Venue: Xcel centre, Newton Aycliffe, DL5 6AP
Date: 19th October 2011
Time: 09.30 – 16.00
To attend the event as a VISITOR is free of charge.
Please register online before the event (at www.durhamoktoberfest.org.uk) to ensure a smooth registration process on the morning of Durham Oktoberfest 2011. Just before the event you will receive an email with your ticket. Please print your ticket email and bring it to the event – it contains a custom barcode to minimise the registration time, as it will not be necessary to enter your personal details into our check in system.
Venue: Xcel centre, Newton Aycliffe, DL5 6AP
Date: 19th October 2011
Time: 09.30 – 16.00
To attend the event as a VISITOR is free of charge.
Please register online before the event (at www.durhamoktoberfest.org.uk) to ensure a smooth registration process on the morning of Durham Oktoberfest 2011. Just before the event you will receive an email with your ticket. Please print your ticket email and bring it to the event – it contains a custom barcode to minimise the registration time, as it will not be necessary to enter your personal details into our check in system.
Parking will be possible at various sites as the Xcel centre - facilities are not sufficiently geared for an event of this size. We will provide a shuttle service to the car parks.
Visitor Parking P1 Xcel centre: 100cars directly in front of the exhibition
Visitor Parking P2 Xcel Overflow: 50 cars – 500m walking distance – shuttle bus service available – please see map
Visitor Parking P3 RFMD: 30 cars – 1500m walking distance – shuttle bus service available – please see map
Exhibitor Parking P4 EBAC: 100cars – 500m walking distance – shuttle bus service available – please see map
Please do not park illegally on the road.
Food and Refreshments are available from within the venue in the coffee bar at your own expense.
Stand Setup
- on 18/10/2011 from 16.30 to 18.30
- on 19/10/2011 from 07.00 to 09.00
The exhibition hall will be prepared on the 18/10/2011. Exhibitors should plan to set up their stands from 16.30 – Please bear in mind that preparation works within the hall will be ongoing during this day. If you wish to set up earlier please communicate your requirements as we need to inform the exhibition stand provider.
Please remove your car from the parking in immediate proximity of the Xcel exhibition centre to allow for visitor parking. Please use the bus shuttle to one of the alternative parking sites.
Access can be given on setup day for vehicles to drive alongside the main auditorium. Equipment can be brought into the room via the double fire doors next to the pathway.
Exhibition stand breakdown: It will be possible to breakdown your exhibition stand from 17.00 after the event has been closed officially. Moving equipment during the exhibition is not permitted.
Sponsors: Additional Information
All sponsors (up to three delegates) will be provided with a food voucher for the day.
Please also provide us with your marketing materials to be prepared as visitor packs by 7th October 2011.
Buyers: Additional Information
Food and Refreshments will be provided free of charge throughout the day.
As a participating buyer please provide us with a summary of your supply chain and purchasing objectives – exhibiting and visiting companies at the event can book appointments with you throughout the day.
How to get the best out of exhibitions
When a company has a product and is looking for a market or already has a product or service and wants to reach out to a new market, one major step to success is to exhibit at an event.
There is no doubt that exhibiting at an event can be costly - both in terms of your time AND the actual exhibiting cost but, with proper planning, the costs can pay for themselves many times over!
Here are some tips to make sure you get the best out of Oktoberfest;
1. You’ve made the decision and decided to exhibit. Now, don’t just rely on the event organisers to attract people to your event. Spend some time contacting customers and prospective customers and invite them to visit you at the event. Advertise your attendance on emails, on your website and through forums you are involved in. If you have a PR agency, get them involved to ensure your message is as widespread as possible
2. The exhibition catalogue. Don’t just send the organisers your mission statement or the first few lines from the ‘About Us’ page of your website. Really think about the event you are attending and your potential audience and write something relevant.
3. Ensure your company name is prominently displayed on your stand. Sounds simple but you’d be amazed how many companies don’t do this.
4. Your exhibition stand should convey the message you want to get across – good quality furnishings, demos, samples, visual aids such as a plasma TV, literature display stands etc all go a long way to ensuring you stand out from the crowd.
5. If you are using technology – make sure it works!
6. Marketing materials. Make sure yours are up to date and up to scratch! It’s also invaluable to take your press cuttings and coverage along with you; its one thing telling people how great you are, it’s another for them to read it for themselves in the media. .
7. Make appointments. Not just for people to visit you on your stand but also for you to ‘meet the buyer’. Go armed with the right information to handout along with business cards and other literature.
8. Staff. So many companies get this wrong. A couple of promotional girls from an agency will not be able to talk up your company. Yes, it’s a big commitment to send your top sales person or one or two members from your sales team. But, their attendance should pay off as no one will be able to promote your business like them.
9. At each appointment or after meeting someone, make a note of any details or follow up; these notes will be an invaluable aide memoire when you get back to the office.
10. Finally, attending the show is just the beginning. When you return to your office armed with a deck of business cards and seemingly endless notes, follow up on every contact you have made – and turn these contacts into customers.
Email to customers / prospective customers
This year (insert company name) will be exhibiting at Oktoberfest.
Oktoberfest is the largest manufacturing and engineering exhibition in the north east and as such a great opportunity for (insert company name) to showcase our products/services.
The event takes place on Wednesday, October 19th at the XCEL Centre, Newton Aycliffe, DL5 6AP from 9.30am to 4pm.
We feel the event provides an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in manufacturing and engineering. During the day there will be plenty of opportunities for networking, inter-trading and creating new business.
If you have any time on the 19th please pop along and visit us. We are located on stand (x).