Knock-out show

It isn't enough these days for exhibition organisers simply to get companies to show-up and show-off their equipment. They have to provide visitors with a ‘full-service' experience – meaning conferences, seminars, tours and more. Samoter, which takes place every three years in Verona, Northern Italy (on a three-year cycle with Bauma and Intermat), is one of the major construction shows in the European show calendar and is taking seriously this add-on role as educator. This year's show – the 27th – will have two separate themed events that will be of particular interest to rental companies.

Foremost is the ‘Rental Day', a conference organised in cooperation with Assodimi (the Italian distributors and rental association), the European Rental Association and International Rental News KHL Group. The centerpiece of this will be a round-table panel discussion at 3.00pm on Friday 7 March, looking at how the speed of rental development can be increased; at the differences between the Italian rental market and its European neighbours; and the differences between the European and US rental markets (see box story).

The second theme is a ‘Hoisting Day' being held in cooperation with AISEM (the Italian Hoisting, Lifting and Handling Equipment Association) and the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF). The aim of this conference is to highlight some of the high-risk areas and the benefits of investing in training and equipment maintenance. Hoisting day will take place on Wednesday 5 March at 2.30 pm.

Inevitably, however, most visitors will be visiting to see equipment. Samoter will be a great show for rental companies, with the focus on equipment mirroring verly closely the buying needs of most renters: that means earthmoving equipment, aerial platforms, generators, compressors, tools and other compact equipment.

A full list of the exhibitors will be available on the Samoter website (www.samoter.com). In the meantime, use the information on this page to help plan your visit.