, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you for hosting me thismorning.
You're welcome, most welcome.
Now, obviously, I'd be remissif I didn't do my due diligence,
and I was looking through theElectra website last night and
you are.
I mean, my head was spinning alittle bit Events, exhibitions,
fit out, tents, marquees andfurniture rental.
I mean I feel that we couldspend a whole podcast on any one
(02:36):
of those elements, let alonetry and talk about all of them
within 30, 35 minutes.
But let's give it a go, shallwe?
How did you get into eventsfirst?
Benoit Honnart (02:45):
you never know it's it really came out of an
opportunity.
I've been in china for 10 yearsand work in supply chain for 13
years, so I actually was not inthe event industry initially,
but I had in the supply chainbusiness one vertical
specifically dedicated to arthandling, art transportation and
(03:08):
event supply chain.
And then I started to work inthat sector.
And then I had the opportunitywhen I moved to Dubai to take
over Electra that had just beensold to a group in Europe and
they were looking for asuccessor for taking over the
company.
That has been in Dubai for 30years.
So they wanted to make sure youknow that company was stable
(03:32):
and it's a manufacturingbusiness.
So my supply chain backgroundwas obviously very helpful
because at the end of the day,you have to produce and deliver
on time.
Ian Carless (03:42):
So just expand a little bit on those sections of
the business that Electra nowencompasses.
Benoit Honnart (03:47):
So Electra all business model is to be a
turnkey solution.
So basically, we are not anagency.
We work with agencies that havethe creative concept and we
make it live.
Sometimes it's difficult, Ihave to admit that the creative
can be very creative, and thisis where Electra comes in the
(04:08):
picture and trying to find a wayto make the dream true.
So the whole idea was to say weare the provider of all the
things you need to make an eventhappen, and that's the reason
you explained that we have avery diversified type of
(04:29):
solutions, from rental toproduction.
So today we have 53,000 squaremeters of facilities across UAE
and Saudi Arabia, so that's abig space for manufacturing.
We do everything in-house thejoinery, the fabric, the graphic
, the steel work.
So we literally do everythingin-house, which gives us a real
(04:51):
nice flexibility, controlquality, and we have the rental
business.
So on top of what we have tocustom-made, we also have our
furniture and our structures tohost any type of event across
the region.
Ian Carless (05:07):
And we'll dig into that a little bit later because
I'm curious to know sort of thereasoning behind that sort of
vertical integration, because onthe one hand, it makes a lot of
sense, but there's also, youknow, an argument for going the
other way and outsourcing, butwe'll come on to that in a
minute.
So, I mean, you mentioned youwork with creative agencies.
It's always a fine balance,isn't it?
It's always a case of walkingthe tightrope between the briefs
(05:29):
that you get in and then beingable to fill those briefs
without blowing the budget outof the water, and also in terms
of feasibility as well andtimeline.
What's some of the craziestsort of briefs that you've had?
And also, how do you managethat tightrope walk?
Benoit Honnart (05:44):
well, we, our core business, or actually one
of our main business, is theluxury world.
Yeah, so you can imagine, interms of craziness, I have seen
quite a lot, I have to admit,because all these brands and the
agencies working for the brandscome with some very, very
concept and you need to reallydifferentiate yourself from the
(06:06):
other brands and you need tosurprise your clients.
And the region also is pushingthe limits.
You know they want all the timebigger, you know more crazy in
the type of concept.
So I would say, what was themost creative or crazy concept?
(06:26):
Let me think a little bit here.
Um, off the wall, I've seen somany.
There was one particular weworked for hermes and we had to
build, and that was at the timeof expo 2020.
So at the time of expo 2020, wehad to build on a complete
remote island, a full structure.
Andpo 2020, we had to build ona complete remote island, a full
structure, and within thatstructure we had to build.
(06:48):
I think it was 10 differentrooms for each of the bags of
Hermès, and some of them we hadto fill with water with a seesaw
, and another one we had to do aracing track for in the desert.
Then we had to rebuild the moon, then we built a cinema, we
built a plane.
Even the security belt of theplane, the fabric was coming
(07:11):
from a old antique store or inparis, all in velvet.
We had the bags flowing aroundat the window of the plane.
It was a crazy concept,absolutely crazy concept.
Actually I do have anotherexample, one event we had to do
on the world island, one of theworld island, and we arrive on
the spot and then, um, suddenlysay we will do a site inspection
(07:34):
.
But I have to tell yousomething there are two cheetahs
on the island.
I'm like what do you meancheetahs?
Ian Carless (07:39):
yeah, there are two white cheetahs.
Benoit Honnart (07:41):
Yes, and I'm roaming freely, thanks for
telling me, because I justalready put a feet on the ground
.
Shall we be worried?
No, no, don't worry, they'rehidden in some place.
And then there we had to builda tent, again on this world
island, so the only way toaccess is a boat.
You had to load your structures.
Obviously, it's all sandy, soyou have to have to, you know,
(08:02):
settle the grounds.
And then we had to build allthis event with cocktail dinner
terrace, with a very nice viewon downtown Dubai.
So this is the kind of thing,and avoid the cheaters.
And avoid the cheaters.
Welcome in our world, yeah nokidding.
Ian Carless (08:17):
So what are the most common mistakes do you
think, or oversights that yousee from not just brands but
obviously the agencies that youwork with when it comes to
production planning?
Benoit Honnart (08:26):
First of all, the budget.
I mean, they have brilliantideas but they don't always have
the budget to make it happen.
So this is where we come withsolutions engineering to find a
way of trying to find a middleground between the creativity
and the budget they haveavailable.
(08:47):
In terms of planning, the issuewe also are facing in this
region is the last minute.
I mean, event has always been alast minute business, but here
in this region you're reallypushing it to the extreme limits
because things change until youknow 24 hours before the
opening, and that makes thewhole planning and operation
(09:10):
extremely complex, as much as weare doing everything in-house.
When you have changes 24 hoursa huge event, a fashion show, an
exhibition and so on it makesthings very complex.
So you need to be extremelyresilient and you need to have a
structure which is capable ofstretching to a certain limit so
that you can adapt to thesekind of changes and bring you
(09:31):
know 100, 200 guys just to makeit happen and change all scenery
that you have been talkingabout for six months.
Ian Carless (09:39):
Yeah, why do you think it is?
I mean, look, it's a commoncomplaint across just about
everybody in the industry thetimelines that were often given
to produce the events.
Where does that come from?
I mean, I still don't have asort of I have some thoughts on
the issue, but I still haven'treally been able to sort of pin
it down to where it's comingfrom.
Benoit Honnart (09:57):
Why do we?
Ian Carless (09:58):
continually get such short deadlines, you know,
to produce these events.
I mean, I've worked with umevent producers who come over
from the us and the uk andeurope and they typically
complain that you know thatthey're given sort of six weeks
on a for a project, whereas, uh,you know, in in other markets
they'd be given six months Ithink I am the one to blame
because I'm not saying no Ithink we're all to blame, then
(10:21):
aren't we?
Because I mean, if we actuallyturn around and said, no, that's
not possible.
Benoit Honnart (10:25):
There is always here someone that will say yes,
we just delivered the USAPavilion in Osaka.
Ian Carless (10:32):
Japan.
Benoit Honnart (10:33):
So we worked with Japanese contractors.
I can guarantee they are sayingno.
So whenever someone is sayingyou need to change this and this
and this, they will just say no, we can't do it.
It's very cultural and anyluxury brands that is doing an
event in Japan will tell youthat in Japan you need to
(10:55):
understand that they are notflexible and that you cannot
change 24 hours a whole concept.
I would think in this region weare all to blame, because I'm
usually not saying no.
I'm sometimes saying no, butmost of the time we're like all
right, let's, let's make ithappen.
Why do we say yes?
Well, first of all, because wehave a, you know, great skills,
(11:18):
um uh, in the region.
We have some great people, umcarpenters, painters that are
extremely skilled and flexiblein their capacities, and also, I
think the region is offering usa lot of options.
It's a very dense network ofvarious suppliers, especially
here in the UAE, and you canfind pretty much anything
(11:41):
anytime.
Everything is quite accessibleand it gives that opportunity of
doing things in a very shorttime.
But I would say maybe we shouldbe a bit more strict in what we
can accept and try to educateor explain the impact, because,
as much as we say yes,ultimately there is always an
(12:01):
impact.
There is a cost and there isalso an impact on the quality.
I mean you cannot do somethingof the same quality within 24
hours that you can do within twoto three weeks.
It doesn't happen.
There is no surprises.
Ian Carless (12:14):
You mentioned culturally, I think, in my
experience of it and I've saidthis in other podcasts as well,
but in the sort of 20 plus yearsI've been here, I think we have
a little bit of an issue with,you know, delegating
responsibility and there oftenseems to be a bottleneck at the
top of the management scale andI think for me, what I see is
(12:34):
that that results has obviouslya trickle down effect and
because people aren't empoweredand also we don't necessarily
have a very positive culturetowards failure.
So I think for me, what I seethat happens is that, you know,
managers are not the decision atthe very last minute when it
absolutely has to, and he makesthe decision that will
(13:10):
ultimately have the least impacton him if it backfires and
bites him in the butt, and thatresults in us getting
ridiculously short timelines andoften, you know, not
necessarily the resources withwhich to produce what they're
asking.
Benoit Honnart (13:23):
Yeah, it's very cultural and I was lucky to come
from China because that hastaught me how important it is
for Asian culture to not beblamed or lose what they call
losing face.
And when I was in the supplychain world, obviously you need
to anticipate.
(13:43):
It's all about anticipation.
Otherwise you end up into latedeliveries and potentially huge
impact.
And when I arrived in China,very quickly I understood that
the team were not giving me allthe information, or if they were
, they were giving it to me atthe very last minute.
And the reason why they werenot?
(14:03):
Because they were not ready toadmit they had made a mistake,
especially to the boss.
So very quickly I turned itaround, or I tried to turn this
around and say guys, wheneverI'm going to make a mistake
because everyone does mistakes Iwill tell you.
And that has changed the mindset.
(14:24):
So I was going to them and say,oh, you know what, today I've
made this mistake and thismistake From the Chinese culture
.
They were really surprised Iwas coming to them and saying
admitting my failures.
But then they understood thatfailure was okay.
And when I took over inElectron I did exactly the same
thing.
I mean, mistakes is absolutelyhuman.
We are all human.
Otherwise we all become robotsmoving around.
(14:46):
So admitting a mistake is okayas long as we come with the
solutions, because you canalways hide it under the carpet,
but at some point, you know, itcomes out.
Ian Carless (14:56):
It does.
You mentioned leadership.
I'm really glad you broughtthat up, because I wanted to
talk to you about that.
I mean, obviously you're you'rea large company.
You've got what did you say 550employees.
What kind of leadership do youthink is needed, then, in an
industry that you know is veryhigh pressure, moves very
quickly?
And what sort of reportingstructures, for example, have
you?
Because you can't operate witha bottleneck at the top.
(15:18):
I'm sure you don't make everyfinal decision or every lick of
paint that goes on, everythingthat goes out of your door.
So what reporting structures,for example, have you found that
work best for your business?
And what are the sort ofcultural things, as you just
mentioned, then, that you'vebrought to the business?
Benoit Honnart (15:33):
I mean, your questions have different angles.
Ian Carless (15:35):
Yeah, there's a couple of questions in there,
sorry.
Benoit Honnart (15:37):
No, no, no, it's super interesting.
I would start with the firstpart of the question what kind
of leadership in a manufacturingcompany?
Because, at the end of the day,as much as we're working in
events, it's a manufacturing.
Ian Carless (15:50):
Correct.
Benoit Honnart (15:50):
And out of the 550 employees I have, I have
roughly 400 plus workflows Okay,working at the factory, living
in the accommodations that weare providing them, away from
their family, dedicated to theirwork, very hard workers.
And how do you work with thatteam of people that are giving
(16:12):
everything for your company?
The most important for me isthe respect.
Going on site, going going tothem, thanking them every time
you can, trying to have alltheir names and you know, trying
to support when things aredifficult, being late on site
all over the night, I've done it.
If we have to push it through,just to show that we are all
(16:35):
together and we're going to makeit happen all together.
Trying to understand their ownproblems I mean COVID has been
obviously a huge topic becausethey were worried about the
family.
They were stuck in the UAEbecause there were no flights.
They were worried about theirhealth.
So you get into their life andyou really need to understand
(16:58):
how you can make their lifebetter, obviously from a money
point of view, but not only,also from a well-being.
I mean we have implemented aCSR committee seven years ago.
Try to organize crickettournament, football tournament
to make their life better sothat they see that the company
respects the work and dedicationthat they are putting every day
(17:27):
to make this event happen.
Ian Carless (17:28):
Now, talking about the organization and the
structure, obviously having 550,employees is a lot, and a lot
of them are in the departmentsas well, obviously.
Benoit Honnart (17:33):
The manufacturing, the logistics,
the procurement, the back office, so it's a big structure.
So today we are structured.
I have an executive committee,so one director is in charge of
the front office.
I have Willin, which is incharge, as a CEO, of all the
(17:57):
operations, from themanufacturing to the warehousing
to the procurement and so on.
And I have a back office, a CFOin charge of the finance, the
legal, it and so on.
But there's one department thatI'm keeping direct is the HR,
because for me it's extremelyimportant.
People first, it's really a DNAof Electra, so HR is reporting
to me directly.
So today I have four directreports and then, below that, I
have a middle management thatobviously has to take care of
(18:18):
all their departments and it'sit's a difficult structure.
And you mentioned before the,the middle, uh, management.
And how do you empower, yes,that middle management?
Uh, what we try to do istraining.
When the employee grow, we grow.
Um, some of them are comingwith a lack of experience in
(18:39):
terms of management and we needto help them and support them to
be able to be managers anddrive the business below, and we
need to trust them.
I mean, as you said, I'm notaware of absolutely everything
as much as I like to be, becauseI'm really very focused on
operations and make sure theclients are happy, but you need
to trust your management and totrust your management, they need
(19:02):
to be supported in theircapacities to manage.
Ian Carless (19:05):
Now you mentioned earlier it was interesting that
you mentioned it earlier yourbackground in logistics.
You've brought a lot of whatyou do under one roof and you've
obviously seen a benefit inthat.
Can you talk to me a little bitmore about that, about the
specific reasons for for being aI'm not going to say a one-stop
shop, but certainly that levelof vertical integration?
Benoit Honnart (19:26):
in our industry you need to be able to control
your quality, your speed ofdelivery and you need to be
extremely flexible.
That's the three key aspectsthat makes your offering better
than the others, especially whenyou work in luxury sports, some
government conferences, whereit's all about the speed and the
(19:47):
quality you can deliver.
So I would say the reason whywe have integrated everything in
our facilities and operationsis to be able to provide that
Now facilities and operations,is to be able to provide that
Now.
Is it always the best?
Clearly not.
And today there are few aspectsor few of the production that we
are doing which we areoutsourcing, because we quickly
(20:08):
realized that you cannot doeverything, especially when your
company is growing that fast.
There are some specificproduction that others do better
than you.
I'd rather keep in thefacilities of Électra the most
added value offering that wehave, especially on the luxury
business, because our team isextremely skilled, the workforce
(20:30):
we have is trained, has a lotof experience, so they should be
doing, you know, the crème dela crème, as we say in French,
and the rest of the production,which is a bit more basic,
knowing that the UAE hasimproved a lot in terms of
quality.
The overall suppliers networkhas improved.
We are now more and moreoutsourcing some elements and
(20:53):
giving the priority to ourfacilities for the most premium
quality production the priorityto our facilities for the most
premium quality production.
Ian Carless (21:03):
Are there any particular sort of processes or
innovations that I don't knowyou may have brought in from
your background in logistics orfrom maybe your time spent in
China, that perhaps that you'veintroduced into your workflow
that perhaps the clients don'tsee but benefit from?
Benoit Honnart (21:14):
Yeah, it's more about, I think, the processes
trying to standardize the wayyou work.
We have implemented ISOcertification, health and safety
45, sustainability 14, tryingto implement some processes in
logistics, a new ERP which wasmuch more dedicated to a
(21:37):
manufacturing model.
So it's more about theprocesses that you put in place
to make sure your quality isalways the same, with a quality
control aspect, your delivery ison time.
You have also a proper trackingof your deliveries.
Your warehouse how is it sorted?
How is it organized?
We have, for, for example,tagged all of our furniture with
(22:00):
RFID systems so we are able totrack live where they are.
So it's all about the systemsand the processes that you're
putting in place.
It's not rocket science, it'spurely organization.
Especially when you're in ourbusiness, you need to make sure
you always deliver the samequality, because that's's
ultimately what your clientswill see.
Ian Carless (22:21):
Yeah, absolutely.
And you mentionedsustainability.
I mean, obviously it's a hottopic at the moment and you've
made well, electra have madesome very sort of public
commitments as well, haven'tthey, towards sustainability.
I know you were one of thefounding signatories on the net
zero carbon events by 2050.
How much of that notnecessarily within Electra, but
(22:43):
across the industry how much ofthat is taken seriously, I'm
going to say here in Dubai, theUAE, versus other regions, and
how much of it perhaps is stilljust an exercise in ticking
boxes and a bit of lip service,the greenwashing you mean.
Benoit Honnart (22:57):
Yeah, correct.
Ian Carless (22:58):
Yeah, let's not beat around the bush yeah who's
greenwashing, who's not?
Benoit Honnart (23:01):
yeah no, I mean I mentioned earlier this morning
um, yesterday we had a, a panelum on on the middle east even
show about sustainability, and Ithink I've done that panel on
the similar topic.
I think was the third time.
Yeah, yesterday the room wasfull and it was not anymore
about we care or we think it'sgreat or we need to do it.
(23:24):
It was about what do weactually do and measure, with
clear kpis and commitments ofthe companies that are in the
industry.
So I think we have moved tofrom a uh, oh, yeah, we need to
take this in considerationbecause our industry has a
massive impact on carbonfootprint, to what can we do and
(23:46):
how can we do it, and let'smeasure what we can do better.
So we are definitely seeing animprovement and I've seen really
a switch in the mentalitiesafter Expo Expo 2020, because of
all the people that came fromaround the world with a lot of
expertise and standards from theWestern world, came here and
(24:08):
said this is the way you have todeliver a pavilion or an
activation and without certainstandards, especially in terms
of sustainability.
And when we've delivered theUSA pavilion, we had to make
sure it was 100% repurposed.
That was the commitment we hadin the contract with Expo, from
(24:28):
the building itself to all theinteriors, and that was
completely new In this region.
No one had considered anythinglike that before.
It's going to go into thatdirection.
Yesterday I mentioned there wasone question about the moderator
.
What do you wish in the next 12months?
I say well, I would like thegovernment, the authorities, to
(24:49):
impose some specific regulationthat makes sure all of us have
the same commitments tosustainability, have the same
commitments to sustainability,make sure everyone has recycling
, repurposing, reusing in theirmindset and mentality of
delivering an event.
So I've seen the switch.
(25:10):
Now is it where we should be?
Definitely not.
There's so much to do and thetechnology is also helping us,
because yesterday I mentionedthat we are developing a ai tool
which basically analyze mystock, check the design that we
are receiving and, based on thedesign, say, well, you know what
(25:31):
.
We can use this and this andthis out of your stock to
deliver your design.
So this is where technology isalso going to help us.
You know to be a bit moresmarter in the way we do things
and manufacture, but there is along way forward and probably
the reason why I took acommitment to 2050, I wish it
was earlier.
But I also know what's behindthe scene and I think at this
(25:52):
stage, companies likeElectro-Art it's good to commit,
but we also need to prove thatwe are actually delivering the
KPIs that we put in place.
And now we are in that phase.
We are measuring our reductionof consumption of energy.
We are measuring how much weare reusing, repurposing,
recycling.
So everything is aboutmeasuring and make sure every
(26:12):
year we are decreasing with aultimate objective of being net
carbon zero.
Ian Carless (26:17):
And you mentioned AI as well, which is obviously
another hot topic at the moment.
How are you looking at AI interms of your industry?
You just mentioned one specificinstance there.
Are you looking at other areaswhere you can implement AI as
well?
Benoit Honnart (26:30):
I would surprise you because the first
department we have implementedAI was HR and, frankly speaking,
I was absolutely not supportingthe idea when my HR manager
came and said this could besomething to explore.
I'm like HR AI For me it'scompletely opposite.
Ian Carless (26:52):
I'm sure you were thinking where's that personal
touch gone?
Benoit Honnart (26:54):
Completely opposite.
But in fact, what I realized is, for every position we are
posting, we are receivingroughly 1,000 to 1,500 CVs.
That's massive, and if youreally want to do the job
seriously about screening theCVs, you need to hire an army of
people in your HR department tolook at all the CVs in detail
(27:17):
of people in your HR departmentto look at all the CVs in detail
and ultimately, what it ends upwith is you have a few of the
CVs which are selected based onnames or pictures or things
which are not pragmatic at all,and you don't really know if you
are selecting the best.
So we have implemented AI,which is a tool that is
(27:38):
basically helping us to screen.
So he's first of all postingfor us, so he's building the
offering the job description andpromoting it on social media,
specifically LinkedIn, receivingall the CVs.
We are defining the criteriasthat we are looking for hard
skills and soft skills and then,based on that, we have a list
(28:00):
of 10 to 15 CVs that the AI toolhas selected and then they are
being interviewed.
And guess what A result I wasreally not expecting.
It has increased our diversityin Electra.
The nationalities haveincreased massively because
we're managers that usually weregiving a preference to their
(28:22):
same nationality.
Suddenly the tool was pushingCVs from different backgrounds
and they had no choice but tohire.
And on top, they were happybecause they were finding new
skills and new talents thatprobably they would never have
seen before.
So in that extent, ai has been,for us, a real improvement in
our recruitment we haverecruited faster but we have
(28:44):
recruited better and diversitynow I think we have 33
nationalities in Electra and wehad 24 a year ago.
So it really shows what AI canbring, and it's not always what
you think it's interesting,isn't it?
Ian Carless (28:59):
I mean, there really are sort of two sides to
the story.
I mean, I'm sure you wereacross the news recently as well
.
There was something in thepress I don't know if you saw it
from Mark Cuban basicallypredicting that AI will trigger
an explosion in face-to-faceengagement.
Co-founder Alexis Ohanian asdid I pronounce that right
predicted that live theatre andsport will become more popular
(29:26):
than ever as AI grows.
And I guess that what that sortof heart speaks to is the need
for that personal touch, thatinterconnection that you can't
always get through online oresports or gaming or whatever it
is that you do, and certainlyAI.
Could you speak to us a littlebit about that from your own
perspective?
Benoit Honnart (29:46):
Well, I'll give a very simple example.
Look at what happened duringCOVID.
During COVID, I remember verywell on the first weeks, I was
told, benoît, the future ofevent is going to be virtual.
And I was like, okay, that'sinteresting, but what about, you
know, having people togethersharing emotions?
(30:09):
No, no, but you will see it,we'll do a virtual concert,
we'll do virtual fashion shows.
I'm like, okay, well, try it.
I knew it was not going to workbecause ultimately, as human
beings, we like to be together.
And how can you spread anemotion?
And events is all about emotion, right, it is.
(30:30):
How do you spread an emotion onthe screen?
I mean, as much as the 3d modelthat you're building is great
and it's creative, butultimately, people want to be
together.
Going into into a stadium,going to a concert, going to a
fashion show, you have emotionsthat you cannot share on a
(30:52):
screen.
So I'm not surprised whenyou're saying that AI will even
be a neighbor for more liveevents, because AI is a neighbor
for people to do things faster,but at the same time, it's
going to give us more time to betogether, and I think that in
that extent, I think AI will bea great evolution for our world.
(31:16):
I know a lot of people areworried about AI.
I'm a big supporter.
I think it's going to enable usto be better and have more time
for things that we really liketo do.
Ian Carless (31:25):
That's so interesting because I found
another little nugget when I wasdoing some research yesterday
and the day before, and this wasfrom a chap called Stefan
Dieran, who's the co-founder andCEO of Vendilux, which is a
leading AI platform for eventmarketeers and conference
organizers, and he wrote in anarticle in Forbes that as AI
(31:46):
generated content saturates ourfeeds, real world face-to-face
experiences become precious,offering authenticity and trust
that AI can't replicate.
And that's from somebody who'sin the field of AI, yeah.
Benoit Honnart (32:02):
What do you remember in some of your events
that you're attending?
The things that were not normalor things that were absolutely
outstanding, amazing, thatyou've never seen before.
Ai is a lot about puttingthings into a model, into some
kind of perfection, or thingsthat you know have been
(32:24):
bulletproofed or tested.
So AI is generated fromexisting information and sources
, but in an event, sometimes youhave something completely new.
I'm a big fan of Daft Punk as aFrenchman and I remember going
to that concert back in, I think, 2007 in Paris, and these DJs
(32:48):
that I've been listening since Iwas young came in the concert
and decided to mix all theirsongs.
None of the songs were like theCDs that we heard before.
They were all mixed and it wasoutstanding and we were like so
excited to hear somethingcompletely new.
Never anyone had heard, heardbefore.
They were all mixed and it wasoutstanding and we were like so
excited to hear somethingcompletely new.
Never anyone had heard thatbefore.
(33:08):
A new scenery, a newscenography and I was like wow,
you know, it's something I willalways remember and that emotion
AI will not be able to provideit, at least for now.
As much as you can do a designon Midjourney, or you can do a
video out of AI.
Yes, but AI is using existingmodel to create new things where
(33:33):
artists or sportsmen will dosomething which is unexpected.
Ian Carless (33:38):
Yeah, Now I guess we couldn't have a conversation
about the event industry in thisregion without mentioning Saudi
.
I know you've got a presence inSaudi already.
How is the rise of Saudi Arabiaas a destination not just for
events but obviously tourism aswell, impacting your operations
and planning and the developmentof your business as you move
forward?
Benoit Honnart (33:59):
We've been working in Saudi for over 10
years, initially providing fromthe UAE, the Saudi market.
The big switch is that we nowneed to be locally present, we
need to manufacture in Saudi, weneed to hire Saudis.
The make it in Saudi is acrucial part of the journey of
(34:21):
development for Saudi Arabia,which makes sense.
I mean it's a huge population.
I think there are 34 million,if I'm right a lot of people to
employ.
They want to work.
They really definitely arecurious about being involved
into a company, an organization.
So the change in Saudi since thefirst time I went in 2019, is
(34:42):
tremendous.
I mean the country is nowhaving a huge concert.
The country has now some of thebiggest sports events Every day
in Riyadh.
There is a new restaurantopening in Jeddah as well.
So the country is opening upwith a population which is very
young.
50% of the population is below25 or below 30.
(35:03):
So this generation of new Saudiswants to discover the world.
They want to have the access tothings that they were not able
to have the access in the past.
So we, as a company in eventindustry, we need to be there,
train the new generation ofSaudis to be able to work with
(35:24):
us at every level and we need tobe part of this amazing journey
.
The World Expo is coming, AsianGames, the World Cup I mean,
for a country that was not intoevents 15 years ago they are
bringing to the country thebiggest event you can even dream
of a World Cup, a Expo, andthey're going to go big.
We mean, and they're going togo big.
(35:44):
We all know they're going to gobig because they want to
impress and they want to showthe world how saudi arabia has
changed?
Ian Carless (35:52):
you mentioned the, the younger generation.
Are you seeing a tricklethrough of the younger
generation, the youngergeneration?
I sound really old now, don't I?
I am um are you?
seeing that, that um adoption ofthe event industry from, say,
gen Z, inverted commas.
And if not, how do you think wecan keep that supply chain
(36:12):
coming through?
Because obviously we're only asgood as our people, aren't we?
And I'm going to go out on alimb here and say, you know
again, anecdotally of course,but from what we read a lot
across the press, there is a bitof a reluctance from some of
the generation to roll up theirsleeves and get stuck in.
They don't seem to want to workquite as hard, and maybe that's
just me showing my age.
But you know, the eventindustry it's long hours, it's
(36:35):
stress, it's a lot of hard work.
It's not just.
You know, often what people seeobviously is what you and I see
as guests at events.
We just see the finishedproduct.
So how do we keep that supplychain going?
I mean, again in relation tosaudi, I know there's a middle
beast.
Obviously they've got some verygood schemes at the moment and
training schemes that they'reintroducing into the market.
(36:55):
Is that the way to go going?
Benoit Honnart (36:56):
back to the young generation, this gen z
generation that we're allhearing about, which we are
currently hiring, is not thatthey are not willing to work,
but they are willing to work fora purpose Right.
And if, as a company or aorganization, you're not giving
(37:17):
them the right purpose of wakingup in the morning, going at the
office or the factory orwhatsoever and do something that
is meaningful, then you willnot engage that young generation
.
So the mindset is not anymoreabout I get a wage and then you
know I can afford the educationof my kids or have a nice house
(37:40):
or travel, traveling isimportant, but for them it's not
anymore about just the money,it's about what purpose they
have in the job or the missionthey have in the organization.
So going back to Saudi, you canreally see that that young
generation, which is the one weare currently employing, they
(38:02):
want to understand why are theyworking, and in Saudi it's quite
easy because they want to bepart of the opening up of Saudi
Arabia.
They want to be proud of theircountry, they want to show the
world that Saudi Arabia has somuch to offer.
And having them involved intoan Expo World Cup, I'm pretty
sure they will be excited,because it's all about being
(38:25):
proud of what they're showing tothe world.
Ian Carless (38:28):
Yeah, that's a really interesting insight.
Actually, that's a really goodway of looking at that.
The point about purpose I'mglad you brought that up.
That's definitely informed mythinking a little bit.
Yeah, before we wrap up, how doyou, as the CEO, how do you,
measure success for your companyand what does success look like
for you as we move forward into2020, well, the rest of 2025
(38:50):
and 26 and beyond?
Benoit Honnart (38:52):
I have two main KPIs.
So every week I have adashboard that I receive and
there are two KPIs I'm lookingevery week.
First one, client satisfaction,second one employee
satisfaction.
Second one employeesatisfaction.
That's all I'm measuring.
Obviously, as a result, I'mhoping to have a revenue and a
profit, but it all starts withthe client and we've been super
(39:15):
happy to have a satisfaction ofour client above 92% for the
last four years.
So we are measuring this.
After every project delivery weare sending a anonymous link to
our clients and they aremeasuring their satisfaction
with us.
So that's, for me, is the keyclient number one.
That was my chinese educationof you know making sure the
(39:38):
client, the client, the client,the client that's the most
important.
And obviously the employeesyeah, because to satisfy your
client, usually it the mostimportant.
And obviously the employeesyeah, because to satisfy your
client, usually it starts withyour employees.
If your employees are waking upin the morning with a smile,
with the passion and thewillingness to go the extra mile
, most of the time your clientwill see the difference, because
(39:58):
that's where you differentiateyourself.
So client satisfaction,employee satisfaction, and after
that you will probably get ahigh revenue and a good profit.
Yeah, Benoit.
Ian Carless (40:10):
Finally, what are you hoping for in the future on
a personal level?
It's a personal andprofessional.
Let's not keep it just apersonal.
Benoit Honnart (40:16):
Yeah, first of all, I would love to stay in the
region.
I think the quality of life wehave here is outstanding.
I really like being in theregion.
My kids love it, my wife lovesit, so it's really important for
me to stay here and enjoy thatjourney of development that we
see.
The energy that you see in theregion Professionally, of course
(40:39):
, is to learn, I learning, uh,every day is met.
You know what makes a?
Uh, your journey so interestingand and from a personal level,
I would say, you know, stillhave that passion.
For me, it, everything isdriven by passion.
I want to wake up in themorning with that passion,
because that really what makesmy day different brilliant,
(41:01):
fantastic.
Ian Carless (41:02):
Benoit, thank you for joining me on the podcast.
Benoit Honnart (41:04):
Thanks again for hosting this morning.
It was a pleasure.
Ian Carless (41:10):
Event News DXB is brought to you by Minus45DB, the
team transforming noisy eventspaces into slick, sound-reduced
environments.
Check them out at minus45dbcom.
This episode was presented bymyself, ian Carlos, the studio
engineer and editor was RoyDeMonte, the executive producer
(41:30):
was myself and Joe Morrison, andthis podcast was produced by W4
Podcast Studio Dubai, and ifyou haven't done so already,
please do click that follow orsubscribe button.
See you next time.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!