21.12.2010

Platformers Days to skip 2011

Platformers Days, the German access event has announced that it will skip 2011 and work instead with CeMAT - the Hanover Fair.

The rationale is in some ways a reflection of the congestion seen this year in the September access events calendar and the fact that the 2011 Platformers Days would have been around two weeks prior to APEX, which is being held just three hours drive away in Maastricht.

The organisers are instead putting their efforts into an attempt to attract access exhibitors back to what was the Hanover Fair and is now CeMAT – a large industrial material handling show, which will be held this year from May 2nd to 6th.

As part of the effort IPAF has taken a large stand and the organisers have agreed that IPAF members can show a machine on the stand without needing to attend the event themselves. Companies that join the stand will though be expected to contribute €480 towards the hospitality and the cost of producing a banner which will be displayed on the stand. Companies placing a machine on the stand will also be able to demonstrate it.

IPAF and the Vertikal Press will also take the TABS working at height safety conference to the show. This will be the sixth annual TABS conference which typically attracts around 100 end user companies and moves around the country, previous venues have included Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Wurth.

There will be sponsorship and display opportunities at the 2011 TABS which, due to the show may well attract a larger audience this year.

For those who want to do something more, the Platformers' Days organisers are in discussions with the CeMAT organisers to organise something it is calling Platformers' World which will offer some attractive rates for those wishing to have more than one machine at the show.

In 2012 Platformers Days will be back at Hohenroda, but at the slightly later date of September 6th and 7th.

Vertikal Comment

Skipping a show in 2011 may well be a good move for Platformers Days, giving an opportunity to change the date and give the event something of a facelift?

The past two years had seen some major exhibitors pull out as the dates – in late August – became less attractive and the costs to attend crept up. However it will be sorely missed by many in the industry who rated this as one of the nicest in the exhibition calendar.

While the location is not the best in terms of getting there, it is very attractive, with a good hotel on site and some excellent facilities. The two day event held over a Friday and a Saturday also has a special relaxed atmosphere that none of the national shows that have followed a similar formula have been able to quite recreate.

Whether anything can be done with CeMat is another thing, in theory the attendance of around 80,000 manufacturing personnel sets out a good foundation. However past experience at the show indicates that most visitors are there to see production equipment which is displayed in specific halls and only a few die hard individuals bother to go outside and look at access equipment.

However timing is as they say everything and perhaps the importance of efficient and safe working at height is now more of a priority than it was in the past. So with a push and a shove from IPAF, TABS and the Platformers Days crew perhaps this year’s Hanover will set a new trend?