3 Wine Shows worth visiting

There are several excellent annual and bi-annual wine exhibitions and shows which take place around the world. A look below at three of my favourite wine shows in Europe.

1. Forum Vini (Munich Germany) - Munich is a wonderful place for an exhibition or show with plenty to do in the city in ones spare time and also with excellent facilities and transportation within the city. Forum Vini is an annual show which takes place in November of each year and which attracts wine lovers from across Europe. This is a trade event and an excellent one if you are in the business.

2. London Wine Fair, UK is another annual event and which takes place in May of every year and is well worth attending if you have the chance. This is open to the public and the exhibition includes wine tastings, workshops and the chance to meet wine growers and sellers from across the world.

3. The Fine Wine Fair (Valencia, Spain) is an excellent exhibition and which takes place bi-annually at the Feria Exhibition Centre. If you love Spanish wines there is a large selection of tasting and exhibits. Wines from all over the world though are highlighted and this show (which also goes by the name Vinoelite) is one of Europe's biggest wine exhibitions.

Ireland Spotlight - Exhibitions coming soon...

It is time again to give a round up of exhibitions across in nearby Ireland and there are some good shows to attend. Below 3 events worth buying tickets for or for planning to exhibit at:

The Autumn Gift & Home Fair is a popular annual event in the Irish events and exhibitions calendar. August sees the show held once again at the RDS Exhibition Centre between the 23rd and 26th. Applying online in advance means that you can get entrance tickets for free. Visit www.autumngiftfair.com/ for more details.

A month later the Irish Sustainable Building Show takes place over 3 days (17th-19th September) and despite the demise in construction work in the last 12 months, this event is still expected to be popular.

One of my favourite shows in Ireland is the SHOP exhibition (the Annual Retail, Food and Drink Show). The combination of the three shows in the same venue for retail, food and drink make this a fun event to attend. (28th to 30th September).

THE SUMMER FAIR 2009

For those of you interested in Fine Art and Antiques, the annual Olympia Summer Fair is an excellent 11 day event which takes place this year from the 4th June through to and including the 14th June.

This is a sizeable and quite important exhibition for the Arts and Antiques industry and the list of sponsors gives us a clue as to the popularity of this event: Sotheby's, Spectator and the International Herald Tribune are a few of the sponsors for this event.

A lot of exhibitions at the main exhibition venues often means a lot of business and networking. The Summer Fair takes it to another level though with millions of pounds worth of trading normally taking place, due to the length of this show and also the nature of the products. Expect to see exhibitors at this event to include:

• Baron Fine Art
• Gibson Antiques
• Nadin & Macintosh
• The Photographers' Gallery
• Gallery Yacou

The event is scheduled also to include a number of presentations and talks and Sotheby's will be central to the programme. You can learn more via the official site online at olympiaartsinternational.com

More Useful books: Management of Event Operations

I know we get a lot of readers from the U.S. reading this blog and one book which is available in the U.S. market (which can still be ordered from others countries of course via amazon.com) and which is full of great information is Management of Event Operations by Julia um et al.

This is an excellent paperwork with just under 300 pages which covers a mass of information. The book focuses on the management side of the events and exhibitions business, covering both the theory and practical elements of Event Operations. Normally available for approx USD$45 (approx £30) this book is written with USA in mind but it is still worth readers in Europe ordering the book.

If you do put an order in with amazon.com, another book you might find interested in is Successful Event Management by Anton Shone & Bryn Parry. This paperwork is another excellent read and although it covers many of the same areas, it does provide a different perspective and some fresh ideas.

Events Planning & Events Management - Books

How can I learn about Events Management and Events Planning are two questions I get asked often. There are in fact some excellent books available on amazon concerning these 2 areas

Events Management by Glenn Bowdin et al is available in paperback and offers 448 pages on every possible thing involved with organising an event, whether it be a full blown exhibition, to a local school fete. The book covers everything including the venue, transport, marketing, issues and much more.

Events Planning Made Easy by by Paulette Wolf et al is another excellent book and comes in hardback form with 240 pages. This is a U.S. based written book but it still has some excellent and straight forward ideas and information. This book covers a lot of information and the two books listed above, together cover a massive amount of information and cover pretty much everything you need to get started in events management from a theoretical point of view.

International Exhibitions Spotlight: World Retail Congress (May 2009)

As part of our international exhibitions Spotlight series, this time a look at one of the biggest events in the world events calendar for the b. The 'World Retail Congress' is an annual event and which this year takes place in Barcelona's Centro de Convenciones Exhibition Centre (May 2009).


This event brings together the worlds top retail companies, speakers, several exhibitors and the event includes a special awards ceremony for what is known as the 'World Retail Awards'. Over the last few years these awards have begun to gain a level of prestige and the event as a whole continues to gain popularity. The retail trade is forward thinking with the need to think about ordering 6-8 months ahead thus people are already planing for sales for when we eventually overcome the recession.


The presentations this year include talks on topics:

• Retail challenges for the future
• The Developing Markets
• Global sourcing
• Customer centric retailing

More information is available on the World Retail Congress site online. You can also find out about Exhibitions Stands Spain via Clip Ltd and useful information on flights to Barcelona is also available online.

London Wine Fair 2009

It is now less than one week until London Wine Fair 2009 with the show starting on Wednesday 12th May and running through to and including the 14th May. There are some excellent wine shows in the annual exhibitions calendar including Wine+ and the Toast Exhibitions. London Wine Fair though also attracts a good audience and some of the top people from the wine industry.

With more than a thousand exhibitors and twenty thousand wines, do not think that the title of 'London' means that this is a small and local show. London Wine Fair in fact attracts suppliers, buyers, makers, restaurateurs and people from around the world and this show is a truly international event.

The exhibitors list includes many well known companies and several new ones also. A sample of exhibitors who will be present include:

• Kanonkop Wine Estate
• The Real Rose Company
• DelFosse Vineyards
• Pearmund Cellars
• Judge Rock Vineyards

The show takes place on week days and during office hours so you can expect to see mostly people who work within the industry or who are connected to it in some form or another. The show this year also includes a special spirits area for the trade industry. You can find out more information about the event via the official event sites at londonwinefair.com

Exhibition resources and useful sites

There are a number of excellent resources online for those of you looking to work or learn more about Exhibitions and and Exhibition marketing. Below some links I have found to be useful:

The AEO (Association of Events Organisers) is one of the leading sites for event organisers and is a site which provides a wealth of information. If you are organising an exhibition or event, this is a good place to start.

Another excellent source for Exhibition advice and tips is the Exhibition Do's and Don'ts page by Clip Ltd. There are a number of ideas including 'How not to Exhibit' and 'Choosing your stand staff'.

Events Eye is one of the main sites for learning about events coming up and the beauty of this site is that you can search by location, date and theme.

Venues profile: The Riviera International Conventions Centre, Torquay

The next in our series of Exhibition and conference venues takes us down to the South West of England and Torquay. The venues in the South West such as the Westpoint Centre (Exeter) and the Plymouth Pavilions the tend to be smaller than the larger London, Birmingham and Manchester main venues. These small South West venues do provide a great location for local and regional exhibitions though and in the Riviera area, Torquay's Riviera International Conventions Centre is a handy venue.

The Riviera exhibition and conference centre as well as having the benefit of its location for exhibitors and exhibition organisers in the South West, is also able to offer:

• On site parking.
• A dedicated conference and exhibitions team.
• Wi-F and AV capability.
• 1750 square metres of exhibition space.

The Riviera conference and exhibition centre will not break any records for size or capacity but it offers convenience, a great location for enjoying the out of work time and is accessible from Exeter international airport. You can call the center direct for enquiries via Tel: 01803 206 306.