The exhibitor networking party the previous evening may have taken its toll on some but it did little to dampen the enthusiasm of exhibitors and visitors.
While Alex Hennig, creative director of long-term show supporters LOBO Electronic, described PALME as "the only place to be" for exposing their advanced laser and multimedia systems to the Middle East market, another company which has supported PALME since its inception 10 years ago is Protec, who produce big-scale events, but also handle sales for a number of suppliers.
"The opening morning was as good as anything I have seen at this show," said founder Stephen Laken. "As well as seeing old friends we have had a lot of interest from people we've never met before." This was attributed to the new Chinese manufactured Mambo LED screen, which exists in 12mm, 6mm and (shortly) 3mm versions (with the ability to provide inserts of each into the other, to change the resolution.
Having brought 380sq.m of the media display, and running recent events they have produced on a constant loop, the system has been designed in the UK and because it can be addressed direct from a PC it represents considerable cost savings for both install and rental customers.
There were other innovations on the show floor, including the Philips Signage 3D screen shown by Thierry Louesse at Fractal Systems, who were making their PALME debut.
Extron Electronics senior sales manager, Middle East, Ali Al Daghistani said that his region had now expanded into Africa, and they were pleased to see visitors from across the continent, in particular Nigeria.
"We have met some new resellers and received major interest from rental companies for our twisted pair extenders and fibre optic extenders.
"Customers are looking for local support and that's what we can give them. Many have come to the show to get advice. This includes several consultants and project managers talking about hot prospects as well as dealers consulting on how to implement these projects."
Thomsun Trading general manager, Biju Thomas and assistant, Alok Ghurde said that the show more than justified the large presence (and multiple brands). "We have seen many customers from the live sector - it seems the whole rental market is here! They know a lot about Optocore fibre networks and PALME is about networking and facilitating the buying process. The quality of visitor has been excellent and we have had good traffic from Bahrain, Oman and the local market.
Harman Pro distributors GSL Professional were another who were 100% positive about the show. Sales manager Glen Kershaw reported visitors in particular from Saudi, Kuwait and Bahrain. "We had a great first day and it's looking positive again for PALME after the economic downturn in the region over the last few years. The market is recovering and we are showing 18%-20% increase in business in the first quarter." The new JBL VTX V25 line array and AKG DMS70 system wireless mics took pride of place - but they also announced new lighting agencies from Philips Strand and Selecon.
Elsewhere, a number of strategic distributions were confirmed - one high profile agreement being structures giants Prolyte and their new regional distributors Unusual Middle East.
The show was supported by a series of collateral events, with a rolling programme of Expert Seminars, Knowledge events and Exhibitor led seminars, which saw steady traffic.
The opening day PALME Middle East Lighting Solutions Conference was declared a success by chairman George Katodrytis, while among the many highlights on Day 2 were Staging and Project Management of Big Events and a case study on Ferrari World presented by Paul Kent of Electrosonic and David Gray of Oasis Enterprises.
(Jim Evans)
