Clear growth signals from the trade fair: "Business is better than was predicted a year ago"
Karlsruhe/Cologne, 10 November 2010. Dr. Hartmut Rosengarten gave a concise summary of the three days of INTERGEO in Cologne: Whereas the focus in 2009 was on "Geo is in", the talk among industry representatives this year was of "Geo is interconnecting". The Chairman of the INTERGEO Exhibitor Advisory Board also emphasised that geodata is a key element in today’s IT infrastructures, making INTERGEO the central hub for recording, gathering, processing, distributing and supplying geoinformation.
"We were able to make excellent use of the three INTERGEO days to provide information on career paths and training opportunities in our sector and target potential employees directly," said Prof. Karl-Friedrich Thöne, President of the event’s patron, DVW (German Society for Geodesy, Geoinformation and Land Management). He added: "Together we are stronger and better able to achieve our goals. INTERGEO sent out a clear signal for international industry networking within the framework of a geo community. This was highlighted in particular by the key conference topic "The environment and geo information". With their first-class presentation at the joint stand, the organisations in the geo sector successfully promoted the idea of joining forces rather than everyone going their separate ways."
With over 17,500 visitors, almost 1,500 conference participants and an increase in exhibitor numbers and exhibition space, INTERGEO continued its growth trajectory, thus confirming its position as a leading international conference and trade fair for geodesy, geoinformation and land management in Cologne. More than 500 exhibitors from 32 countries – with more than 30 percent coming from outside Germany – presented themselves and their innovations to a fascinated audience. The fair set a new record for international participation, with 25 percent of visitors coming from abroad. "No other non-company conference in our industry records such a high percentage," explains Dr. Rosengarten, adding: "Business is better than was predicted a year ago. We expect clear project growth in services and technology in 2011."
Goals achieved
The exhibitor survey reflected the upbeat mood of the three-day event at the Exhibition Centre in Cologne. Almost 90 percent of exhibitors said that they met their goals for INTERGEO participation. These included "establishing new contacts" (approx. 93 percent), "fostering existing contacts" (approx. 85 percent), "showcasing innovations" (approx. 70 percent) and "image cultivation" (approx. 70 percent). Over three-quarters of the exhibitors expect to do good post-trade fair business on the basis of serious enquiries made at the event. While the results of this year’s survey tended to be cautiously optimistic compared to the statistics from last year’s event in Karlsruhe, opinion on the industry’s current economic situation was clearer across the board. In Cologne, almost 50 percent described the situation as "very favourable" or "favourable", while around 40 percent still described the outlook as "average". Results for this question the year before were the other way round.
88 percent of exhibitors described their participation in INTERGEO as either "very important" or "important", which is why the conference and trade fair play such an important role in marketing activities.
"Met all expectations"
This is also confirmed by the information gleaned from exhibiting companies. Prof. Gerd Buziek, Head of Marketing at ESRI Deutschland, was delighted with the results, saying: "Once again, INTERGEO this year met our expectations. For example, the visitors’ positive response to our new product ArcGIS for INSPIRE clearly showed that we are on the right track with our software and services. Overall, we were able to see clearly how things stand today in terms of performance with GIS and the potential that can be unlocked, for example, for GIS applications in cloud computing or simple and user-friendly web clients. The discussions we had with visitors from the business and scientific communities and public administration bodies as part of our conference activities were also very valuable".
Petra Wagner, Head of Marketing at Leica Geosystems GmbH Vertrieb, said: "As expected, visitor turnout was once again high at our stand on all three days of the fair and the response to our innovations was very good."
Monika Semmler, Marketing Manager at Pitney Bowes Business Insight, said: "We value INTERGEO first and foremost as a platform for reaching decision-makers from the different specialist areas in the geoinformation industry. In this way, it perfectly complements the other specialist conferences that we attend and our internal events. I would like to thank all the visitors who stopped at our stand – we enjoyed many high-calibre discussions. It is discussions such as these that enable us to develop intelligent and practical solutions."
Dr. Johannes Riegl, CEO of RIEGL Laser Measurement Systems GmbH, said: "INTERGEO is a key event in the business calendar. The opportunity to meet here with our customers and business partners and share information with them has become an established tradition. And naturally we welcome the chance to present our innovations to a wide audience. This year, for example, we showcased the RIEGL VZ-1000 terrestrial 3D laser scanner and the NP680i ‘turnkey’ airborne scanner platform. One of the highlights was our INTERGEO partner dinner to which we invited business partners and friends from over 20 countries."
First-time collaboration with EnviroInfo:
The first-time collaboration with the European conference EnviroInfo 2010 demonstrates, for example, how INTERGEO promotes networks and creates new ties. The interdisciplinary link forged between environmental informatics and geoinformation greatly benefited both sectors. The overall feeling was that the joint conference day was a resounding success. Initial discussions on intensifying and continuing the collaboration were quickly agreed.
The event’s increasing international development and networking are reflected not only in the rise in the proportion of exhibitors and visitors from outside Germany (up 10 and 20 percent respectively on 2009), but also in the first joint presentation by Chinese companies.
The conference in Cologne saw the successful launch of two new features – daily keynote speeches and the INTERGEO Academy. The keynote speeches featured high-profile figures such as Constitutional Court judge Udo Di Fabio, ESRI president Jack Dangermond and FIG president Stig Enemark, while the INTERGEO Academy got off to a flying start with a total of 170 participants. These innovations will be further integrated into the overall INTERGEO concept at the event in 2011.
"Geo is interconnecting – and as a facilitator of the industry, INTERGEO will continue to drive forward international dialogue and the networking of disciplines, looking ahead to Nuremberg in 2011," explained Olaf Freier, Managing Director of HINTE GmbH and INTERGEO organiser.
The 17th INTERGEO will take place from 27 to 29 September 2011 in Nuremberg.