18 EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
Polokwane made us proud
By
Rory Macnamara
The exhibition business is a highly stressful occupation from start to finish but as my first boss once told me …
PLUMBING ’ S TRAVELLING EXHIBITION
PTE
SA ’ s Travelling Exhibition Company
… “ There is tremendous thrill in accomplishment .” Which means after each exhibition organisers experience this thrill of accomplishment , as do the exhibitors when the event is over and they have had a good exhibition with the general consensus of : “ that was hard , but good .”
Our first Plumbing Travelling Exhibition ( PTE ) for 2023 was Polokwane , unanimously chosen by our 2022 exhibitors as the first place to go , and it was outstanding in every respect .
The Tom Naude Technical High School is to be commended on their school facilities , its learners and its staff who represented their school with pride , from the time one enters through to their helpfulness . We had five groups of learners from plumbing , civil , construction , mechanical and carpentry , accompanied by their HODs .
For the plumbing group , IOPSA conducted a special “ Plumbing as a Career ” talk for them at which many questions were asked and answered . The IOPSA technical team acquitted themselves admirably .
The significance of travelling exhibitions once again showed the need for industry to broaden its influence to the wider area where plumbing is now becoming recognised as more than sticking two pipes together ; or installing a tap without understanding what happens behind the tap or further along the pipe ; or why valves are essential for hot water storage tanks . The list goes on and for visitors they acknowledge that they need to keep on learning , for exhibitors to be present or lose out and for merchants to ensure staff are properly equipped to provide the right product for the right application , irrespective of cost .
While official bodies will continue the roadshow work which does add to broadening plumbing knowledge , these are part and parcel of the whole .
Just over 250 ( list still being finalised as the MTE team had to move fast to the Botswana shows the following week ) visitors , excluding the learners but who are the future of our trades but with 40 attending the Plumbing Career talk . PA
All photos by © Plumbing Africa www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline April 2023 Volume 29 I Number 2