I too went today and was shocked at the difference 2years have made. It was much smaller and less showcasing of new products. I have to say there were alot of demos to watch and nouveau lash stand had made alot of effort. This is what the shows should focus upon, displaying and educating on new products or techniques. Not just the sales. It would be a good idea to charge less to the exhibitors however then tickets prices would be issued to pay for advertising, admin etc. I will go again next year, but if it will be like this year, only to enter nail comps !

I agree...but most of the decent stands come in at around 12,000 + making it a big gamble for even large companies to take a risk at vagley making a profit as you said the costs go on and on.
so then it comes down to not profit but making a presence and maintaining your reputation in the industry, giving technicians inspiration as to what they can achieve in the industry and seeing it up live and personal instead of just reading about it in a magazine!
When the company that supplied CND products had problems and the wonderful 'Sweets' took over and bearing in mind that previously the stands at the shows were costing around 20,000 + it made perfect sence for them to invest this money into the company making it bigger and better...which they did. They have obviously invested in other companies making them grow and at the same time bringinging new products to techs such as Minx and the amazing Soak Off.
I think CND have the perfect idea like Ezflow and shortly many other companies to follow of doing roadshows. Bringing talented techs and excellent product to those who are genuinly interested and then benefit from it. This way forward costs less and achieves more for everyone.
Here Here for this way to continue as these are much more enjoyable days as grid locked in a cattle market of half dressed embarrased looking men lol!!!!

i usually work at the shows but lechat decided not to exhibit this year and i attended as a visitor at olympia.
i was talking to an exhibitor that i know and she told me that there were moves afoot to organise an independent show.

I don't understand this... Either you moan because you have to pay to get in or it's too expensive for the companies to hire. Do you really think it is free to rent such as Gmex/Olympia/Excel? Do you think the staff there is willing to do it for free? Please, there is NOT such as free lunch, somebodies have to pay for the party....

I went there, as usual. Because I was competing I didn't get to see much, but it was packed. OK, it was a little bit uncomfortable, BUT to get the big companies back, it is very good. Nobodies want to pay a lot of money to exhibit if there's no people....

Instead of moaning we should all have a brain-storming on how the show can get better!

I'll begin.

I would like to have a "nail-play-room" where you can bring your own model, tips whatever, to actually try some of the products. The companies can "donate" some products (I would believe this is good marketing) and they can also have one educator so people can ask. BUT I don't want the educator to do a demo, I rather want them to help ME on MY model/tips. To bring your own products would also be nice. Then it would be possible to meet other nailtechs and maybe ask them. We can all learn from eachother, we don't always need an educator.

Anybody else having good ideas?

Cec.

Well, in my opinion, I would rather have all the brands/companies at one place. We need this to get a diversity, so nailtechs get the opportunity to see what's on the marked, not only one brand.

Cec.

To make the shows better they should stop being greedy and selling stands to just anyone.....Thats how it looks to me....Greed.

I wouldn't mind paying AT ALL if it was how it should be....a professional trade show....with Professional stands...not tacky stands selling stuff that is like you find on the Sunday markets.

I love the play room idea Cec...

totally agree, i meant that it would be independent from the usual organisers and so it would be less expensive for all the companies to attend.

I think the best thing about the show was the workshops. Andy's intimate waxing workshop was a full house and very well received from what I understand.

Am just glad that Sonia had the sense to make me some nice butties so I didn't need to pay over-inflated prices for food there!
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This is being talked about quiet heavily by manufacturers and distributors alike...but the reality is
1) How the heck are we going to promote the shows as currently shows are generally organized by the trade publicists who use their magazines and data base to promote the shows

2) There is still a high cost for renting halls..insurances ,security etc etc.

So I do feel we would be in a worse position than we are today.

What is probably needed is two things

1) Far less shows...say London,Manchester,Edinburgh and organised as a joint effort by the magazine publicists..that way marketing campaigns would be to a much bigger audience which hopefully would attract more visitors and in time more exhibitors

2) maybe these fewer shows should be combined to make much bigger shows ...I.E. include the hair and even fashion sectors together with the beauty sector...

Just a thought

I agree with you, BUT what I find strange is that those "nick-knack" companies have the money to have a stand while the real companies don't have. For me, this makes no sense at all.

Another suggestion... This may be totally out of the blue, but... What if everybody who have a stand get the same amount of space? Then the smaller company would feel they could enter too. Like it is today very few small companies see the advantage to enter, not only because it is too expensive but because they feel they don't get seen because of the biggest companies having those incredible huge stands. As said, it may be totally out...:-D

Yes, give us a play-room to play AND to networking.

Cec.

in america, i have been to big shows that combine hair beauty and nails.

its also commonplace to pay an entry fee over there.


it'll be very interesting to see what the future holds for us, it seems plain that somethings got to change.

Trade shows should be for trade only and the non trade should be going to shows like the Vitality show.

It's not even about the paying to get in that bothers me.....it's the time it takes to get there, the parking etc etc. Mind you, I don't think it's fair to charge for entrance and then send out thousands of free tickets at the last minute to boost numbers, like they did last year.

I think it is usual to pay entrance fee at many places. In Norway too and also at the big show in Dusseldorf. And it's not cheap... I think it is about 30-50 pound a day... I happily pay it!

Isn't it usually nails and beauty together here?

I would also welcome hair, nails and beauty in one show.

Cec.

Well... You can't get the show to your house... I don't understand this argument at all... Sorry....


Cec.

The thing I noticed this year that I haven't in previous years, was the amount of children there. This is supposed to be and ADULT, PROFESSIONAL show only - WTF is going on!!!

Also didn't see quite a lot of big players there like Calgel, Collin, Susan Molyneux, Aromatherapy Associates. Even Eve Taylor's stand was much smaller this year than usual.

There were not as many crap stalls as I would call them like there was at Birmingham, no clothes stalls or ornament stalls, but there was a couple of jewellery stands.

At one point I thought Sweet Squared was there because I saw lots of people wandering round wearing what looked like Minx but it was just a copy cat.