AdTech London review - small with long queues!

[xlteam]

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Went along to Adtech today and was greeted with massive queues which seemed to be down to poor planning (in my humble opinion) as the organisers only appeared to have 3 self-scan ticket machines. This resulted in literally hundreds of people queueing outside in the occasional light shower!

Anyway, having queued for 40 minutes (a friend and his CEO did 90 minutes, so I got off lightly) I walked in to Olympia only to be seriously underwhelmed by the number of exhibitors.

This year (apart from a couple of seminar areas) it's only on the one floor rather than two. Also the traditionally large exhibitors like Rackspace have really scaled back their stands and generally it seems to have far fewer companies of all sizes.

I wasn't the only one who was shocked by how small the whole thing feels this year, but what about others on this forum - have you been before and, if so, what do you think of it this year? I wonder whether AdTech will be back next year at this rate?

[pistol101]

Interesting feedback. We decided not to exhibit this year as it had the worst return of the events last year. Sounds like we made a good decision. I'm down tomorrow although don't fancy those queues!

[xlteam]

I think you made the right call there. AffiliateWindow aren't there either and the networks which are have standard stands (as far as I remember). I think you'll be ok on the queue front as anyone returning from today will already have a pass. My top tip: head to the Orange networking area for a free beer (discovered this at literally 4.50pm so only 10 mins to neck a cold Becks before the show closed).

[kcheung]

Yeah, i agree with all the above, seems like quite a few US small networks are trying to break into UK, but it was interesting to see that none of the heavy hitters over here were really out in force, perhaps its just not worth it? or it could be the economy being the way that it is.

Personally i don't this ad-tech is very efficient, it seems to have fallen a notch. Never mind, A4U Expo i think will be a biggie.

[Bruce Clayton]

Arrived at 3, so missed the queues. Not that I needed another Casale Media "Bag For Life" but there was no show guide available (presume that supplies were limited), which I thought was pretty poor as these are genuinely useful.

Whilst I can't comment on what any particular exhibitor might take from the event nobody can avoid the fact that AdTech has drastically shrunk and the whole experience left a lot to be desired from an attendees point of view.

Suffice to say this is being written from the sanctuary of my office rather than the train to Euston as I will not be making a second trip having said my hello's yesterday.

[John Jupp]

Just got back.

Yes it is smaller, however a very successful day for me as had meetings there plus even secured something with a branding agency I was after so all in all, worth attending.

Very pleased to see a strong US presence. As I am attending Vegas in January for Affiliate Summit West it was good to sort out advance meetings.

[xlteam]

With regards to the US companies being there - I found that very interesting. I also talked to a company who was based in Switzerland, one from Israel and one from Russia. It seems that Ad:Tech is truly an international brand now. While this is a positive for some, I do miss the smaller, local, start-up companies that were there in previous years. I read a very interesting review of the event ( Been to ad:tech, hated it! | Event Manager Blog ) and agree completely with the concerns on the lack of recycling for all the paper you're given - I spent the first 10 minutes on day one emptying out my Casale bag of all the unwanted sales literature, only to find nowhere (other than the standard bin) to put it. I know this isn't the primary concern of an industry event, but hey, it would be good PR for Ad:Tech (and others) to have recycling bins at events.

[RedHotLee]

I thought it was a pretty good show, I've been to Ad Tech international venues (albeit these shows are generally much larger in the States) and I always see it as a good opportunity to network with new people and get a real understanding of what is going on in the digital space.

Lots of people attend this event to gain access to the free exhibitor pass and the free learning sessions are usually quite well attended.

I'm glad I missed the Q's though!
:-)

[drivetowin]

Well I guess you can only speak as you find.

We got there at about 11am yesterday and were in to the hall within one minute of arriving, no queues at all - if a show is on for two days do you really need to be there the minute it opens?

It was smaller than last year but (maybe because it was smaller) there was much more of a 'buzz' about the place - last year at times I think you could have fired a cannon down some of the aisles with little danger of hitting anyone.

All of the exhibitors I spoke to seemed to be having a reasonable time (certainly compared to the Online Marketing show earlier in the year which many I spoke to seemed to regard as a waste of time in terms of getting decent prospects as opposed to tyre kickers)

And we managed to tie up some business with someone we met who was just wandering around like us - so all in all, well worthwhile imho.

As for the recycling bins - if you don't want the leaflets don't pick them up!! And if there are a few sheets of paper you don't want is it really too much effort to carry them back to your office / home?

[xlteam]

As for the recycling bins - if you don't want the leaflets don't pick them up!! And if there are a few sheets of paper you don't want is it really too much effort to carry them back to your office / home?

Well it's not that simple. I wanted a Casale bag to carry around the literature I wanted to keep. On the first day at least these were chock full of leaflets. I appreciate you can take these home (which would involve trying to keep the useful stuff away from the unsolicited stuff) but can you give a reason why they shouldn't provide bins?

[ZacZheng]

As an aspiring affiliate, I found Adtech boring this year, only half-saved by 888's poker tournament.

The whole event seems to be geared for advertising companies to attract advertising clients. Which makes sense, as that's where the corporate bucks are made.

By contrast, I'm really looking forward to A4UExpo, meeting other affiliates and hearing how they conduct their business.