9 minute read
World Brush Celebration
Industry Professionals Embrace the Chance to Meet Again at the New World Brush Expo
If you missed it, then you really missed it. The inaugural World Brush Expo was electric from day one as professionals across the brushware industry embraced the opportunity to once again meet in person.
Held at the BolognaFiere venue in Bologna, Italy, from May 2224, 2024, the new tradeshow came together as a joint partnership between the ABMA, the FEIBP and event organizer BolognaFiere to fill the gap left by the demise of Interbrush in September of 2022. Last held in 2016, Interbrush served as the premier industry event every four years in Freiburg, Germany.
The eight-year absence of an industry tradeshow left many wondering whether or not a new event could be successful. Any doubts were cleared early on day one as the new Expo got off to a blazing start with a steady stream of attendees passing through the event doors at 9:00 a.m. For the full three days, organizers reported the event attracted more than 3,000 attendees and over 200 companies as exhibitors. Notably, the Expo lived up to the name as the show attracted a wide range of global attendees with visitors attending from 76 countries.
“As BolognaFiere, we are proud to have been able to host for the first time in our quarter an event dedicated to the world of brushes, and we particularly want to emphasize in terms of the percentage of international visitors that it has recorded, World Brush Expo 2024 is probably among the top events not only among those held in our quarter but also at the Italian and European level,” says Antonio Bruzzone CEO of BolognaFiere Spa.
Official post-event reports showcase the level of global reach as the World Brush Expo was one of BolognaFiere’s most internationally attended events with more than 75 percent of the attendees visiting from countries outside of Italy. “That’s really something uncommon for tradeshows in Italy,” says Marco Momoli of BolognaFiere. “As far as I know, no other tradeshow in Italy has such a huge percentage of the international business — equally balanced between European and non-European. In addition to Europe, we had a lot of visitors come from the U.S., the Far East and from China as well.”
That global sentiment was supported by exhibitors as well, with Thomas Morrissey of Celanese, saying, “We were very impressed. We had really good worldwide coverage … customers from every continent have been through our booth. We’ve had the time to sit down and talk with them. It’s been very well organized. Overall, we are very pleased with the whole setup, it’s a nice area and easy to get around town.”
Beyond the international diversity of the show attendees, exhibitors and organizers also commented on the volume and quality of visitors as well.
“It’s really amazing that we have had so many customers and other companies come to us in the first two days,” says Maggie Yinghong Gu, Celanese. “We were kind of running out of resources here because so many people have been coming to the booth. I was a little nervous ahead of the show because I didn’t have that many appointments booked. But the first two days were crazy. We started at 9:00 a.m. and finished at 6:00, but in between we almost didn’t have time to have a drink or time for lunch. And the people visiting our booth weren’t just coming by to say ‘hello’ or stopping by as a courtesy. They were coming in to take a serious look at our product. And they were asking very pointed questions. We have a lot of follow-up actions and meetings once we get back.”
Along those lines, Gu also emphasized the benefits of having a booth and the opportunity for in-person meetings. “For the existing customers, it’s quite different because we have a global presence. But over eight years, customers visit us and we visit them, and we focus on the U.S. But (in this booth) we have everything here, we have all of the products on display.”
She expanded on that by emphasizing that Celanese has products from the U.S. and products from China that are produced at different manufacturing sites that each specialize in specific products.
“A lot of our customers might not be aware of the variety we can provide,” she says. “We do presentations, we do Teams meetings and we do face-to-face visits, but it is not really feasible to have so many products right in front of them in a professional, convenient display like we have here in this booth.”
From Edward Jackson Engineer Limited, Rachel Jackson emphasized the importance of reconnecting with customers in person. She says, “Because a lot has changed in eight years, it’s been really good to get back to face-to-face contact with people. A lot of our customers that we know very well have stopped in and we’ve been able to have conversations with them. And then lots of other people have been to the stand as well. We hope in the future that they might become customers.”
FEIBP President Alessandro Acquaderni was also pleased to hear positive feedback from exhibitors, saying, “Every exhibitor I’ve spoken to has been super happy with the show … machinery manufacturers, the filament manufacturers, the component makers … literally everyone. In the beginning, we all had some doubts. But everyone is so satisfied. I heard someone say, ‘It is as if brush makers were in prison for eight years and then suddenly they opened up the gates.’ Everyone here is so happy to meet and greet and discuss business opportunities.”
From the ABMA perspective, Chris Monahan says, “I consider the World Brush Expo to be a tremendous success and a testament to the great partnership between ABMA and FEIBP. Seeing how engaged and receptive the visitors and exhibitors were to showcase what is best about our industry, we are eager to start working on the next edition of the event right away.”
Based on the success of the Expo, Acquaderni and Momoli also agree that another edition in four years makes sense. With a follow-up event seemingly very likely, attendees and exhibitors were all curious as to whether the event will stay in Bologna or visit other locations. Acquaderni says that decision will be based on results from the post-show surveys which will provide feedback from visitors, non-visitors and from the exhibitors. He says the FEIBP and ABMA will make a decision based on the preferences of those who supported the event either as exhibitors or attendees, but also by reaching out for feedback from companies and industry professionals who did not attend.
Once a location is chosen Acquaderni noted that there will be a lot more time for preparations for 2028 and hopes that will improve the Expo even further. This inaugural edition was announced in December of 2022, so that was a tight window to launch an event of this scale. The FEIBP and ABMA hope to announce the next event location in time for the 2025 ABMA Convention, and perhaps as early as December this year.
From the exhibitor’s perspective on the future location, Jackson says, “I don’t think it makes too much difference for us. The expense for us is loading. You know, having machines and loading them into a lorry and getting them off … once we’re in Europe, it doesn’t make too much difference how far we have to go. Freiberg is a lovely city, but Bologna seems good. We’ve had a couple of nice meals out.”
Morrisey says, “There are pros and cons to moving or keeping it in one location. It’s difficult to move it. It’s difficult to get all that set up and organized. But there are some advantages to moving it around. I think it gives different exposure to different areas.”
The venue space will also likely factor into the decision. From the BolognaFiere perspective, attendees noted the atmosphere of the venue provided a nice surprise. The space offered a lot of natural light which provided a bright and cheerful environment that isn’t common for most events. Tradeshow veterans are used to sterile venues that rely on fluorescent lighting and feel artificial. BolognaFiere as a space stood out nicely from that perspective.
No matter where the event lands in 2028, there was certainly a sense overall from the Expo attendees that a balance had been restored in the brushware industry. The excitement and energy made it clear that a world event is viable and many of the attendees and exhibitors exuded a sense of optimism knowing that the Expo looks to be set for the long term and they will now have opportunities to make those inperson connections and see all of the industry innovations in future editions.
