Conference on sustainable future at the ZalaZONE automotive test track

May is coming soon – and if it's May, it's Greentech! Once again AVL ZalaZONE has the honour to host the biggest Hungarian conference on electric and green energy, and in that context, we have talked to the main organiser of the event, Károly Kovács, who has almost 30 years of experience in the field of energy and mobility events.

His career took a giant leap from designing telephone networks to end up at corporate events where he very quickly achieved great success and became one of the leading organisers in Zalaegerszeg. Professional and public events, trade fairs, conferences are all part of his repertoire today, so it is no wonder that large companies and institutions prefer to use his services.

Where did trade fairs like Greentech, as we know them today, start?
“Zalaegerszeg previously hosted an Autumn and Spring Exhibition, which was not specialised on a single industry, but typically the major companies in the city, the larger area, the county and the Transdanubian region attended and showed what they had. These were more like fairs than specialised exhibitions in the current sense. And then they obviously changed over time, always developing a little bit according to the requirements of the times, what the trends were, and moving increasingly towards a specialised direction – hence the later events. The first of these events, Mobil Zalaegerszeg, was still held in the Sports Hall in 2017-18, and in 2019 it was organised at AVL ZalaZONE. It turned out to be quite a big event: on Saturday – not everyone knows this – we had 15,000 visitors from the general public in addition to the professional visitors.”

How did the topic of Greentech get into the spotlight?
“13 March 2020, saw the COVID situation brake out – the shutdown came overnight. It was clear at the time that Mobil as an event would not be doable, as it was so large in scale that it seemed obvious to us that it would not be possible to implement it in 2020. However, we saw that the industries that had been present at Mobil were moving so rapidly towards 'Green Thinking', 'Green Energy', electromobility and similar innovations that we thought we should try to get a little ahead of the times and create a modified thematic event – and that's how Greentech came about.
The response from our partners was very positive almost immediately, and the feedback after the event was really great, which encouraged us to continue, but this time here at the Test Track.”

Why is AVL ZalaZONE an ideal venue for implementing the event?
“We believe that there is no better location in the region at the moment. Our partners love AVL ZalaZONE for its infrastructure, the corporate culture, the innovations and developments and, of course, the environment. Even if Greentech were not so large, it would still be our first choice. From an event management point of view, it's really all here:
   - There is space where we can present attractions and technical innovations, since we can also use track elements;
   - The Zone space surrounding the building is a very pleasant place where we can create a professional and social space for discussion and mingling;
   - Inside the building, we can hold conferences in a sophisticated way in the conference rooms available;
   - We can also set up stands in the lobby area;
   - And test drives are also very popular with the partners, where AVL ZalaZONE is very flexible when it comes to track elements.
In other words, it is an absolutely unique facility – not only in Zala County but also at national level. International channels will also be opened up this year, as lectures and corporate meetings will now be held not only with Hungarian but also with foreign participants. As a result, our conferences are filling up very fast, which may call for another day to be incorporated.”

The previous year, and the year before that, were unfortunately still about post-COVID recovery – what do you see as challenges for 2023?
“This recuperation is still ongoing – many people cannot even recover from it. The main difficulties of the current period are the war situation and the resulting energy issues, as well as the labour force problems.”

Károly also highlighted the impacts of the economic crisis, which mostly affect partner companies – whether they are exhibitors or subcontractors who help implement the event and, as such, are integral to its success. He sees the solution in close and long-lasting cooperation and the development of a fixed circle of partners, which could provide a solution to the growing threat of the economic crisis.
“We've been working with the same people for years in terms of photography, videos, construction, catering, etc. and it's a good thing for them to know that they can count on us to continue hiring them” – he said, adding that inflation at their ad-hoc partners is very serious and they need to balance it out.

Overall, however, Greentech has grown into one of the most popular trade fairs in the region. Is there any ambition or plan to organise a similar automotive exhibition – say, at the same test track?
“Yes, there is! We have some new and very good ideas. It's been suggested that we could revive Mobil a bit; or have a professional but more open, more popular event with the most popular influencers available. Tedex Zalaegerszeg is also looking towards AVL ZalaZONE, so there are plenty of ideas at hand.”

The Greentech event is free of charge and welcomes all interested visitors with a focus on “Green Energy”, as well as a number of interesting and fascinating exhibitions and demonstrations.

See you at the Test Track!