It's only the second week of the year and already our news items are rife with stories about trade shows and live events.

First up, kicking off the industry's event season, is LAMMA at the NEC. Since this show made the decision a few years ago to move inside, away from the potentially disruptive January weather, it seems to have gone from strength to strength. So much so in fact, that organisers are predicting that 40,000 visitors are likely to make their way to Birmingham across Wednesday and Thursday next week.

Our agricultural machinery editor, Martin Rickatson, will be in attendance at the show, seeking out the suppliers and developments that could be of interest to our independent ag machinery dealer readers - so look out for a comprehensive report in the next issue of the magazine.

Also of interest to dealers of farm machinery, is how successful Ripon Farm Services own show is continuing to prove. They have their 20th anniversary edition coming up in a couple of weeks, where they say they are expecting around 5,000 people to come through the doors. Those sound to me like genuinely impressive numbers - and not just for a dealer-organised show. One feels some national professional turfcare shows wouldn't be too disappointed with stats like that themselves!

Obviously the farming sector and the professional groundscare sector are different beasts, with different sized target audiences, but I am aware that getting more turf professional end-users to attend their trade shows is a much discussed issue. Laurence Gale for example, editor of TurfPro, our sister title for commercial turfcare practitioners, has been arguing for years that that sector's main events are way under-attended when one considers just how many people are employed in that field.

Finding ways to attract more turf professionals to support their events will be an area that show organisers will continue to explore and experiment with this year - and of course it's an area that dealers will have a vested interest in. Theoretically, shouldn't it follow that more show attendees with access to their facility's purchasing budget, means more follow-up business with local dealerships?

So of good news hopefully for our readers, is that it does seem that a couple of new kids on the turf care show block, believe that they have a formula that can continue grow both visitor and exhibitor support, further establishing themselves as fixtures on the industry's calendar. 

GroundsFest for example, have already announced a second, expanded edition for September, and now today we have confirmation that the Scots Turf Show will hold their sophomore bash in March - with organisers promising an increase in companies promoting their wares from an initial 16 to 50 this year.

It does feel important that Scotland has a national turf care show of its own again, following all these years without one after the old IOG's show ceased to exist. Hopefully for the organisers sake, and indeed for dealers in Scotland, attendance this year will follow the increase in exhibitors.

Elsewhere, coming up soon we have BTME in Harrogate, which never fails to attract a healthy number of golf greenkeepers to their trade association's gathering - not least for the level of highly relevant educational opportunities that are on offer to members alongside the exhibition (and the pubs!). And the ever-popular Doe Show will be taking place again in February.

So whilst discussion as we move through the trade show season will inevitably touch upon debates such as are there too many?; are they in the right venue?; and are they taking place at the right time time of year?, there does seem to be an argument to be made that more potential end-user buyers, looking at more innovative machinery options, can be good news for dealers.

Whether all the exhibiting manufacturers - and indeed the time-poor, end user audiences - agree that more shows equals more good times, is another matter!