All signals are green for Infra Relatiedagen

Bob van Heukelom is account manager of Infra Relatiedagen. Day in and day out, he talks to companies that want to exhibit at Infra Relatiedagen. The fair is popular. Seven months before the event, 85% of the available hall capacity has been rented out. It's becoming increasingly puzzling to offer companies a great venue. We call Bob to find out how things are going.

How are Infra Relation Days going?

"More than good. This is, of course, due to the success of the last edition. We had an excellent rebooking period. Many former exhibitors have now registered again. We have released the floor plan to everyone. We have a remarkable number of requests from new companies who visited the fair in March and were so impressed that they now want to exhibit at it. That's a development we can be proud of."

Will things be different next year?

"You can say that. We keep the floor plan dynamic. That means that many exhibitors are no longer in their familiar spots. That was initially a bit of a problem for exhibitors. We carefully explained that we are doing this precisely at the request of the visitors. They want to be surprised again and again. With the new layout we are breaking the habit of regular visitors to walk the same route every time. We have arranged the fair in such a way that there is a good chance that they will come across stands of companies they really don't know. Isn't it nice that this is how you get on the trail of unexpected innovations?"

What are you looking forward to

"First of all, to the dynamics of three days of the fair. That dynamism is given extra strength by the specials we have added to the fair concept. We started carefully with that this year. We have thus struck the solid pillars for next year. Personally, I am looking forward to the Public Lighting Street. We started this year with only a few parties, next year we will have fourteen top players in the lighting field on the street. Or rather, around a plaza for demos and knowledge sessions. The great thing is that together with the exhibitors we are building this special. We as a team also get energy from that again."

Do you have another such example?

"I'll mention one more: the Overheidsplein. This year a beautiful, first edition with the provinces of Overijssel and Drenthe as driving forces. Surely it is fantastic that the largest client of the infrastructure sector - the government - is itself present on the trade fair floor to enter into discussion with the contractors. We are already sitting down together to see how we can make something beautiful out of it next edition. You'll be surprised, by the way, how large the share of government is among the visitors."

You talk to a lot of companies. What keeps them busy?

"There are three big themes. What I hear from everyone is concern about staff shortages. We also saw that on the exhibition floor in March. Many exhibitors had a sign on their booth looking for staff and also participated in the College tour for that very reason. The other two themes are related. They are sustainability and supply chain integration. A lot has to be done in the areas of climate adaptation, electrification and circularity. Everyone is aware of that. You can only tackle such major challenges effectively if you work together as a chain. That's chain integration. At the fair, exhibitors will undoubtedly show what this means in practice."

How do you actually look back on the last edition?

"It was exciting. There was also an Infra Relatiedagen in 2022, just after the corona period. All fairs had to get up to speed for a while. This year, Infra Relatiedagen was running as usual, supplemented with great innovations. That's why we received high ratings from both visitors and exhibitors. I dare say we hit our stride this edition. Not for nothing have so many exhibitors now already booked again for 2024."

What do you get energy from?

"I notice that when we tell exhibitors about new initiatives, they spontaneously start thinking about how we can give them hands and feet. We are literally building the fair together. As an organizer you then feel supported by the sector you are doing it for. That makes the work a lot of fun. "