The British Dental Trade Association (BDTA) found its Recipe for Success, announcing this year’s Showcase as a record-breaker.
An unbeatable 13,000 visitors attended the three-day dental fest at London’s ExCeL in the heart of Docklands, with 327 companies and organisations exhibiting the latest dental products, technologies and service.
It makes Dental Showcase 2008 the biggest yet – despite some onsite re-development work at ExCeL and the closure of the DLR rail system on the Saturday.
All members of the dental team were well represented – as the BDTA’s table illustrates – with many team members visiting the exhibition on more than one of the three days.
This year’s food-related theme – A Recipe for Success – apparently worked well to promote the event beforehand as well as during, and in keeping with the theme, milk, fresh fruit and other surprise ingredients were used to create special milkshakes including Natural Honey Special (NHS), Delicious Creamy Paradise (DCP), Cool Pineapple Delight (CPD) and Utterly Divine Apricot Surprise (UDAs)!
The newly introduced seminars – covering the General Dental Council’s recommended core CPD subjects – were a huge hit, attracting more than 2,000 attendees.
Dentistry magazine was involved in a first, too.
They held a round table debate, in association with DPAS, on Thursday evening on the hot topic, The Future Beckons – NHS or Private?.
Key players in the dental industry – Lester Ellman, Eddie Crouch, Michael Watson, John Chope, Quentin Skinner and Richard George – discussed the issues in the lively discussion chaired by editor-in-chief of Private Dentistry, Ellis Paul.
Also causing a bit of a stir was Atomic Kitten’s Liz McClarnon when she turned up on Saturday, attracting the crowds and dental press alike.
Showcase provides the dental team with an opportunity to clock up some CPD hours and certificates will be sent shortly to all those who requested them. Visitors will also receive a questionnaire enabling them to provide feedback on the event.
Tony Reed, executive director of the BDTA, said: There is no doubt that Dental Showcase goes from strength to strength. With the help of BDTA members, council, committees and exhibitors, the event grows in terms of visitor and exhibitor numbers year on year.
‘We use visitor numbers as a measure of the success of the event and this year’s record-breaking number of visitors suggests we are doing something right. We aim to balance the opportunities for education, networking, researching, purchasing and fun to make the event a completely enjoyable experience.
He added: ‘Showcase has evolved into an event in the dental calendar that the whole industry wants to be part of and this is extremely encouraging.’
Simon Gambold, President of the BDTA, added: ‘I am delighted with the success of this year’s
Dental Showcase that has exceeded our expectations in terms of both exhibitor and visitor numbers.
He added: ‘The exhibition provides visitors with a valuable hands-on approach to learning about dental products and all the support services needed to set up and run a dental practice. The popularity of the daily seminars further highlighted the hunger for CPD amongst dentists and DCPs at the moment. I would like to thank everyone for making the event a success and look forward to welcoming you all to Dental Showcase 2009.’
BDTA Dental Showcase 2009 returns to the NEC Birmingham, 12-14 November 2009. For further information visit www.dentalshowcase.com.
