Bonfiglioli and Nu-Con had best stands at BULKEX
Up front I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed BULKEX. As a first time visitor to Brisbane I reveled in the balmy, spring-like sunshine that week and the charm of the winding Brisbane River, which so reminded me of the River Clyde in my hometown of Glasgow.
(left to right) Mike Anderson of Nu-Con with his plaque for “Best Shell Stand”; Malcolm Lewis and Bruno Tartari of Bonfiglioli with the “Best Custom Stand” trophy.
Over the three days I had a good chance to chat with 20 or 30 of the near-90 exhibitors, and the consensus seemed to be that while attendance was not overflowing the quality of the visitors was high.
As a former editor of a mining publication I well remember my days in Kalgoorlie at one of the mining exhibitions and the swarms of poorly qualified tyre-kickers that infested that show. Quantity without quality made for a very poor exhibition.
While there were lots of carefully thought out stands, Bonfiglioli emerged with the organiser’s prize for “Best Custom Stand”, with Malcolm Lewis and his team imaginatively displaying the company’s imposing drives and gears.
In the “Best Shell Stand” category, Nu-Con was the winner, with the BFM fitting – billed as “the world’s first clampless and snap-in” connector – taking pride of place on the company’s stand.
Invented by Blair McPheat of BFM Global in New Zealand, who is currently signing up distributors globally, the device strikes me as a clever solution to a ubiquitous problem. It should sell like hotcakes.
Displays and equipment notwithstanding, I was struck by the vigour with which some of the family and owner-fronted firms worked their stands.
Neil and Christine Kinder of Kinder & Co immediately come to mind as past masters at this. They didn’t sit on their stand waiting for people to come to them: instead, they actively greeted passers-by, shepherding them back to their stand.
Similarly, who couldn’t have been impressed with the infectious enthusiasm of the Olds family, with three generations of the clan – Peter, Robert and William – on hand to discuss the Olds Elevator.
And so we march on to the next BULKEX which is in Sydney from August 9th to 11th 2011 at the Australian Technology Park. With the economy strengthening by the day, I have a feeling that the economic backdrop to that show will be rather rosier than the one which greeted the Brisbane event.
