Certification of exhibition data
In order to evaluate an exhibition, three factors are taken into account: exhibition area, number of exhibitors, number of visitors.
Three simple facts, but for which there is no international agreement which establishes calculation and registration procedures. Such agreement would standardize the procedures of communicating the details concerning each exhibition to users (exhibitors and visitors), first and foremost, and to information bodies; they would also be protected and their choices and investments would be more knowledgeable and profitable.
At present, however, there is a certain confusion. Opti München has just ended and we have received several report. Two days ago, the organizers declared 45,000 square meters of exhibition area, 605 exhibitors and almost 33 thousand visitors: to some people, these data seem quite difficult to understand.
In detail, for example, it is not specified whether the figure regarding the exhibition area is 'net', in other words, the area occupied by exhibiting companies in the individual pavilions, or 'gross', i.e. if it includes all the surrounding areas (corridors, offices, meeting rooms, bars, restaurants, etc.). The Munich Fair official website gives a number of details, technical and otherwise, and here it is possible to check the characteristics and facilities of each exhibition pavilion, including the exact surface area of each. For Pavilions C1 - C2 - C3 - C4 (those used by Opti München), the total surface area given is 'about 40,000 sq.m'. Bearing in mind that Pav. C1 - which hosted part of Trend Design - was not fully occupied, even when including as much as possible in the calculation, it is reasonable to assume that the area cannot be more than 40,000 sq.m.
The exhibitors: this is not very clear either. Some declare exclusively direct exhibitors (the companies which exhibit), some include indirect exhibitors, and some others even include the number of brands (labels) exhibited.
As far as visitors are concerned, the unavoidable question is how, in just a few hours, it is physically possible for thousands and thousands of operators to get through an entrance where a few turnstiles are defended by equally few 'controllers', who hand punch the tickets bought at reception desks consisting of two counters, where only few people have the task of taking the money for entry tickets and catalogs. Neither is it clear how it is possible to state that the operators come from x number of countries and describe them as 'specialist visitors', when anyone can buy a ticket without any form of registration, and no data or information of any kind are taken.
These differences in the way of calculating the square meters (gross or net), the exhibitors (stand owner-companies, representatives, sector press, trade associations, sector fairs and exhibitions, brands) and the visitors (automatic access with passes or manual access on presentation of a ticket) demonstrate the need for greater clarity and at the earliest.
