Thomex.com
The venue of a tradeshow can play a crucial role in making a show a great hit or a damp squib. The National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), which recently organised the Lubeasia 2008 at its campus in far flung Okhla Industrial Area, realised this hard way. It's no wonder that they have drawn a lesson and are planning to organise the next show in 2010 at Pragati Maidan.
"We had made all the preparations in right earnest. We had a database of more than 8,000 clients who are in lubricant business and were in constant touch with them for the show," said Surendra Rawat, responding from the organiser's desk.
"The show witnessed 60% less participation than the previous year. This was despite the fact that we had launched a vigorous advertising campaign this time," said Radhey, the project manager. He admitted that being a B2B business exhibition one can only expect an optimum turnover.
The event which was organised by Nexgen from March 8 to 10 at the NSIC Exhibition Centre however had its own silver lining. “The expectations from a tradeshow should be a realistic one," said Ramatree Dwivedee of Petrolube India, adding, "We expected an enquiry of 50/day and we got the response. All those who came to visit us were serious visitors genuinely interested in our products."
Dwivedee was of the opinion that organising the show at the NSIC Exhibition Centre had its own benefits. "Keeping the venue far removed from the commercial hubs had its own merits as only serious people would bother to come so far. No walk-in would bother to take so much pain," Dwivedee said.
The show covered industries dealing with oil, lubricants, greases, fluids, additives, packaging and related industry and were attended by some 33-odd companies from various parts of the country. The show was also attended by couple of companies from countries like China and Ukraine.
Vitaliy Volovyk of Xado, a Ukraine-based company, was upbeat of the opportunities India provided for his gel revitalizant products. He was here in India for the first time to participate in the show.
"Our revitalizants could be of immense use to country like India which is fossil fuel deficient. Our product protects machinery parts from wear and tear and reduces oil consumption up to 30%. It increases the life span of units by 2-3 times by further improving the engine operation," Vitaliy said.
Apart from participating in the exhibition, Vitaliy was here in India to look for a business partner. "We have a massive presence in more than 35 countries across the globe and are now looking to operate from India too. The country has promising prospects and we are sure to deliver quality products," said Vitaliy.
Jamal Anwar of Eppcon Lubricants India was another exhibitor who was satisfied with the response he received at the show. "We got enquiries from states like Punjab where we had no presence. This has given us fresh avenues to expand our operation," he said adding, "The exhibitions apart from serving as platforms for product awareness are also a meeting point of related industries under one umbrella."
RK Gautam of Sunint Enterprises who had put up his stall to promote Atlantic Oil imported from Iran seemed less enthusiastic. "Most of the enquiries that we received were retail in nature. We had expected a good number of participation from big industrialists and businessmen but the response was lukewarm," he said.
As promised there were few direct and bulk consumers and almost near absence of State Road Transports Corporations, Railways, Defence, Airlines, automobile manufacturers. "In total there were no more than 1000 visitors who came to attend the show," informed a dejected Gautam.
