Preparations are under way for the next edition of Xylexpo, the biennial international exhibition of woodworking technology and furniture industry supplies to be held next Tuesday 8 to Saturday 12 May 2012, Tuesday to Saturday, in the Milan Exhibition Center Fieramilano-Rho. The event brings great expectations and promises, committing organizers to magnify their efforts to be up once again to the excellent tradition of Xylexpo and to the role the exhibition has always played, namely the reference event for all wood technology industry actors in even-numbered years around the world.
“It’s a tough mission in tough times like these, after three troubled years for global economy and instrumental goods especially, which must face performance rates quite far from the standards we were accustomed to”, said Paolo Zanibon, exhibition general manager. “We are working intensively at the upcoming event – Zanibon added – knowing that the wood industry is looking at Xylexpo not only to find innovation, ideas, technology and equipment, but also to gather and discuss, to better understand what happened, what is happening and what shall be done in an industry and markets that have changed radically”.
Xylexpo – the only Italian exhibition supported by Eumabois, the European federation of wood technology manufacturers, and by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development – will cover four halls of the ultramodern exhibition center Fieramilano-Rho. Panel processing machines and technology will be exhibited in Halls 1 and 3; Hall 2 will feature solid wood machining solutions; Hall 4 is dedicated to suppliers and primary operation equipment and solutions. At present, most of the 36 thousand square meter surface reserved by organizers has been assigned. Compared to past edition, it must be pointed out that exhibitor registrations are coming in later. “The reasons for this delay are easy to tell”, Zanibon explained. “The news we hear everyday about the health of global economy cause decisions to be delayed.Although Xylexpo is still an event not to be missed, we have a clear feeling that many exhibitors are waiting until the very last minute to send their application form to secure a place in Milan next May.Increased activity in recent weeks seems to confirm this attitude”.
At present, there are 460 exhibitors for a total exhibition surface above 30 thousand square meters. These figures indicate that, while virtually all small and big companies and groups will be exhibiting in Milan, they have all reduced their booth areas. The keyword is cost reduction, as the economic climate is still uncertain and calls for great caution with any investment.
This will translate into a very concrete and rational exhibition, with an accurate layout designed with visitors in mind, first of all, to meet their increasing demand for short visits with clear and effective routes, in order to offer an efficient service.
THE VISITOR CAMPAIGN
Actually, visitors are the key target of most efforts made by organizers in the past few weeks and those still ahead. We are now in the most intensive phase of promotion among old and new visitors; this activity has been further strengthened through social networks (a communication channel that is “taken for granted”), adding them up to targeted “personal” contacts, mailings and newsletters to each and every operator with a potential interest to visit Xylexpo.
Substantial contribution is coming from the international network (50 offices around the world) which is working to promote the biennial show to 100 thousand potential visitors. In Italy, we are well on the way with the initiatives of a “mass marketing” campaign addressed to over 40 thousand Italian operators and direct marketing to over 15 thousand accurately selected companies.
“An accurate work”, said Dario Corbetta, Xylexpo marketing manager. “We searched through our database to identify anyone who might be interested in our exhibition, even in a period when everyone is trying to minimize expenses.Such analysis has allowed us to prepare specific messages for each visitor category, highlighting the specific values and the great deal of ideas and solutions that visitors can experience at Xylexpo”.
This action is complemented by the traditional advertising campaign in magazines, industry portals and social networks: after the first phase to consolidate the image of the show towards exhibitors, a few weeks ago the second stage was opened, entirely focused on visitors. Within few weeks, a massive campaign will be launched in the major Italian media, dailies, radio channels and outdoor advertising. The icing on the cake will be the invitation to importers, resellers and agents from all over the world, an activity in close collaboration with Fiera Milano and the Italian Ministry of Economic Development.
Another established and proven promotion activity is the presentation of Xylexpo in strategic markets during industry exhibitions and events. At these locations and events, Xylexpo has its own booth and organizes one-to-one meeting, press conferences or official presentations. After the dates in 2011 – Woodshow in Damascus (Syria), Delhiwood in New Delhi (India), Woodmac China in Shanghai (China), Ligna in Hannover, Fmc again in Shanghai, Woodtec in Brno (Czech Republic), Woodprocessing in Istanbul (Turkey), Wms in Toronto (Canada), Fimma in Valencia (Spain) and Woodex in Moscow (Russia) – in early 2012 Xylexpo was presented at Expobois in Paris (France), Indiawood in Bangalore (India), and soon at Umids in Krasnodar, Siberia.
PRE-REGISTRATION
The preregistration service has been open for a few days now, after being tested in the past and further enhanced this year. Industry operators interested in visiting Xylexpo just have to fill in a form on the Web site www.xylexpo.com to receive an e-mail in real time, with a coupon they can just print out and “scan” at the easy-access gates installed at the entrance of Fieramilano-Rho; in this way, they will get immediate access to Xylexpo halls avoiding annoying queues.
SIDE EVENTS
When you pre-register to attend Xylexpo 2012, you can also register to attend the side events that will be organized during the exhibition (the detailed agenda can be found on www.xylexpo.com We will just mention that “Xylexpo technical seminars”, including a “Technical seminar on wood drying”, in collaboration with the Drying and Hydrometric Treatment Laboratory at Cnr-Ivalsa in Trento, on Tuesday, May 8. On Thursday, May 10, there will be the first of two meetings organized by the industry expert Attilio Griner, former manager of the Acimall Technical Office, who will focus on “Penal liabilities of woodworking machinery and plant users”; Saturday, May 12, will be dedicated to “Machines, quasi-machines and integrated systems.What shall users do?”.).
On Friday, May 11, the spotlights will be cast on wood constructions. In the morning, the international conference “Xlam-clt: building the future of housing”, organized by Tma-Timber Machinery Alliance, with the participation of Ario Ceccotti (Cnr-Ivalsa, Trento), Gerhard Schickhofer (wood engineering and technology institute, Graz University, Austria), Andrew Waugh (Waugh Thistleton Architects Studio, London), Paolo Ninatti (president of Assolegno/FederlegnoArredo) and Andrea Zenari (inspector of the Holzforschung certification center, Vienna). In the afternoon, a meeting about “New gluing systems for wood structures: state of the art”.
Three talk shows will animate the program, featuring outstanding representatives of the industry. On Wednesday, May 9, a debate on “Biomass, opportunities and challenges for the wood industry” will be organized by magazine Xylon in collaboration with the wood department of FederlegnoArredo. Xylon, in collaboration with Assoimballaggi/FederlegnoArredo and Conlegno, is also organizing a roundtable discussion with the representatives of the packaging industry, on Thursday, May 10; the topic will be “Wooden packagings: the roads to real technology innovation.”. The third and last talk show will be on Saturday, May 12, organized by Xylon in collaboration with Confartigianato Legno Arredo and Consorzio LegnoLegno, on the topic “The questions of handicraft, the answers of technology”. Just like all other talk shows, at the table there will be representatives of the user industries and some technology manufacturers, to discuss some topical issues for the supply chain.
TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION WEEK
One final remark: Xylexpo 2012 will be held during Tew-Technology Exhibition Week, featuring the most important technology shows including Plast (the international exhibition for plastics and rubber industries), Fluidtrans Compomac (the biennial international exhibition for fluid power technology and mechatronics) and Mechanical Power Transmission & Motion Control (the international biennial exhibition for mechanical power transmissions, motion control and mechatronics that will end on May 11).
Xylexpo 2012: pre-registrations open.
The visitors campaign gets going.
The agenda of side events is ready.
ultima modifica: 2012-02-21T00:00:00+00:00
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