Show-way
trade fair in Bergamo Italy
Show report by
Patrick Murphy
On
February 24-26 2008, the first
Show-way
Professional Entertainment Technology Exposition was held in
Bergamo, Italy. This was organized by
APIAS, an association
of 170 Italian entertainment equipment manufacturers and importers. They
felt that the bi-annual
SIB show
in Rimini drew too many spectators (as opposed to serious buyers),
so APIAS developed Show-way.
Thanks to Alberto Kellner of Laser Entertainment srl in Milano, ILDA was generously given a stand where we could promote the use of lasers and especially of ILDA Members. I distributed 125 copies of the "Complete Guide to Laser Shows for Event Producers" magazine. Alberto and I also presented a seminar on laser technology and safety; this was attended by about 12 people.
The major laser stand at the show was jointly run by Laser Entertainment and Laser System Europe (Patrick Awouters). They presented shows every half hour which were well-attended.
A few other stands had laser lighting instruments on display along with conventional lights. These included Spotlight srl, selling equipment from ILDA Member Laser Animation Sollinger GmbH, and I.P.L. Intelligent Professional Lighting, selling equipment from an Italian company named Laser Animation.
Because this was the
first-ever Show-way, I think that no one including the organizers knew
exactly what to expect. The show was very professionally run, complete
with useful shuttle buses for the fairgoers. However, the fair seemed to
me to be sparsely attended. This may simply be that there are fewer
professionals than "onlookers", so the show would naturally have fewer
people than SIB. Almost everyone was Italian, and I believe I was the
only American present. Between handing out our booklets, and presenting
the laser seminar with Alberto, ILDA did help represent our Members and
the laser industry to those who attended.
Photographs (plus
a movie and a PowerPoint presentation)
Showway and ILDA
overview |
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Exterior view of the Fiera di Bergamo, where Show-way 2008 took place. |
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ILDA Executive Director Patrick
Murphy, in the ILDA stand at Show-way. My flight was delayed one day, due to a Feb. 22 snowstorm which cancelled my original flight. I arrived in Milan's Malpensa airport just an hour before Show-way opened. To get to the fair without delay, I had to take a taxi; this cost 125 Euros -- probably ILDA's most expensive taxi ride ever. But I did make it, and I got the booth set up in time. |
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Lige and Thomas Hafner of Arctos visit the ILDA stand. They were one of the few Germans at Show-way. |
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At times, you could shoot a high-powered laser down the aisles of Show-way, and not have a safety problem <g!>. |
Laser
Entertainment/ Laser System Europe stand |
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Alberto Kellner of ILDA Member Laser Entertainment srl (Milano), in his stand. |
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The Laser Entertainment/LSE stand during one of the every-30-minute laser shows. |
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Click for a movie showing part of the
Laser Entertainment/LSE show. LSE's Patrick Awouters (2003 ILDA
Conference host) can be seen at the bottom center as the movie
begins QuickTime MOV format, 1:23, 13 MB If clicking on image at left does not start movie, click here to download 13MB M4V file. You will then need a program which can run M4V files. |
| ILDA
Seminar at Show-way |
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A banner showing the seminars for Feb. 25, including the ILDA seminar on lasers. |
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The audience at the ILDA Seminar; Alberto Kellner is speaking. |
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Patrick Murphy at the seminar. |
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Alberto talks with one of the attendees after the seminar. |
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Click to see the PowerPoint
presentation which was given at the seminar. Adobe Reader required (presentation has been converted to Adobe PDF format), 1 MB |
| Other
(non-ILDA) laser exhibitors |
|
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A projector from Laser Animation Sollinger GmbH, as seen on the Spotlight stand. |
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A projector from Laser Animation (an Italian company not related to Laser Animation Sollinger GmbH of Germany) |
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Diagonal line drawn by the Laser Animation projector |
