Comparing the 14^th and 15^th big KWF-Tagung (2004 and 2008 FKM-evaluated)

43% of the surveyed companies criticised the accessibility of the event location Schmallenberg for visitors and exhibitors. This marks a 4-fold increase compared to 2004 in Gross-Umstadt. The main critical issue was the great distance to the nearest motorway junctions. Many criticised the road network of the Hochsauerland district, claiming it to be unsuitable for large volumes of traffic. Many survey participants also felt that the site was difficult to reach by public transport and too far from an airport for an international trade fair.

In contrast, the well-organised and smoothly running large car parking of 15 hectares at the main entrance to the fairground received good ratings. Visitors were not inconvenienced by long waiting times after a long drive to the event site. Exhibiting companies also criticized the organisation of the event set-up. Many arriving companies had to wait for long periods on the last set-up day. The main reasons for these delays were the unprecedented number of deliveries made on the last day – nearly 1000 delivery vehicles were counted – and the restricted volume of traffic capable of entering the event site. The sheer number of lorries soon exceeded the capacity of the public road leading to the entrance. The second bottleneck was the single lane traffic network on the trade fair grounds. 

Why did so many exhibitors decide to delay delivery until the last day? All companies were specifically informed during preliminary visits, in several letters and on the website, of the difficulties to be expected on the last set-up day.
One of the main reasons is probably the large number of new exhibitors (increase by 40%) without trade fair experience, or any awareness at all of the special circumstances related to trade fair events in forests. As a result of this experience, this particular group will receive more intensive support and advice when planning their participation. Other measures, such as earlier obligatory set-up periods, must be discussed in depth with the KWF- advisory committee.

Despite the understandably difficult conditions during the set-up period, the overall ratings for the KWF staff were excellent. 83% of the companies felt that they were well cared for; only 3% were not satisfied. Of course we are very pleased with this positive result, since it reflects the great dedication displayed by the staff during these stressful days.

The exhibitors were also very content with our event grounds service providers. With one exception, the companies commissioned by the KWF received better marks than 2004 in Gross-Umstadt. It is also remarkable to see that the forwarding company achieved an identical rating despite the difficult situation during the set-up period.   

The all-deciding question however is: “Was the event a success for your company?” A resounding 93%, exactly the same as in 2004, answered this key question with yes! This result is even more pleasing considering that the decline of investments suffered by the whole economy was already apparent at the time of the KWF-Tagung.

90% of the surveyed companies declared their intent to participate again next time in four years. Many of the surveyed companies were regional and these would probably not consider travelling to a remote event location worthwhile. Taking this into account, this result is an impressive affirmation of the event concept and the basic idea of a hands-on demonstration fair in the forest.
The KWF and its expert advisory committee are once more committed to making the Forest Machinery and Innovations DemoFair at the 16th KWF-Tagung in 2012 the key international event and professional highlight of the forest sector and to take on the organisational and logistic challenge of a new location. Reiner Hofmann

By far the greatest fraction of the 43000 visitors, altogether 33%, came from the host state NRW, followed by the south German states Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse. These are the states with the highest forest cover. Next in line were the states Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate. The event also drew sizeable visitor numbers from the so-called “new federal states” Thuringia and Saxony. The organisers were especially pleased with the recorded increase in the number of international visitors by 9%. Just under 4000 international visitors marks a new record for a KWF-Tagung. 

Over a third (34%) of the international visitors came from the neighbouring alpine countries Austria and Switzerland in the south, followed by the eastern neighbours Poland and the Czech republic. 19% of the visitors came from the Benelux countries and 6% from Scandinavia. The records show that the event was visited by professionals from 24 countries including Russia, USA, Japan and China.

One very interesting aspect of the survey was the duration of stay of the visitors. About half the visitors stayed for 2 or more days. This number far exceeds those recorded for other international forest trade fairs such as ELMIA, Interforst or Ligna. Most of the visitors to these events come for a day only. This exceptional facet of the KWF-Tagung can only be attributed to the incomparable range of components that appeal to the professional: DemoFair, special shows, in-field demonstrations and congress. Another factor is the large proportion of professional visitors who make use of these options. Of course this large number of overnight visitors must also be somewhat related to the remoteness of the venue.

When asked about their occupation, 18% of the visitors declared that they work in public forest administration, while 13% worked for forest service providers. These are the classic target groups for the KWF-Tagung. However, this time the event also attracted large numbers of private forest owners and managers. 15.5% of the visitors declared that they worked in private forest management, owned an agricultural or forest company, or belonged to a forestry association. These numbers confirm that the decision by the KWF to hold the event in a private forest for the first time was a significant and successful step towards attracting this important target group. Nearly 17% of the visitors were combined under the title “Others”. This group mainly consists of private visitors whose occupation is not directly related to forestry and the wood industry and includes the interested public and private firewood gatherers from the region.

In order to gain some insight into the quality of the visitors it was important to find out how many were involved in the decision making process for procuring equipment. 29% of the surveyed visitors stated that they were directly or indirectly involved, while only 23% were not involved at all.

Were the topics and contents of the special shows wisely chosen by the KWF? To answer this question, the visitors were asked to list the special shows they found particularly appealing.  As expected, most visitors (31%) were attracted to the special show “Windthrow timber processing and logistics”. Many (20%) also found the imposing special show “BioEnergy Wood” attractive which covered about a quarter of the event circular route. The KWF was rather surprised with the popularity of the special show “Technology in steep terrain”. The last minute decision to include this presentation was taken at the request of several companies, despite the sub-optimal terrain. Thus the show could only be assigned a small area on the outskirts. The whole presentation suffered from the difficult conditions and was criticized, in some cases with justification, by the professionals. However, the positive rating of the presentation indicates that visitors are not only attracted to perfect shows in best conditions. Many are particularly interested in those less than perfect shows where the presenters need to deal with unexpected difficulties and problems. 

A very important issue for us organisers is the question of how the visitors first heard about the KWF-Tagung. It seems that “personal contacts” and mouth-to-mouth propaganda are the most effective channel for information, closely followed by advertising and press releases in professional magazines. The unexpected low importance of the Internet as a source of information strongly contrasts with the astronomical number of visits registered for the KWF website prior to the event. The Internet is obviously very useful for gathering concrete information but not suitable for the initial contact with potential interested parties.