Held for the very first time in the northern city of Milan, the sixth Italian Disinfestando exhibition, held on 6 & 7 March, proved a rip-roaring success. Not only were the number of exhibition stands up, so were the number of delegates.
The organisers of this bi-annual trade show, Sinergitech, were highly delighted with the feedback they were receiving during Disinfestando. Not only were the number of exhibitors up on the event two years ago, with an extra 14 exhibitors, but the number of visitors was also much increased – from 1,900 when last held in Rimini in March 2017 to a whopping 2,350 this year.
How European events score
This figure compares very favourably with Parasitec 2018 in Paris which claimed 3,206 people, but this is a three day show. At PestEx 2017 held at ExCel, the organisers gave a total figure of 2,641. With attendance figures it is always difficult to work out what exactly the totals provided encompass.
For example, to assess this subtle difference, and to their credit, the British Pest Control Association broke down their 2,614 total attendance at 2017 Pestex as follows: 498 were exhibitors and 11 were speakers or press, then deduct the number who visit both days, meaning there were 1,856 actual delegate customers.
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| Both the venue and the weather gave the visitors a warm welcome. There was emphasis on youth at the official opening ceremony – most second generation family members. Throughout the stands and aisles were packed. |
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Packed out!
Whatever, the aisles at Disinfestando were full to bursting, especially on day one, and the number of international visitors was definitely up. Without exception, everyone agreed that they liked the actual venue and that Milan was a much more convenient place to get to. So congratulations Sinergitech.
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| Overseas exhibitors, such as IGEBA from Germany, (left) took the opportunity to announce their exclusive distribution arrangement with Copyr. Regular exhibitor, Babolna Bio (centre) from Hungary, held numerous business meetings whilst at Kaeltia Compliance from Spain it was a case of ‘petticoat power’! |
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It’s own personality
As a regular attendee at these exhibitions across the globe, each has its own ‘personality’. At any event in Italy, the atmosphere is very friendly, everyone is pleased to see you and the event has a ‘family’ feel. This is hardly surprising, as the majority of exhibitors are Italian companies, owned and managed by family members – some of which are now into their third generation.
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‘Italian flair’ was in evidence on the purpose-built, high quality exhibitions stands.
Left to right: Bleu Line – BL Group, Ekommerce and OSD |
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Also to be expected is the element of ‘Italian flair’. Whilst standard exhibition shell schemes are available, these are small in number and are used mainly by the smaller international companies. The centre of the hall is full of stylish, and surely expensive, custom-built stands created by the home Italian companies. Maybe not quite up to the alcoholic standards of Parasitec, but refreshments flowed.
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Also scoring on the stands’ stakes were – left to right – InPest, Mauro Bergamini from SprayTeam
whose spray equipment was outside the venue and INDIA |
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As to what we spotted which was new, the answer is … patience… all will be revealed along with what we spot at PestEx within the pages of Pest 62: April & May 2019!
Series of seminars
Running alongside the exhibition was a series of seminars. Day 1 was aimed at the home audience, so was entirely in Italian. Day two addressed more technical issues and simultaneous translation was provided, as we reported.
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Although the majority of exhibition visitors were Italian pest controllers, there was also a contingent from the Italian airforce (above left). There was fun and frolics on some stands (centre) and one visitor,
who came to see how he could beat the system, looked most bemused |
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