• [00:01:17] Episode introduction and Caroline's presentation
• [00:01:35] Presentation of Fabula
• [00:02:24] How does a digital training course work?
• [00:03:27] Purpose of this name change
• [00:03:47] Unique value proposition
• [00:04:57] Why choose PHCom?
• [00:05:39] Looking for sponsors for the school
• [00:05:47] A two-step mission
• [00:06:33] A Business Hub
• [00:07:39] Goal of the Business Hub
• [00:08:05] Sponsors vs Business Hub: which approach?
• [00:09:20] Company meetings: what experience sharing?
• [00:10:14] Long-term relationship: how to maintain?
• [00:11:13] Current challenges for Fabula
• [00:12:15] What are the expectations for the coming years?
• [00:12:53] Collaboration with PHCom in three words
• [00:13:56] After each meeting: feedback and discussion?
• [00:14:29] Thanks and episode closing

Stéphane Depaepe: [00:00:15] Hello and welcome to another episode of the "Performance, Harmony & Commercial" podcast, produced by PHCom in the "transforma bxl" studio, with technical support from "The Podcast Factory Org".

Nadia Ben Jelloun: [00:00:27] The "Performance, Harmony & Sales" Podcast is aimed at marketing and sales managers, as well as company executives with sales functions.

Stéphane Depaepe: [00:00:36] Every month, we share our best practices in finding new customers for business-to-business companies.

Nadia Ben Jelloun: [00:00:43] You can find each episode on the PHCom point be P.H.C.O.M website, and also on all good podcast platforms.

Stéphane Depaepe: [00:00:54] You can support this podcast and promote its visibility by sharing it with as many people as possible via a like, comment or share.

Nadia Ben Jelloun: [00:01:02] The answering machine is always open so that you can leave us a message, which we'll be delighted to answer.

Stéphane Depaepe: [00:01:09] You can also book an appointment directly with Nadia or Stéphane on PHCom dot be.

Nadia Ben Jelloun: [00:01:16] See you soon.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:01:17] Hello Caroline

Caroline Desmecht: [00:01:18] Hello Camille

Camille de Meeûs: [00:01:19] How are things today?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:01:20] Very, very good.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:01:21] I'm delighted to welcome you here to our beautiful podcast studio. This is a first exercise for you, have you done this before?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:01:28] Never, no. I've taken a podcast course, but I've never actually created a podcast.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:01:35] Okay, well that's great, you're going to do it like a boss then. So Caroline, tell us a little bit about who you work for? You work for Fabula? What do you actually do?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:01:44] What's up? Fabula was originally a school in Louvain-La-Neuve, formerly known as Charles Péguy. The school mainly trained students in the hotel, tourism and events sectors. And in recent months, the school has taken a different direction, focusing exclusively on Event Manager training. So we still have a face-to-face school in Louvain-La-Neuve, and my mission for the past few months has been to develop the cooperative society. Which will focus on digital training for Event Managers and the creation of an event community.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:02:24] How does digital training work when you're a student? So there's never any physical contact, so everything is done remotely and they learn remotely.

Caroline Desmecht: [00:02:32] So the idea is that you can learn from a distance, obviously, and we're aiming at different target audiences. We're obviously targeting students coming out of high school, or people who have already trained in communications or marketing, and who want to specialize in event management. But now we're also going to address the events sector itself, because when you're in the events business, you're so caught up in the flow of work that you don't always have the time to train, keep up to date and take part in seminars and TEDx, things like that. So the idea is that we can also offer this to professionals in the sector, in asynchronous training. This means that people learn at their own pace, and in conditional progression, which also means that you can't validate a training course if you haven't followed it chapter by chapter.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:03:27] Did you say you've changed your name?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:03:30] So why the name change, but because the school really took a different direction and Charles Péguy was still very strongly associated with tourism, the hotel business and events. Fabula focuses exclusively on events, and we wanted to breathe new life into the school.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:03:47] What sets you apart from all the other training courses available here in Belgium? What sets you apart?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:03:52] So, what sets us apart is the teachers. It's important to know that all our teachers are industry professionals, who work in the field every day, so they can really pass on and share the realities of the industry. The second thing is that our course curriculum has been totally rethought, based on seven pillars: Be, Do, Think, See & feel, Explore, Connect & Commit. All of this takes up the values that we believe are essential in training for the job and in the job itself. The third point that sets us apart from other schools is our NFT certification. Since we don't receive any subsidies from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, we have created our own NFT certification, which is a means of tracing and freezing all the work of our students who are going to register on the blockchain, making it traceable, authentic and visible to anyone who wishes to see it.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:04:57] You called on PHCom, and as a reminder, we specialize in all aspects of marketing and sales development for companies and schools too. So how does the collaboration work? And why did you call us?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:05:12] So we called in PHCom because, as a new company with limited resources - and when I say limited resources, I mean not only financial, but above all human resources - I didn't know how to manage everything. I didn't know how to manage everything, PHCom is an expert in research and commercial canvassing, that's all, and I think that when you need results, it's better to call on experts than try to do it yourself.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:05:39] You've set up several projects with PHCom. Can we talk about looking for sponsors for the school?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:05:46] Exactly.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:05:47] There are also two other levels. Can you tell us a bit about how all this came about?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:05:52] Initially, PHCom's primary mission is to find sponsors. So we'd like to find companies that are sensitive to and active in the events sector to help us develop this digital platform, and already create an events sector community. We'd like to create a Biz, not a Club but a Hub, so we'll also have to canvass and raise awareness at that level. So I think PHCom could also have another mission here.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:06:33] When we talk about Business HUB, what exactly is HUB? It's getting people from the same sector together, talking, how do these moments go?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:06:41] The idea is really to be able to bring together as many people as possible from the events sector, but all sectors combined in fact, so we won't be limiting ourselves to events agencies or the audiovisual sector. We really want to be able to put an event caterer at the same table as an event producer or agency. Steward's agency and hostesses who also have very important roles at events. The idea is really to open up the sector, to enable people to discuss, share and think about a new vision of the events industry, which is already underway to some extent, but which really lacks dynamism, namely sustainability within the sector. It's a sector where we build a lot, we're very good at the ephemeral, but we also have to be able to give a second life to what we do. So that's another question we'd like to discuss with the whole sector.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:07:39] And the aim is really to create synergies, I presume?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:07:42] Synergies, 100% synergy, dynamics, interaction, collaboration, that's something we're really keen on, to be able to really put different people around the table, but we often tend to work with our suppliers whom we know well, but in fact there are a host of resources and potential elsewhere too. And so the idea is really to mix it all up.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:08:05] You don't address a sponsor in the same way as you address people and invite them into the Business HUB. How does this approach work? When you go to a meeting and you have to meet these people, these companies?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:08:16] So for sponsors, it's, I mean in quotation marks, simpler because you can identify the company. Often, these are companies that are really active in the events sector. I worked in the events industry for 20 years, so I'm already familiar with it, so it's easier for me to broach the subject with people who already know the sector. As far as a biz hub is concerned, we're going to attract a whole range of different people, people who are more or less involved in events, who were very involved at one time and who have now moved on to art and culture. It's a different approach. First of all, it's listening to people, talking to them, and then seeing a bit, feeling around, seeing a bit of "Oh well, this person here, what really touches her is the cultural sector. This person is more human-oriented". So it's all about adapting to others, listening, exchanging and trying to build bridges and see how we can co-create.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:09:20] How are your meetings with these companies going? Is there anything you'd like to share with us? Failures, successes too? When you talk to these people, how do things go?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:09:30] Generally speaking, I'd like to say that things are going pretty well. And because I know what I'm talking about, it's really easy to connect with people. But there have also been times when I've come across people who aren't really active in the events sector, but who were sympathetic to the idea of. And so here, it's more of an exchange, a listening, and finding out how we could, in the future, create something. Even though, as I talk to people, I get the feeling that we won't be moving on to the next stage just yet. But I think that the more the project develops, the more we can try to build bridges afterwards.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:10:14] Yes, and life is all about timing (Caroline Desmecht: Right). Maybe when you meet them, the synergies don't happen, but at least they know you exist and maybe one day they will. But that's what's so complicated: how do you keep going in the long term when you meet people like that? Do you have any tips? Does PHCom have any tips for you?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:10:32] So first of all, as soon as we finish an appointment, it's a little email, I send an email directly, sometimes I make a phone call afterwards to make sure the person has received my email. And then it's really going to be up to me to organize my agenda, to keep in mind, here's this person I know would be interested in this so... You have to get organized and keep an agenda. And I think things will fall into place like that over time, but it's really about creating a relationship at the time of the interview, the appointment, but also over time. But after that, everyone has a very busy schedule and we're going to have to build the relationship as well.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:11:13] What are the current challenges in finding investors for a private school like Fabula? Are there things where you say to yourself "Yeah, we can't do that now, in 2025".

Caroline Desmecht: [00:11:24] Not much at stake. For me, the biggest obstacle is that Fabula is a school, we train people, and at the moment, investors are more interested in technological and digital innovation. Because we know that there will be a return on investment sooner or later. Training people, even if it's still education and, in our eyes, something of prime importance in a society, is less profitable, and therefore more difficult to attract investors. But after that, it's also up to us to convince them with the project, and so we have to regularly rethink the project according to the targets we want to reach. So here we are, sailing, sailing and... We'll see.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:12:15] So what does the future hold for Fabula, and what are your expectations for the coming years?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:12:20] Our expectations, our ambition, would really be to see an active events community on our digital platform, to see that people are interested in the content of our training courses, that they follow them, that they talk about them. And then, in a second phase, the real aim is to be able to organize face-to-face events with the whole community, to be able to tackle different themes and really create links. That's really our ambition, to create links and break down barriers in the sector.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:12:53] If you had to define your relationship with PHCom in three words, what would you say?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:12:59] Coaching, learning and support. I'm going to elaborate: coaching, Stéphane here at your company, is a great listener, and in coaching that's something very important, so he really put himself in a position of active listening to understand the project, to know how he could make it his own. Learning, that's because afterwards he gave us a little course in "Ok, how do we prepare for the first telephone appointment?" Then, "How do you prepare for the second face-to-face meeting?", and then again for the third meeting until an agreement is signed. I'd never done that before, so it was reassuring for me to have Stéphane around, he was always there, intervening when he felt like it. And then we debriefed at the end of the meeting, so there you have it, very nice and very rich.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:13:56] And at the end of each meeting with his companies, his sponsors, his patrons, all the people you met with Stéphane, what came out? You leave the door and chat with Stéphane. How do these exchanges go?

Caroline Desmecht: [00:14:09] Ben is always very good. He says, "There, maybe you should have talked more about this, maybe you talked a little too much about that. And it's true that emptiness comes up a lot, too, in the thinking of the events sector, so there you have it, COVID has had its impact, and its importance, and there you have it. But generally always great, always caring and always constructive.

Camille de Meeûs: [00:14:29] Thank you very much Caroline for this exchange, and all the best for the future.

Caroline Desmecht: [00:14:33] Many thanks Camille and many thanks to PHCom.