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As one of the organisers of Creating Landscapes I have to admit I am a little biased and will have to say “yes”.  However, I wanted to share my recent experience of attending The Hire Show earlier in the month where I had a highly productive and busy day.

In just one day I was able to see over twenty companies, meet key decision makers and gain commitment to Creating Landscapes from another major player in our industry.

So firstly I must congratulate The Hire Show for organising such a professional and well organised event, they even provided me with a free cup of coffee and bacon roll!  I was able to view a large number of companies, see their product range, have meaningful conversations about their company, how they are finding business and importantly find out if the “landscape and horticultural” industry is part of their route to market.  In most cases it does and all the companies I met were keen to learn and hear about Creating Landscapes and Landscape Juice.

Of the many companies I visited I was particularly keen to meet up with Jukka Vaattovaara of Avant Tecno.  I have been speaking to Jukka for a few months now about Creating Landscapes and within a few minutes of meeting him, he asked to see the floor plan and layout of the Show.  He looked over the plan and then said, “Stephen, put us down for that one.”  Jukka was pointing at an island stand measuring 100m², close to the free demo area, which he and his team will be using for show their machinery in action.  This is currently the largest stand sold at the Show.

Having a company sign up to our new trade event with such a positive commitment underlines just how far Landscape Juice and Creating Landscapes has come in such a short space of time.

To learn more about Avant Tecno and its product range, do have a look at their video links which can be viewed here.  

So do events and exhibitions work?

Yes, they enabled me to meet key decision makers face to face.  The Hire Show enabled me to meet them on “neutral territory” in an environment congusive to business.  The Show also enabled me to meet new companies, understand their product range, discuss them with product managers, learn more about how they promote and sell to the dealer and end user.

There’s no doubt that the internet is playing an increasing part in the exhibition world and it will only continue to evolve.  There will be no separating online from offline and successful exhibitions will be made all the stronger by the work that is done throughout the year.

This is what makes Landscape Juice such an unique and important vehicle for the publicity effort when rolling out Creating Landscapes and why I believe we have more than a little edge when it comes to rewarding our exhibitors with some high value ‘out of hours’ marketing opportunities through the Landscape Juice Network.

Of the exhibitors I met, the Hire Show worked very well for them.  They in two days were able to meet existing and new buyers.  Show new product, explain the benefits, explore the many hire and purchase options and like me, agree terms and successfully conclude on a sale.  The event was also used to launch a number of new and innovative products, which were well promoted by the organisers and exhibitors.  This of course will be covered by the media, who again cover shows and exhibitions which furthers the importance of bringing an industry together at a single venue.

Of course The Hire Show and Creating Landscapes are different and do have a differing market, but they do share many of the same principals.  It is for this reason that I am so excited to be working on a new event for our industry.

Do keep on spreading the word about Creating Landscapes so we can together encourage even more exhibitors to join in.