Editor’s Column
A Morning Well Spent
It seems hard to believe that The London & UK DatebooK is now starting its 24th year. As the saying goes, “Time flies when you’re having fun” and it has been fun as well as challenging, somewhat difficult, enjoyable and definitely a learning experience.
Over the years I have attended any number of exhibitions from large and lavish to small and significant. At one point I really thought that there were just too many special event shows, showing too much of the same thing to the same people. But as time will have it, some of the exhibitions just faded away . . . quietly.
At this point, I think that two of the best are The Meeting Show in June and Square Meals Venues and Events Show in September. I realize that some will take issue because I did not mention Confex. However many people, like me, feel it has gotten a bit ‘faded’.
This year I decided to attend the Venues and Events Show at Billingsgate in September and I am very glad that I did. I was very impressed. We went the first day and as we entered, we could immediately see that the Show was very well attended. The layout was good, so that you could move around easily, but still somewhat crowded.
We were especially impressed with the way the majority of the venues were placed around the periphery of the ground floor space. The booths for the Venues were all designed the same way with the same amount of space. One exhibitor explained that this idea Ð of placement and design – made it more affordable to participate. Good point!
There were, of course, larger spaces for venues as well as for a wide variety of additional companies and businesses that deal with special events. We were pleased to be able to easily move through the Show and visit with exhibitors that we know as well as meeting new people – exactly what you want from a show like this. Another good point, at least for The DatebooK, was that we made quite a few more contacts which we hope will lead to articles.
It was indeed a morning well spent.
Mary Kay Eyerman
E-mail: [email protected]