This coming Wednesday the IOG's SALTEX exhibition kicks off its fourth edition at the Birmingham NEC.
Service Dealer are amongst the 300+ exhibitors who will be in attendance for the two days - so please if you are planning to make your way to Birmingham, do come along to Stand M030 and say hi to the team.
It'll be interesting to see how many dealers feel a trip to the National Exhibition Centre is worthwhile this year - or perhaps more to the point, affordable.
As ever there are those perennial decisions to be made when committing to an event like SALTEX. Can you afford both the costs involved in travelling and potentially staying away for a night and indeed the costs of being away from the business for any length of time?
These factors will most likely be exacerbated for many this year, coming off of the back of what has been a most challenging season.
Last year I remember many exhibitors speaking to me about how pleased they had been with the number of dealers they'd seen coming through their stands. I wonder if this will be repeated next week?
There were plenty of franchises on show last year who were very interested in expanding their dealer networks. Of course all were talking about finding the right partners in the right part of the country - but there's no doubt that there were opportunities for dealers to expand their offerings if they so desired.
But in terms of dealers attending this year in their numbers, I'm not sure if coming off a hard season like this, whether the feeling will be, let's just regroup and look forward to next season, concentrating on our established products.
Or I suppose, alternatively there could be a desire amongst some to have a bit of a fresh start next season and therefore be on the look out for some new brands to stock in their stores? It'll be interesting to see what the prevailing mood is.
Certainly in principal I always think if you can, a trip to an event like Saltex is well worthwhile. In fact I believe that Saltex itself has really hit its stride since establishing itself at the NEC. I'm sure there might be some nostalgic for Windsor, but I feel the show has had a really, buzzy, vibrant feel to it these past couple of editions. Certainly last November many exhibitors were telling me they were delighted with the quality of the visitors they were seeing come through their stands. Actual decision-making purchasers are coming to the show these days - rather than just the whole team out for a jolly-up.
To be fair to Saltex they do keep looking to add value and improvements to the event. This year they are heavily promoting the new Innovation Hub area which will showcase new products. This will also be the home to the second outing of their Innovation Awards. This area certainly sounds like one worth having a look at if you've made the effort to come to the show. Inspiration might stike!
Also, give the IOG credit, they are sticking to their guns and are running the outdoor demonstration area again this year. I've felt this has been somewhat half-hearted the past couple of shows. But in their pre-show promotion they've said this area has completely sold out "with a high number of exhibitors choosing to take outdoor plots". So let's see next week if it works better with a few more exhibitors out there - and not just a few cold and lonely looking guys!
The most important aspect of a trade show is of course the networking opportunities which it affords. Be it meeting up with your established suppliers, potential new business partners or your fellow dealers to swap war stories - Saltex is a valuable resource.
So to those of you who choose to attend next week, I hope you can make the most of your visit and come away feeling that your time and money has been wisely spent.
Why not let us know in the comments below how you feel about attending shows and events in the current climate?
