Excel 2009 - YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY £40 to get in

[Martigirl]

I would be happy to pay the pre booking fee of £20, but not the £40.

If it keeps buggies out great.

I remember being slightly upset that Environ/Jane Iredale would not sell at trade prices at the shows even though I was an account holder......................however I was very niave I honestly thought it was all professional therapists attending the shows, I soon found out that it wasn't when a skincare client called me to order Environ as she had received a small discount at the show.

This as far as I am concerned helped me as a stockist so my earlier upset at their tactics had been misplaced.

If professional therapists can get good deals, interesting seminars and unbruised ankles I am happy.

 

[Tracey Park]

Well, I support charging for show entrance as they do in the US as it does keep out the general public. I would just question where the circa £500,000 in ticket sales will go to. I know it will not be going to reduce costs to distributors for stand space as I already had to have a triple bypass after they quoted us for exhibiting at Excel.

So... lets see if I can sum this one up:

• The attendance at 2007 Excel (which was free) was down 30%
• IIRC, First year students will now no longer be able to attend (I could be wrong, going off the top of my head here) which will result in fewer attendees
• Charging attendees an entrance fee will further reduce attendees
• Based on the above, I am forecasting that Professional Beauty Excel 2009 will be the slowest and lowest attended professional beauty exhibition ever, yet stand space rental will be at a new record high.

If I am correct about the above, I cannot envision Sweet Squared and CND exhibiting at Professional Beauty Excel 2009. I would rather focus those resources on something meaningful for our customers instead of the the show owners.

Here is to hoping for a positive outcome!

well put and here her !!!!!

 

[number1kitty]

Quote:
Originally Posted by number1kitty
Thats excellent news! You mean I can finally walk around a show without getting squashed by 16 year old girls in hotpants and crop tops and the general public all fighting to get free treatments and samples!

tbh mate those girls are the techs of tomorrow??

I doubt many of these girls will end up in the profession! Most start as naive young things that think beauty is a glamourous industry, when they realise its long hours, tiring work and not as well paid as they think then I reckon a third of them go off into other jobs! But this is a professional show for beauty its not the clothes show and that is what these young girls have turned it into!

I can walk around as a QUALIFIED therapist in a PROFESSIONAL environment and have the exhibitors time for once to talk about the products withou a minnion of others trying to get freebies with no thought of opening an account or buying anything.

The years I have been and the times when I was pregnant getting bumped about by people who had no rights to be there when I often spend a small fortune there annoys me to the point that I do leave!

However If they charge then they should at least offer free seminars!
there are dozens of free seminars...what are you interested in hun?

Most seminars have some small fee to pay![/COLOR]

I doubt the true therapists mind the charge, Nor do the exhibitors (I often work the shows) care that students wont be there until they attain level 2 minimum. And maybe it will be a small step to telling people we are professionals not a bunch of oompa lumpas (overtanned) hot pant wearing, rude people!

Sorry but I do every show and have done for over 8 years and yes I have been as a student and there was no reason to be there because I bought nothing! And the wholesalers can easily go into colleges to sell there wares.
That's not true because colleges don't buy the stuff at those prices!!
Who are you buying from?

The colleges send there students to the show and tell them to buy bits such as sponges, brushes, nail polishes etc. Yes I am aware the colleges get cheap prices, but the reason students go is to help build up their own kits. A lot of suppliers will feel the loss in their pockets if students dont attend but then these same suppliers could so a day in the college to introduce students to their company. That frees up the other exhibitors who can deal with the business owners who will be purchasing there products within 12 months.

The guardian group are all aout money and I have been to many events run by them some good some bad. Lets see what they do to excel!

Excel?? we haven't had Gmex yet mate......give it a chance?? x

G mex is free this year still! These shows are planned up to 9/10 months in advance. I know G-mex will be rubbish it has been for the past four years its all handbags and gladrags! Same as birmingham!

Kate x

 

[1999judy]

If we have to pay £20 do the people who rent the spaces have to pay more as well?
It would be nice to see less handbags etc. if we've got to pay.

 

[Amethyst_Angel]

I don't think that £20 is prohibitively expensive and I agree that something like that does need to be in place to stop the general public just wandering in off the street and getting our trade prices and our discounts and our freebies!!! :irked:

I went to G-Mex last year (okay, yes, I *did* drag my other half along but I needed someone to carry my bags!) and was absolutely astounded at the number of women with prams running about (and I swear they were aiming for my ankles the number of times I got run over!). I didn't get a single freebie and I spent about £500 at only about 3 different stalls. The queues were immense and to be quite honest I felt frustrated about the whole thing.

The funny thing tho about dragging my poor, long-suffering other half around was that his little name tag said "assistant" on it. We both thought it was hugely entertaining to watch the various vulture- sorry, I meant *vendors*'s faces fall as they read his badge with "assistant" on it - obviously not worth trying to sell stuff to. Which... I suppose... technically was quite true. :lol:

 

[becki x]

I totally agree with Bombini

If we have to pay £20 do the people who rent the spaces have to pay more as well?
It would be nice to see less handbags etc. if we've got to pay.

Hopefully mate that's where they're going with this,raising the standards. I'd pay but time will tell if this charge is a money making scheme or a genuine quest to raise the bar !

 

[Noodle]

I don't think the £20.00 fee would stop me from going, but I would be disappointed if there were even fewer of the major professional companies exhibiting (as was evident at ExCel 2008) and just anyone who is fortunate enough to be able to stump up the ever-increasing exhibitor's fees is permitted to flog their tat.

 

[sian1979]

i would have liked to have thought that they have listened to feedback from past shows and were acting on this....but if the stand rental remains as high as what it is....(i dont know how much but im guessing from the geek that its a tad high, lol) then they are not going to get the brands in that people want to see......so people will just not go.
Here hoping that this is what they will look at next!!!

 

[~ Fickle Feet ~]

I haven't read the other posts -- just had to make a quick comment!

If they want to get rid of the market stall type stands then do not let them buy floor space! its easy enough to have stricter guidelines on who and who cannot exhibit.

There's my two pence worth for now...!

 

[1999judy]

£20 isn't as bad as £40 as I originally thought, if say you waited for the show to stock up on all your products from your distributor and bought your new enamels etc. as you save a lot of money by buying at shows but I guess a lot of Creative techs won't bother going and paying the £20 if they cannot buy their stock as with any other companies who don't have stands at trade shows anymore.
So people won't just automatically register for a ticket they will check more thoroughly who is going to be exhibiting before they part with the cash.
In all honesty though the crappola stalls are willing to pay for the space so I can't see them being turned away. Can you?

 

[angel fingers]

i think if a charge is instigated , it should be put towards lowering the cost of exhibiting. having a stand at there events costs thousands and thousands of pounds even for a very limited space.

then perhaps more exhibitors would attend and make it more of a worthwhile experience for the attendees and be worth the entrance fee. as well as keeping out the public.

i think the stalls that sell the crapola are draughted in at very short notice to fill the gaps that professional companies leave and they pay very little for their space.
not fair:irked:

 

[smiler13334]

i think if a charge is instigated , it should be put towards lowering the cost of exhibiting. having a stand at there events costs thousands and thousands of pounds even for a very limited space.

then perhaps more exhibitors would attend and make it more of a worthwhile experience for the attendees and be worth the entrance fee. as well as keeping out the public.

I agree with Susan
A couple of times I have been to the shows and some of the main exhibitors did not attend. If I paid the charge and found the big names not there I would be a tad pissed. It works out an expensive day for most of us without the charge so they had better put the money to good use!

 

[kylieb]

I think students have always had to pay hun havent they? For the past 3 yrs i have paid £15. I Know they bought the uniform rule in last yr and hair has to be tied bk and no earings etc lol
My college sell tickets to previous students.Dont know if this is breaking the rules though but if not then you could try that? xxx

 

[Debbies Gellies]

Like all businesses out to make money The Guardian Group wont stop at £20 will they! What will they charge for Excel 2010????

I love the thought that the show will be all professional but one-man-band techs/therapists will be the ones that suffer. The £20 to get in could be spent on stock etc.

I bet the car park fee has gone up too!

I will only go if the exhibitor list has the right companies on it for me!

Why not go in a group of 3-4, all chip in and share a ticket, one goes in the show for a session and the others chill out with a cuppa and chat in the mall, then swap and have an hour each session etc.

Then again, why bother going at all:irked:

 

[smiler13334]

I always thought that if you had a ticket to apply for your name and entry badge you didnt have to pay? thats how it has been for me and the people I have gone with including students.

 

[bombini]

Well, I support charging for show entrance as they do in the US as it does keep out the general public. I would just question where the circa £500,000 in ticket sales will go to. I know it will not be going to reduce costs to distributors for stand space as I already had to have a triple bypass after they quoted us for exhibiting at Excel.

So... lets see if I can sum this one up:

• The attendance at 2007 Excel (which was free) was down 30%
• IIRC, First year students will now no longer be able to attend (I could be wrong, going off the top of my head here) which will result in fewer attendees
• Charging attendees an entrance fee will further reduce attendees
• Based on the above, I am forecasting that Professional Beauty Excel 2009 will be the slowest and lowest attended professional beauty exhibition ever, yet stand space rental will be at a new record high.

If I am correct about the above, I cannot envision Sweet Squared and CND exhibiting at Professional Beauty Excel 2009. I would rather focus those resources on something meaningful for our customers instead of the the show owners.

Here is to hoping for a positive outcome!

Well that is a shame if it has made no difference to the cost of the stands I had hoped this was what the charge was for.

I have just looked at the exhibitor list and although its still 6 months away it doesn't look any different to last years list.

Maybe I won't be going after all. I am happy to pay to attend but not if its the same old with no improvement

 

[~ Fickle Feet ~]

I've been going to the beauty shows - both london and manchester - for years now...

I remember a time when going for one day was just not enough and usually ended up going for both days.....Spending ages looking at the exhibitor list and floor plan wondering how on earth I was going to fit everything in.....Laughing at the end of it because I had to practically drag stuff along the floor because I had bought too much stuff.......And then getting home totally knackered with feet so sore from all the walking that they would sting!
.........................ahhh the good old days!!!!

In the last couple of years I have gone to excel and been 'in and out' within a couple of hours with not much more than a few leaflets and a few new bits....its like the buzz has gone and thats a real shame. I used to look forward to these shows for months and months because they were amazing!

Lets hope they can get the buzz back....and entice the great companies to exhibit again!

Maybe we should all start writing to the Guardian Group letting them know how we feel about our professional beauty shows!

 

[Cathie!]

I have been to a fair number of shows and tbh, they bore me now, although they really excited me when I was newer to the Industry, you've seen one, you've seen them all! The only reason I would go now is to meet up with friends and Geeks and to compete. I don't need to but the latest gadgets and gizmos, I can do that quite easily via my usual distributors.

Presumably competitors will not only have to pay competition fees but entry fees too? I haven't read the bumpf so I couldn't be 100% certain on that.

 

[pure]

Well would be happy to pay £20 if it means that there are no pushchairs and children like there were at Excel last year! I really don't see that as a high price to pay, although in theory the exhibition staff on the doors should have been doing their job right and keeping out non professionals in the first place!:irked:

If however we are now going to be paying to see exhibitors, I would in return expect the large companies to be there. Living where I do, it is really only viable to visit one show a year for me, and I can certainly never get to visit the bigger companies and their own showrooms because I am so far from their shops which all seem to be up country. So for me, this is my chance to see products, feel them, talk about them in a way you can't over the phone or on the net. So I would appeal to the large companies to rethink - there are loads of therapists whose only chance to meet with them are at the big shows.

As for the students, it was levels 2 & 3 whilst wearing uniform last year so nothing has actually changed there.

 

['chelle]

Are they taking the p*ss?? I wouldnt pay £1 to get in, never mind £40.

Remember what this is - they are there to SELL to you, not to do you a favour. They are there because they know that professionals spend big money on their products, and if they can persuade you to buy their products at shows such as these it is a very profitable exercise for them.

The biggest p*ss take for me is the way that the exorbitant entrance fee is being dressed up as a measure to keep the riff-raff out - come on girls, you and I know that there are far more effective ways of doing this that dont involve charging an entrance fee. They invent a pathetic and quite lame excuse such as this to make even more money out of you, and the real shame is that so many people just accept what they're told without questioning it. The big organisations really have mastered the art of treating beauty professionals like mindless bimbos whilst dressing it up as doing you a favour. This is just another reason for me to add to the pile of reasons why I'm becoming rapidly disenchanted with this industry.