With Covid still far from having left the day to day, we are all beginning to come to terms that things are perhaps never going to be quite the same again.
Certainly this would apply when it comes to Tradeshows. No matter what the show, Spring Fair in Birmingham or Maison D’Objet in Paris you find yourself asking…”Should I go…?”
It’s certainly a question we asked ourselves many times over before signing up to the BLE (Brand Licensing Exhibition) this coming November 2021. Not just of ourselves but would others actually attend?
Reassured by Informa the organisers that their feedback was overwhelmingly positive, we stepped up and signed on the dotted line….!
After the virtual show of 2020 gave us a mixed bag of opportunities, it was good to hear there would be an improved version of the virtual show as well, AFTER the main physical show. No doubt as a back up, should Covid mutate its ugly head and cause a lockdown. A wise move by Informa, so we are hopeful the complexities of reaching old and new clients will be smoother in 2021.
Informa again, assure us that the virtual aspect has been much approved and 2021 and will see better data collected on visitors to ensure more accurate and fruitful leads can be found.
The chance in 2021 to meet real people was also too tempting to resist and it being our 30th year in business we are grateful we can be there to share this milestone with so many of our associates and friends. You will be able to see and meet us at Booth D157.
Much as Zoom has help us stay connected, it can never replace that chance meeting of a potential client who’s eye is captured by your booth.
In fact it was that very ‘by chance’ meeting back in 2001 in Earls Court (RIP!), that opened the door for us to develop stationery ranges for WHSmiths for over 8 years! Nothing virtual can replace that and it’s that very fact we feel, combined with a desire for retail to search and reach out for new ideas we trust will make the BLE 2021 show, one to remember.
