PERSPECTIVES
By Liz Crawford, VP Emerald Expositions/SURTEX Show Director 

Survey Says!

The results are in, and I’d like to thank every one of our attendees and exhibitors who provided feedback for our post show survey. Each show we run through the good, bad and the ugly of the show with the team, and your feedback is invaluable. So, here are some of the results:

The Good –

• Attendance was up 9% over last year. This includes crossover buyers who came in from the National Stationery Show as well as ICFF. Granted, some of them may not be relevant to SURTEX, but we try our best to qualify their importance to the show.
• It looks like the bulk of the attendees were looking for designs for home furnishings and textiles, with the number two spot held for designs for paper products.
• 29 countries were represented, including new buyers from Belgium, Turkey and Argentina.
• Not surprisingly, attendees stated that the major reason they attend SURTEX is to see new art and designs, and to keep up-to-date with trends, and build relationships.
• 78.5% consider SURTEX a “must-attend” event and 86.6% found new art/designs while at the show.

Quotes directly from attendees include:

“It is the one place where we can see the majority of our artists and licensors. We also find new opportunities.”

“This is the only show of its kind. I’m from Europe and it’s the most important show to attend.”

“It’s truly inspirational.”

“It’s nice to see all the artwork LIVE in one room. You can’t get that online. There is no other way to clearly indicate future trends unless you walk SURTEX.”

The Bad/Ugly –

Yes, the carpet color was awful! My apologies as I picked that one…but hey, I heard beige was in!
The Design District booths were also smaller than I had anticipated, but we are revamping for next year so please be patient!

Well, I know there was other feedback, and I’ve read most of it. We do take this seriously and will be planning our next installment in 2017 based on this great feedback. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out to us and let us know how we can help you in your planning for next year.