What a fag ash is for event organisers

There are hundreds of individuals who have suffered great hardship as a result of the Icelandic volcano and the chaos this has caused. From a more selfish perspective it is interesting to see how the events industry copes with this disruption. Major incidents that can effect events come round more regularly than you think and can vary from national issues like a terror attack or foot and mouth to more local issues like industrial action or a major accident on an approach road.

A photobook from @robertsharp59 http://bit.ly/blCeHE shows some of the problems the London Book Fair experienced. And our heart goes out to them.

LIW, like most exhibitions, only runs once a year and has a dedicated team that work on it all year round. Everything you do for 12 months is focused on three days where all your planning must come together to ensure your clients meet as many relevant buyers as possible. The immediate run up to the show is incredibly stressful without the added worry that visitors and exhibitors might not actually be able to get to your show and you could be looking at some empty aisles (always an organiser’s worse nightmare) and empty stands. Should you be an exhibitor in this situation and be concerned about your investment in the event then please don’t get frustrated with the organiser as whatever you will be feeling they will be feeling worse. A lot worse.

We are off to fellow health and fitness show FIBO (www.fibo.de) which opens Thursday 22^nd April. It looks like the skies have reopened but we know that a lot of visitors have already cancelled plans because they are concerned about being stranded should the lockdown return. We think our flight out should be ok and we are looking forward to seeing the show and we wish the organisers every bit of luck.