Relevance, not greed

Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell talked to FIT Show event director Nickie West about her decision to stage the exhibition every year instead of every two.

The FIT Show’s annual proposition is the best way serve the industry, and not because its owners are greedy. That is the main thrust of an interview event director Nickie West gave me when I met her at the Glazing Summit recently.

“If I were being greedy I would be leaving it biennial, because the proposition would have been easier to present,” Nickie said. “This isn’t a great year for me to be saying ‘let’s revert the show to annual’. Instead I would have doubled the size of it, I would have massively broadened our approaches via our overseas sales agencies, diluted the proposition by taking on loosely connected vertical shows, and I would have filled four or five halls. That would be greedy.

“Instead I am reducing the size of the show: I’m making the profits smaller; I’m still spending the same; and I will be delivering a vehicle that is right for this industry for 2020 and onwards.”

An exhibition that takes place every two years is not what the industry needs, Nickie said.

“Do you only need to talk to your customers, and potential customers, biennially? Of course not. You need to talk to them every day, and certainly every year. So why would your national platform be every other year?

“The decision to go biennial was made because the exhibitors demanded it, and I think that was a mistake.”

Nickie – as with all the team who work at the FIT Show – appreciate that exhibiting is a huge investment, “but the glass and glazing industry isn’t best served by a monster, predominantly national show that takes place every other year,” she said.

“You cannot just leave things stagnating for two years.”

The full interview will be published in the November issue of Glass Times.