International Plovdiv Fair Opens Booked to Capacity
525797
Business: 27 September 2004, Monday. Bulgaria's second biggest city of Plovdiv hosts the 60th International Technical Fair Autumn 2004, to be opened today by Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Lidia ...
303266
ATHENS, Greece -- The closing ceremony of the Athens Games is underway in front of a crowd of 75,000 at the Olympic Stadium. The arena, which has been the main venue for the sporting carnival for the past
217132
Events marking the opening of the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff continue across the weekend.
621127
Lifestyle: 26 September 2004, Sunday. The fifth edition of the National Tattoo Festival was opened on Saturday in Sofia.
343424
Politics: 5 December 2004, Sunday. Bulgarian journalists managed to bring a box of plasticine in the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, where the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) ...
204170
Organisers of the Beijing Olympics open the spectacular National Aquatics Centre.
667451
(InfoWorld) - There will be something for everyone at this year's Cebit trade show. Unfortunately, that's not what everyone wants. When the world's biggest IT fair opens its doors next Thursday in Hanover, Germany, there will be plenty on show for business customers, including CRM, VOIP and RFID products. There will also be much for consumers, with high-definition TVs, digital cameras and next-generation DVD players all on display. Something for everyone is nice, but the growth in consumer products has made some exhibitors think twice about attending. The cell phones and flat-screen TVs draw more consumers to the show, critics say, and that's not good for companies that want to meet professional IT buyers. "The ROI [return on investment] of a presence at Cebit is not really worthwhile," said Christine NÃ¶stelbacher, a marketing manager for enterprise content-management company Open Text Corp., which decided not to attend Cebit this year. "The target group I want to meet is not corresponding to the target group at Cebit." It's a problem that has affected other shows, notably Comdex in the U.S., which closed in 2004 after exhibitors turned their backs on what became a sprawling, unfocused event. Few predict the imminent demise of Cebit, which attracted some 450,000 visitors last year, more than any show of its kind. But anecdotal evidence suggests it is not the must-attend show of years past. A quick check with Hanover's business hotels, such as the Radisson, Ramada and Park Inn, revealed that most are booked up only for Wednesday and Thursday next week, with openings from Friday onward. "We noticed a few more last-minute cancellations this year and weren't able to fill them as quickly as we have in the past," a reservationist at Park Inn said. "And beginning Friday, we have a number of room openings." Last-minute reservations for private rooms in Hanover are "a bit difficult" but possibilities exist, said a sales agent at Travel2Fairs GmbH, which books rooms for trade show visitors. "Finding a room directly outside of Hanover is no problem," the sales agent said. "We've noticed a drop in demand this year." Cebit itself is also less busy. About 6,000 exhibitors will attend this year, down from nearly 6,200 last year and 8,000 in 2001, said Katharina Siebert, a spokeswoman for show organizer Deutsche Messe. The floor space sold has also slipped, to around 280,000 square meters, from slightly over 300,000 square meters in 2006, she said. The decline reflects a slow but steady departure of companies using Cebit to promote products and meet customers. Along with Open Text, handset makers Motorola Inc. and Nokia Corp. will also be absent this year, following in the footsteps of Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., which ended their participation years ago. "It's getting a bit calmer at Cebit; you can't compare it with 8 to 10 years ago," said Regina Israel, European corporate communications manager for Seagate Technologies Inc., which will attend the show this year only in its partners' booths. "Cebit tries to make something for everyone," she said, "but I'm not sure that really works." Marcus Ehrenwirth, a public-relations worker with phronesis PR GmbH of Germany who attended his first Cebit in 1998, said the show has developed an "image crisis" by trying to compete with the IFA consumer show in Berlin. But companies are too quick to judge the event, he said. Getting sales leads depends on direct marketing beforehand, which some companies don't do. And Cebit offers other advantages, like being able to meet several existing customers in one location, he said. Open Text's NÃ¶stelbacher said the industry is maturing. IT is of interest now to business managers, she said, not just IT people, and Open Text thinks it can find a better audience at focused events such as SAP AG's Sapphire and DMS Expo, a document-management conference in Cologne, Germany. Deutsche Messe says its show has not lost its business focus. Cebit has always showed consumer goods, which attract professional buyers as well as consumers, Siebert noted. And organizers say around 85 percent of attendees are professional buyers. The show also remains important for some big vendors, such as IBM Corp., which retains a huge presence this year. Still, Deutsche Messe has taken steps to address the concerns. In January it announced a "restructuring" effort for 2008 that includes shortening Cebit to six days from seven, and opening on Tuesday instead of its usual Thursday start. The idea is to cut costs for exhibitors and give them four consecutive days of mostly enterprise buyers, with consumers and small businesses likely to come on the weekend. It's also promising joint marketing programs to help generate sales leads, and is adding new business-focussed events like this year's SOA World. "The success of Cebit will rise again, " Ehrenwirth predicted, "but it will take some time."
296068
As one of the world's largest defence fairs starts in London, protesters target the conference venue.
448484
Latest from the first one-day international in Harare.
136624
Stars arrive for the European Film Awards, being held in eastern Europe for the first time.
732560
Lifestyle: 27 January 2005, Thursday. An exclusive photo exhibition dedicated to Turkey's Mount Agri opens in Sofia on Friday, offering rare views from a remote and slightly known region.
530684
Plans for venues and transport are among details of the London 2012 Olympic Games bid to be unveiled.
324461
Fingerprint sensors, gadgets to pry open  doors and transmitters to spy on unsuspecting targets were  among the wizardry on show at the opening of Italy's biggest  technology fair on Thursday.
689898
The main stadium for next year's Beijing Olympic Games, the $400 million "bird's nest," will open to the public for the first time in April to host a test event, a state newspaper said on Thursday.
91527
Business: 22 December 2004, Wednesday. The tobacco processing plant Sokotab Bulgaria, located near Plovdiv, received the Investment 2004 award of the Economy Ministry.
75208
Olympics organisers are to submit of one of the biggest planning applications in European history.
583251
Bulgaria in Brief: 4 February 2005, Friday. The annual Canon photo exhibition Photo of the Year was opened Thursday evening in Bulgaria's capital.