EVENTS
EVENTS
China : IECIE : Shenzhen eCig Expo , Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre April 14-16 , 2017 patrick griffin
I had just arrived at the Shenzhen eCig Expo2017 when I was greeted with a friendly “ Hello Vapouround ” by a fellow show attendee .
We had never met before but the Vapouround logo on my t-shirt was enough to get me instantly recognised and this is an experience which now happens all over the world .
The show itself was held in three halls over three days and it was massive , covering 30,000 sq m of floor space .
Sometimes with huge shows it is rather difficult to find an individual stand as the floor plan and numbering system can be rather confusing but there were no such problems here as it was super easy to pinpoint a stand on the floor plan and then find it in the hall .
Being able to easily navigate around stands is really important at larger events if you are to avoid aimlessly wandering around like a lost tourist on the first day of a holiday .
Construction costs are more affordable in China than in many other countries so companies were really able to push the boat out with huge , elaborate stands making this show really visually striking .
110 ISSUE 11 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE
Also I noticed that exhibitors were not in the least shy here in pulling visitors into their stands rather than wait for them to make the first move .
Typically as you walked past a stand you would be approached by a pretty girl asking for your business card or handing you a promotional leaflet . Once you hand over the card or take the leaflet then you are guided to the stand and given a sales pitch .
After a while this approach can get a little annoying , especially if you are trying to meet a colleague to visit a specific exhibitor with little time for diversions .
Some exhibitors were more aggressive than others about this and would stop you several times in one day to show you what they had to offer .
There were times that I deliberately avoided making eye contact with anyone until I arrived at where I needed to be while pretending not to see the leaflets being trust in my general direction from left and right .
This was a busy show and attracted companies from all around the world from every sector of the vaping industry .