Reflections from the Dentistry Show

GDPUK were proud to have exhibited last week at the Dentistry Show 2015. We really enjoyed being there and taking part in the wide-ranging exhibition.

Below are a few short observations from my two days at the show…...

• The stands and displays seemed larger than ever, a sign that the show is growing and continues to evolve.

• There was a huge range of exhibitors and lectures, this meant there was something for everyone

• The inclusion of DTS alongside the Dentistry Show made the exhibition even bigger and inclusive.

• Closer Still Media (the owners of Dentistry Show) are very commercially minded which reflects on the show, is this good for dentistry? I would say yes because it means the other exhibitions improve what they are offering and they have managed to gain support from the majority of the larger dental trade companies. What do you think?

• Great to meet loads of people from the GDPUK community. Feedback on the site is always important and it is great to receive compliments about the website. It remains extremely popular with dentists and an amazing resource for advice, information and opinion. Join for free today. We have had nearly 400 new members in the last 6 weeks alone.

• From a personal perspective, loads of interest and commitment to advertising on the site, GDPUK is seen as a great marketing tool and community to be involved in! It was great to catch up with old friends and new. Over the next year we hope to improve the service and range of options available to our clients.

• The one negative from our experience was that in our exhibitor agreement with the Dentistry Show we were to be associated with the GDP Theatre but on arrival at the show, there was no GDPUK logos anywhere to be seen, either at the theatre or in the programme. This was very disappointing, as it was something we had heavily publicised before the show.

• A positive thread was posted on the forum in the aftermath of the Dentistry Show, created by an enthusiastic dentist on the site, Jeremy Cooper. Why the Dentistry Show is the BEST. It has thoughts on the show from a number of prominent people in dentistry including members of the trade. Worth a read!

Members of the forum meeting - putting names to the faces!

Our feeling about exhibiting was summed brilliantly by our website designer, resident techie and dentist, Steve Van Russelt who posted on another thread “Its great to meet up with the real people behind the posts that make the forum so vital. Most people think or suspect that we are there as a commercial concern so have to be reassured that yes it is free to members and no we're not going to sell their contact details. So we encouraged new members to join, but the majority of the voluntary traffic and the most heart-warming aspect was all of those current members that went out of their way to visit, say how important the site is to them to keep them informed, entertained and in the loop - reducing any sense of isolation and just saying thanks for that.”

So overall it was a very enjoyable few days in Birmingham. We hope we will be able to exhibit again next year. In the meantime we will continue to improve the site and all it offers. It was great to meet people in the flesh and not just from their online persona or email address, we look forward to meeting you all again.

**Thanks to Erica Kilburn and her team at EK Communications for the pictures - http://ekcommunications.co.uk/