In general, I’d like to think my paranoia level is just high enough. So Newsweek, thanks a lot but I really didn’t need to see your cover story about the threat of Mad Cow Disease a mere four days before I was scheduled to leave for London to attend the International Direct Marketing Fair (IDMF).
But of course I read it-and the obligatory sidebar on the outbreak of foot and mouth disease-as it arrived on my doorstep. Large scale events all over the U.K. and nearby countries have been cancelled to try and stem the foot and mouth epidemic, but thank goodness, the fair (http://www.directmarketingfair.co.uk) is still on (I checked.)
Thus, I’m off to Merry Old England for what is one of my favorite conferences of the year. As a DM colleague in the U.K. remarked when I said I was looking forward to visiting his fine country, “Well, I guess compared to earthquakes and George W., foot and mouth doesn’t sound so bad.”
Who cares if we won’t be having steak dinners or visiting petting zoos this time around? The London fair is always an interesting conference, and has the added bonus of this year moving out of Wembley, a locale almost as glamorous as New York’s Javits Center (note the dripping sarcasm). The IDMF-and its sister shows which run concurrently, New Media Marketing, Telecommercexpo and Marketing IT-move to a new location, the just opened waterside conference center ExCeL.
Over 300 companies are expected to exhibit at IDMF, which attracted over 13,000 visitors last year. The fair, which runs March 13-15, is produced by Reed Exhibition Companies.
Watch DIRECT Newsline next week for updates from London.
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