Although this was Dental Elite's first BDA Conference I have personally exhibited at the BDA conference for the past five years and every year I never know what to expect. I try to make predictions on the type of referrals we're most likely to receive or the audience who are most likely to be attending, and I must say that this year is the first year I had it wrong.
A couple of things in particular struck me about the BDA show this year, I was surprised that the delegate numbers on the ground seemed generally low including during the designated break and exhibition times and after speaking with several other exhibitors this was the general consensus.
However, although the quantity wasn't there the quality most certainly was, we spoke to a wide variety of well-qualified professionals at different stages in their careers, from Foundation Dentists looking beyond the summer through to a number of potential vendors looking for healthchecks. There was a wide variety in good enquiries.
I spoke briefly with the events manager at the BDA and I was actually surprised to hear that the show this year had less exhibitors than last year and I suppose the argument must be now whether the BDA just provides a ground to maintain a presence for your existing client base or whether it is a successful exhibition for generating new business. I do feel that for Dental Elite as a relatively new name, the BDA was a great place to get our name recognised, but I whether the BDA have the same effect year on year?
Overall the show was success for us and thank you to all who attended our stand.