School Suppliers Directory Blog

With the start of this year’s Education Show just over a week away, what can school suppliers & teachers/school staff look forward to as they flock to the NEC next week?

‘The Big Bang’ feature is certainly going to be a highlight of the show, which has been put on in conjunction with the Science Association, and is designed to make science ‘fashionable’ once again for both teachers and pupils. Hopefully ‘The Big Bang’ will create a real buzz in the exhibition giving school suppliers lots of happy potential customers to talk to.

The show is expected to pull in the region of 15,000 visitors through it’s doors during its 3 day run, and has over 600 exhibitors in attendance.

Interestingly the organisers claim that on average each visitor has £3,988 to spend, accumulating to over £59m, which on the face of it is fantastic news for school suppliers that are showcasing their products and services.

What will be interesting to see is whether the show can still pull the same visitor numbers as it has in previous years, and whether schools are still in a position to spend the same sort of sums they have in the past. With many trade events this year having drops of between 15-25% in visitor numbers, the real test will be whether the guys at Emap have done enough to persuade people to make the trip to The Education Show.

admin Industry News education events 2009, Education Exhibitions, education show, Education trade show

Taking the plunge to exhibit at education trade shows such as BETT can be a big decision for some school suppliers, especially those that aren’t multi-national conglomerates. It can be the make or break of your marketing budget, and trying to work out if it’s the right decision for your company can be a hard one to call.

To give you a bit of a helping hand, away from the hard pressing sales men and women bombarding you with reasons as to why you should exhibit, we’ve asked Sandra from Fantasy Couriers to share her experiences of this year’s event.

Name: Sandra Patterson
Position: Managing Director
Company: Fantasy Couriers

What is it that you do?
It’s an Online Business Simulation Game, set in the Courier Industry so it’s very accessible for all students.  Students start as a “white van man” and then have to grow their business, take on employees, vehicles, premises, even buy out competitors.  It is a web based game, and so can be played from anywhere, and uses a competitive fantasy league environment to keep up the competitiveness and the fun.

Is this your first year exhibiting at BETT?
Yes

What were your overall impressions of the event?
Very well organised, very well marketed, worthwhile and value for money.  We are Scottish based so the costs for us would be higher than most when travel and accommodation etc are all included.

Would you say the event represented good value for money?
We chose London over the Scottish learning Festival (Scottish Equivalent) in SECC, as the space prices were virtually identical, but London has a far larger footfall, and more exhibitors.  A far better event.

What sort of response did you get from potential customers?
Very good, positive feedback, good interest, a large number of enquiries and demo account requests.

Will you be exhibiting again at BETT?
Probably.  As the game has a number of different markets we need to advertise into we just need to make sure that other advertising for the non-school side of our business doesn’t require more funds/attention.

What was the approximate total cost of the event?
We had a total budget of £5k.  Approx £3k of that was the stand & space, other costs were the internet connection, printing, furniture hire, LCD hire, accommodation, food, petrol, parking etc.

What would your top three tips be for anyone planning to exhibit in the future?

1. Comfortable shoes
2. Don’t lose your voice on the first day
3. Buy all of your food from the little Turkish sandwich bar over the road from the main entrance, much cheaper and much friendlier.

For more information on Fantasy Couriers, an Online Business Simulation Game please visit the website: www.fantasycouriers.com

admin Industry News, Supplier News BETT, BETT Show, Education Exhibitions, Education trade show, Exhibiting at BETT, exhibiting at events

Well it’s just under a month before the BETT Show 2009 kicks off; the worlds largest educational technology event.

With nearly 700 educational suppliers exhibiting at BETT, and over 100 seminars taking place over the course of the 4 day event, it’s set to be the biggest one yet.

Many local authorities are providing or assisting with transport for visitors from their area in a bid to make it as easy as possible to attend, and with over 29,000 people expected to attend, transport is always a key issue.

Many established suppliers like BETT, it’s big, bold and the place where they are expected to be seen. But in reality, does it really make a return on their investment, and ultimately – does it bring the sales in? The usual big names are there including Microsoft, Orcale & HP – but interestingly Apple UK have pulled out of the event, despite it’s crusade to grab a slice of the UK education market. Apple feel there are better ways to communicate with their customers, and that the money can be better spent elsewhere.

Does this mark the beginning of the end for BETT as we know it? Will other suppliers begin to follow suit as the current economic times take their toll? For a long time, despite the high visitor numbers, many have felt BETT is just too big and over-whelming. Is it time for them to downsize, or will it simply allow smaller & newly established suppliers to opportunity to fill the boots of the big boys?

Either way, we shall have to wait and see…

admin Industry News BETT, Bett 2009, BETT Show, Education Exhibitions, The BETT Show