All is ready for the tenth edition of Sicam, the international exhibition of components, semi-finished products and accessories for the furniture industry, which will open its doors at the Pordenone exhibition center from October 16th to 19th.
According to the organizers, the premises seem to be the right ones to confirm the growth trend of the event. With 583 exhibitors, of which 28 percent from 35 foreign countries, and the 7,765 companies visiting, 31 percent from abroad, the ninth edition of Sicam last year was a moment of great promotion of the business international for components and accessories.
This year, from 8.30 am, the shuttle service reserved to the customers of the Show will be operational, providing a connection with the “Marco Polo” international airport every half hour. Online registration on www.exposicam.it will be open until 14th October next.
Sicam in Pordenone from 16 to 19 October is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Just a child, but for those who know the story of this excellent exhibition, it is a milestone that deserves more than a birthday party!
“Again this year we are sold out – Carlo Giobbi said – and we are really happy. We always have scores of companies in the waiting list and some big brands, coming in the past few weeks, that we cannot take onboard, although we have decided to add a “temporary hall”, number 10, connected to hall 9 by two passageways.
A temporary hall? That’s not your style, if you don’t mind…
“It’s not an uncomfortable tent, it’s a real hall made in Germany by a specializing company and installed in Pordenone by qualified engineers. It’s a real architectural construction, almost six and a half meter high at the edge, with a glass and panel façade and 3.500 square meter surface, increasing out total space to 16,495 square meters, the largest capacity we can have in Pordenone. Two 25-meter spans, one 50 meters in length and the other 75 meters, where we are hosting new exhibitors and a bar. We opted for this solution as it ensures a seamless experience for visitors: you don’t even realize you are in a “different” hall… We like to be a comfortable exhibition, where you don’t need to walk for kilometers to move from one hall to another, with no “cathedral booths” that attract most of the attention: we are a practical exhibition, easy to visit, where operators can reach and see every corner if they want. That’s part of our philosophy, just like avoiding oversized booths or offering the catalog and good catering free for all. If your booth is just 15 or 30 square meter large, you don’t have to feel diminished, as it often happens in more famous events. Last year we brought maximum booth size to 120 square meters”.
Mr. Giobbi, you still haven’t told us how happy you are for reaching your tenth anniversary…
“What can I say? We are happy, we will celebrate this milestone with visuals all over the place, but nothing more. This does not mean we don’t consider it important… We started with a humble approach, trying to develop a concept that we knew was appreciated by exhibitors and visitors, in a remote corner of Italy, Pordenone, that seemed unfit for many. But here we are, still in Pordenone, we believe in the concept defined ten years ago and we have grown from 400 exhibitors in 2009, mostly in the hardware business, to over 600 now; Sicam offers a complete overview of panels, supplies, components, semifinished materials; from 9,549 net square meters in the first edition to 16 thousand plus today, without cheating, offering discounts or privileging someone…”.
Why have you never accepted joining a reputable exhibition company or one of the valuable collaboration proposals you have received?
“We love to maintain good relations with everyone, we love to think we have been so good in our business to encourage some bigger actors to consider some form of collaboration, but we are happy the way we are and where we stand, we don’t think we could do better together with others… we do what we are good at and we do things our own way, and we keep traveling all over the world to promote Sicam in all contexts…”.
Are you really doing nothing to celebrate the tenth anniversary?
“To be honest, with my children Carolina and Michele, we were thinking about a party, something “peculiar”, but we did not want to be distracted from our real goal, i.e. offering the best possible service to exhibitors and visitors. So, no ceremonies, no frills, maybe a toast… then we will continue to be what we are, a very practical exhibition. We are very happy for this anniversary and I like to think that this is a milestone in the transition from the “first generation”, represented by Carlo Giobbi, to his children, a transition that started a few years ago. So make room for the second generation, as the third one is coming up: this is what really makes me happy, proud and ready to celebrate this anniversary, my own way. We are committed to keeping our exhibitors and visitors satisfied, doubling the number of bus shuttles between the expo center and the Venice airport, for instance, or having three people at the Marco Polo airport to welcome and give information to those who arrive and leave. We have worked to increase the number of parking lots around the exhibition center, we will add a new catering station in hall 10: no candles on a cake can be better than this”.
