After the success of the recent Smart Home Show in the NEC, the organisers have already committed to doubling the size of next years event…
“The inaugural Smart Home Show, the UK’s first consumer exhibition for integrated home technology, surpassed all expectations by attracting a 27,000 strong quality visitor audience to Birmingham’s NEC from 14-17 April 2005.
A delighted exhibitor base has shown their support in the most emphatic way by swallowing up the floorplan for the 2006 event. By close of play on the last day of the Show 85% of space had already been rebooked and organizers Centaur Exhibitions are hurriedly redrawing their floor plans to at least double the size of the event in 2006… Furthermore, in response to exhibitor requests, Centaur are now launching a Smart Home Zone within the London Homebuilding & Renovating Show 2005 (30 Sep – 2nd Oct 2005). Stand space in the Smart Home Zone is limited to 15 companies and 50% has already been reserved.
Nick Noble, Group Show Director of Centaur Exhibitions and responsible for the co-located National Homebuilding and Renovating Show as well as the launch of the Smart Home Show explained: “We were always confident the
Smart Home Show would be a success based on exhibitor and visitor feedback from our Homebuilding & Renovating Shows – but the level of serious response in year one confirms that the custom installation industry in the UK has come of age. 2006 will be bigger and better for The Smart Home Show – we will build on the hugely popular seminar programme for instance with new educational visitor features – and we look forward to working with suppliers to help grow this tremendously exciting new industry”.
CEDIA, the Custom Electronic Design Installation Association, sees The Smart Home Show as an important platform for developing their role in the sector. According to Wendy Griffiths, Operations Director, “CEDIA enjoyed a great Smart Home Show.”
“We were particularly pleased to receive numerous enquiries from homeowners, architects, interior designers and property developers on every day of the show. We were able to talk to them in detail about CEDIA, home electronics technology and its application, and the work of CEDIA members in this fast-growing market sector. The event provided us with the perfect platform to explain the advantages afforded by employing a CEDIA member company.
Bev Mc Kinder, Managing Director of Audiofile, was particularly impressed with the serious business interest. “The quality of the enquiries we received was tremendous. These were genuine buyers with live projects. In many cases, they were able to give us actual plans of the property, and a vision of the electronic lifestyle they wanted to achieve as well. We also saw a number of property developers, offering a range of exciting, home electronics opportunities. We’re confident we can grow our business significantly as a result of our participation, and we’ve already re-booked the same space for next year.”
Phil Longhurst, Operations Director of Smartkontrols, was equally enthusiastic. “The Smart Home Show was excellent. Enquiries exceeded last year (at The Homebuilding & Renovating Show) in both quantity and quality. The hi-tech village concept of the show worked really well too, rightly focusing visitor attention on the sector and managing their expectations accordingly. The seminars were well attended and warmly received. We were delighted with the response.”
Other exhibitors singled out the organization and marketing of The Smart Home Show as key to its success. “”I can’t praise this Show highly enough,”
said Trudy Tyler, MD of custom installer UVizualize, “from the organisation and marketing which had a really personal touch, to the quality and quantity of serious buying visitors this event was just superb. We’re still working through a stack of enquiries from private builders & renovaters but on the commercial side we were also delighted to meet senior specifiers from big building groups such as Westbury and Homestead Properties. The PR results were excellent – Central News filmed us on the opening day and the presenter came back on the Saturday to talk to me about our products. We couldn’t be more delighted and we recommend this event to anyone involved in custom installation.”
The Smart Home Show 2006 will take place from 2-5 March at Birmingham’s NEC. For further information about exhibiting at The Smart Home Show call Chris Walton on Tel: 01527 834 498.”
http://www.smarthomeshow.co.uk
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