January 24, 2014
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Manufacturing Indonesia 2013.
The event is called Manufacturing Indonesia 2013. It is an international event for manufacturing-industry related companies from all over, to exhibit their products and/or services for potential customers. This past December 2013 we (company) took part in the exhibition. This is an annual event. One that we had previously participated in four years ago. And this is a huge one. Unrivaled from a much smaller one we did back in 2012. This time our booth needed to be much bigger.
The preparation started since late August 2013. From working with a booth design company, to working with a printing vendor to print out catalogs and other promotional items, to ordering new uniform jackets for our staff, to booking lunches for the four-day event, to scheduling the pick-up arrangements for our Japanese guests. The month of November was definitely the most hectic one, as the event was held in early December. There were many confirmations needed to be made. We needed to be prepared, to look good, and to be professional.
A day prior to the first day of the exhibition we all went to the location to check out the progress on our booth construction. To our surprise, it was only half finished. The promises made based on the agreed design were not fulfilled. We actually had to intervene and corrected their work. We stayed all day to make sure they were doing their job. The environment was hot & humid, noisy, and dusty. Our blood boiled. Our patience ran thin. But we stuck it out. We didn’t leave until around 9PM. And still it wasn’t done 100%. They promised to get everything done the next morning before the event starts. And so we had no choice but to leave it as it was.
These are the BEFORE pics, on the day before first day of the event.
This is what the booth looks like by the end of that same evening.
These are the AFTER pics, taken on the first day of the event.
As predicted, things don’t always turn out the way we planned them. We learned to be flexible. Learned to let go. To think quickly on what can be done to rectify a mistake. To find an acceptable middle ground. And focused on the bigger picture.
Glad to say that our exhibition effort turned out great. We had a successful run for the four-day event and had a positive feedback on our booth. Our Japanese suppliers were also happy with what we had done for their product display, as well as for the facilities and services we provided for them.
The participation of this event took a tremendous amount of effort and planning on our part. Not to mention a lot of money. We certainly are glad it is over and done. One that we don’t intend to participate in on a regular basis. Maybe not until another four years time.
Comments (2)
Looks very impressive Rudy. I am glad you guys went there a day ahead to take a look and take matters in your hands and get things done.
yeah. it was rather necessary. as we never get exactly what we asked for when it comes to these things. plus we also needed to display all of our products in those showcases and be done with before the event actually started. it was a bit of a stress. but we did it. phew!