I promised this post a while ago - but I've been running about doing lots of other things, and to be honest its a bit depressing to return to the subject of EMap's Spring Fair at the NEC last month.
But a few of the other standholders contected me this week to check I was still going to blog . . . so here goes.
Last post I dealt with location - and I think that what Emap sales people did was bad, but in some ways no worse than any other sales team where sales are more important than long term relationships. If I ran a sales team bonuses would be linked to re booking, not sold space.
However, the real reason that I think Emap should refund the money to the disgruntled standholders in the Spotlight area is this
A terrible, terrible photo - I think by this stage I was shaking so much that everything was a blur - but you can see that the arrows on the banner are pointing left. The spotlight area, listed 3rd from the top, was actually to the right. Floor stickers were also positioned wrongly, sending visitors off in yet another direction. Follow the signage in the hall and you would have gone round and round in circles, but, crucially, never arrived.
So, not content with hiding the Spotlight area at the back corner of the hall, signs actually directed people away from the area.
This isn't bad luck or poor judgement, it is ineptitude. The Head of Events told me on the phone that she really didn't think that had the signage been accurate that it would have made any difference. She also claimed that it depended on where you saw the banners from as to whether they pointed the right way (errr no!)
So there you go - if I had made a mistake like that I would be mortified, I would be refunding and then some, I would be trying to rebuild a relationship with the businesses who are going to be the future of the show. But then I do not work for Emap.