Tanning Tech was initially supposed to be a biennial machinery and chemical fair in Milano – then it was moved to Bologna. Still today we wonder why!
Since the beginning there has always been discussions on whether this fair makes sense or not. But most of the exhibitors had no choice but to participate!
The ‘killer’ for the fair from our point of view was not only the terrible infrastructure of Bologna, but mostly the fact that most decision makers do not visit the fair any more. At last year’s fair there were almost no visitors for two entire days!
That must also be the reason why many important chemical suppliers have announced that they will not participate anymore.
We are convinced that we see another Paris or Miami fair phenomenon taking place.
Not having a stand this year will give us the opportunity to walk around the fair and maybe even have a clearer picture about the non-importance of this fair.
We are not against fairs in general but we would like to see a more feasible and realistic system being put into place such as:
– Move the fair to a city with better infrastructure
– Fulfil the initial promise and make it at least biennial
– Co-ordinate the fair by alternating a biennial system as in other industries (change cities and move from Asia to South America and then to Europe).
Let’s see what impact the reduced attendance will have on the organisers.
Sometime queuing for two hours just to get out of the parking lot in Bologna was ‘fun’, but mostly it was not!
Peter Mastelic
Hüni AG Process Controls
[http://www.hueni.com]
