Exhibitors and visitors came from far and wide to attend what many felt was the best Eurocido event so far.
Held on 18 and 19 February in what is now its traditional home of the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, Germany the number of exhibitors has grown to such an extent that this year it expanded into a second exhibition hall.
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In total there were over 60 exhibitors and the organisers claimed that there were nearly 2,000 visitors, despite the “25 on the door entry fee. Exhibitions of this kind in the UK are traditionally free. Eurocido is held every two years and is organised by the German pest control association, DSV, (Deutscher Schá¤dlingsbeká¤mpfer Verband). Naturally, the majority of visitors are German pest controllers with all the leading German pest control manufacturers and distributors present. However, the popularity of this event with international manufacturers and visitors has risen – particularly with those from Europe. From Italy, Zapi, Orma and Blue Line had stands, as did Babolna Bio from Hungary, Chrysamed from Austria, Kwizda and Liphatech from France, Plastdiversity from Portugal, Silvandersson from Sweden and Unichem from Slovenia. The exhibitor with the longest distance to travel was Yongxin who had come all the way from China. The largest contingent of overseas exhibitors came from the UK and included Agrisense, Bell, HQ Products, IPC, P+L Systems, Network, PestWest, Russell IPM and SX Environmental. Certainly the event has its own distinctive German feel. With exhibitors dressed in full Bavarian Lederhosen you could only be in Germany! And then there was Olga helping to entertain the guests at the very generous exhibitors’ reception. Here the organisers laid-on an excellent reception with beer and food in abundance, to say thank you to the exhibitors and to provide an ideal networking opportunity. For those with the stamina, you could go to the inaugural Pest Control News night. Over 270 guests attended what proved to be an excellent evening. The cocktail reception was followed by a lavish buffet meal accompanied by entertainment from a comic, a ballroom dancing display from the German champions (who had recently been fifth in the World Championships) plus live music and dancing provided by the Remember band. In addition to the exhibition, a series of seminars was running alongside. With simultaneous English translation provided, the popularity of these varied greatly dependent upon the topic. To an English visitor, the first seminar which was totally packed, appeared a little incongruous. Presented by Dr Melanie von Orloff from NABU (Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union) in Berlin, it was all about the protection of bumblebees and the relocation (rather than destruction) of wasps nests. Staffed largely by volunteers, this concept certainly raised the temperature in the seminar room amongst the professional pesties. A presentation was also given by Dr Mark Benecke who spoke about the forensic link between flies and dead bodies. Viewed in Germany as something of a pop star it was standing room only for this one. Back on more familiar ground, the two talks given regarding the Biocides Directive were noticeably less well patronised. |
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Eurocido organiser, Rainer Gsell (centre) of DSV greets the visitors
PCN night guests enjoyed the band All in all, Eurocido lived up to, or surpassed, everyone’s expectations. The tenth one will be held on a similar date, at the same venue in two years time.
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