Julian Agostini
True
innovation
The Mash Media MD looks for the
next industry-defining product that will
change the face of exhibitions
M
“Where’s the
punk rock of
the contracting
industry? Who has
the appetite and
bravery to turn us
around?”
ost people enjoy receiving a text message.
Unlike email, where we are hit from all
angles, texts are still relatively personal and come
from within our chosen circles. That’s why it feels
like a note from the executioner when the text
turns out to be from your dentist, reminding you
that you are due for a check-up…urgh!
It’s possible that I hate the dentist even more
now than I did as a child. At least in those days it
meant a late start at school or early finish, but now
there are no saving graces. The whole experience
is still uncomfortable, time-consuming,
temporary and inconvenient and there is now
resentment added to the mix, borne out of the fact
that nothing much seems to have changed in 50
years that I’ve been going.
We are blessed to live in dynamic times; a
change a minute, everything is delivered at pace.
Human nature makes us invent to take away
problems and to make it better for the next
generation. If there is something that causes us
grief, then we create something to make our lives
that little bit more comfortable, be it a dishwasher
or calculator, sat nav, email, or a clothes folder
(I’m not joking about that last product).
Perhaps it’s that pace of change that emphasises
the fact that dentistry seems to have remained
in the era of the caveman. The human race can
split an atom, or perform keyhole surgery, but our
teeth are still subjected to a high-pitched drill or
yanked out by glorified plyers; plaque continues
to be scraped away by an iron age tool and your
dentist persists, even now, in asking you stupid
questions during a procedure when you can’t
possibly form an intelligible answer.
Of course, there have been improvements
– better tooth retention, whitening and other
cosmetic procedures – but nothing on the scale
that it should have been over the last half century.
There is no alternative, however. The changes
and developments have to come from within the
industry and then competition drives it faster.
There aren’t many areas of my world that have
developed so slowly over the last 50 years, with
perhaps one unfortunate exception. In December
last year, Richard Armitage, who completely
revolutionised shell scheme and therefore
exhibitions in the UK with Octanorm, was rightly
recognised as an industry legend and given a
special award at the EN Elite Awards. He and I
discussed how Octanorm was still fundamental
to the industry all these years on and that in fact
very little had changed…that’s not a good thing.
Octanorm pleased the eye, removed pain,
cut man-hours, saved money for the contractor
and organiser, made life easier for exhibitors
etc., we’ve had nothing to make anything near
that impact since. Where’s the punk rock of the
contracting industry, who has the appetite and
bravery to turn us around?
Our industry – here in the UK – is the best in
the world. Our organisers are the most ingenious
by miles, our contractors are renowned and in
demand all over the world, so if any country is
going to create waves and redefine the look of an
exhibition it’s the UK.
So, EN is on the lookout for anything that
rocks our world. If you have an innovation, we’ll
write about it and I’ll even give you a free stand
at Confex Future Focus; that’s how much I’m
committed to the cause. You could say I’d give my
teeth for a fresh idea that excites our industry.
March — 71