What exhibitors, associations and other professionals say about INTERSCHUTZ 2010

INTERSCHUTZ - Der Rote Hahn 2010 (7-12 June) in Leipzig:

Michael Dietz, Daimler AG, Mercedes-Benz Sales Division Germany, Head of Municipal Authorities and Special Vehicles Sales, Berlin: "For a company like ours, as a major supplier to the fire services, INTERSCHUTZ is the most important trade fair in this sector of the market. Our partnership with the fire-fighting sector dates back to 1888, when Gottlieb Daimler was responsible for putting the first motor in a fire service vehicle. INTERSCHUTZ 2010 turned out to be a big success for us.  We were particularly encouraged by the keen interest shown in our vehicles among the visitors, and the feedback in general was also very positive. Our company sees INTERSCHUTZ 2010 as an extremely effective way of making and nurturing contacts, as well as a platform for information transfer with clients across the world. For us, as full-line suppliers with a product range that spans everything from smoll cars to large goods vehicles, INTERSCHUTZ is ideal for showcasing our innovations and new products to an international audience."

Andreas Straub, Vice President Business Center Europe Central, Dräger Safety AG & Co. KgaA: "We met visitors from more than fifty countries at our stand during INTERSCHUTZ. The quality of the visitors was exceptionally high, so we are confident that we will fulfil, if not exceed, our targets. INTERSCHUTZ proved the perfect platform for the market launch of ten new products, and we received an overwhelmingly positive response from the visitors to our stand. Importantly, INTERSCHUTZ also serves as a meeting-place where decision-makers representing all the relevant sectors get together to exchange information with other experts - for example, from professional bodies and associations. You could say that INTERSCHUTZ focuses the attention of the entire sector. This confirms the status of INTERSCHUTZ as the leading international trade fair for fire prevention and the emergency services. INTERSCHUTZ met our highest expectations and proved a complete success for Dräger!"

Roel Nizet, Board Member Iveco Magirus AG, Managing Director of Iveco Magirus Brandschutztechnik GmbH, Ulm, Germany: "INTERSCHUTZ is the top event in our sector, and for our company it is definitely the no.1 trade fair. We are delighted that we were able to meet even more trade visitors at this INTERSCHUTZ than we did five years ago. All the efforts put into being part of INTERSCHUTZ paid off for us - the results far exceeded our original expectations. We are pleased to report several lucrative business deals made at the fair, but the prospect of some sustainable post-fair business is even more exciting. INTERSCHUTZ 2010 had a pronounced international profile, more so than in the past, with increased numbers of trade visitors and exhibitors coming from outside the host nation, Germany. An interesting - and, for us, surprising - aspect was the presence of so many volunteers. At previous shows we found that during the first few days of the event the attendees were almost exclusively professionals, but this time - we are pleased to say - many of the visitors were from voluntary fire brigades. Another positive trend was the response to the on-site demonstrations, which generally took place to almost full capacity audiences."

KommR Julian Wagner, Chairman of the Board at Rosenbauer International AG, Linz-Leonding/Austria: "The involvement of Rosenbauer in INTERSCHUTZ in Leipzig was a great success. This became clear in several ways: the interesting visitors who came to our stand; the large proportion of foreign guests, which testifies to the worldwide orientation of the trade fair and the tremendous interest in Rosenbauer products. We know that the trade visitors were really impressed by the countless exhibits showcased in every sector, and our new AT - the fire-fighting vehicle of the future - received an exceptionally good response. We are already looking forward to taking part in INTERSCHUTZ 2015 in Hannover and the opportunity to confirm our name as the leading innovators in this sector with our next generation products."

Matthias Quickert, Team Leader Special Vehicles, Production Head, BINZ Ambulance- und Umwelttechnik GmbH, Ilmenau/Thüringen, Germany: "INTERSCHUTZ covers a broad spectrum. For BINZ, INTERSCHUTZ is by far the most important trade fair in the fire-fighting sector. On every day of the event we noted large numbers of high-calibre visitors and - something which we had not expected - large numbers of visitors from the voluntary sector too. It was pleasing to see so many attendees from abroad. We were able to get some interesting business leads, but one of the most pleasing aspects of INTERSCHUTZ is that we expect good and sustained business after the fair."

Ewald Haimerl, Director, HAIX-Schuhe Produktions- u. Vertriebs GmbH, Mainburg: "INTERSCHUTZ is our company's most important trade event. Consequently, three years ahead of the event we created two teams who were responsible for preparing our participation in INTERSCHUTZ. These preparations even included a song, which I composed, entitled "Fire Hero of Our Life". As you can imagine, following such lengthy preparations, there was a high level of anticipation - even apprehension, but this was quickly dispelled. Just a few hours after the opening of INTERSCHUTZ we knew that it was destined to succeed. We had set the optimistic target of 30,000 visitors, but we ended up with probably around 40,000 visitors at our stand. We had 83 staff members working there, including 20 trainees. We soon gained the impression that half the world had turned up, as we met trade visitors from Japan, South Korea, the USA, from all over Europe and South Americ a. Importantly, we met the clients we wanted to meet, as well as making many new important contacts. We are looking forward to the next INTERSCHUTZ in 2015 and have already started planning for it. For instance, we have decided to increase the stand size from the current 400 square metres to 500 square metres and we will be represented by 100 employees at INTERSCHUTZ 2015."

Dr. Jördis Behling, Managing Director Customer Focus Team, MSA, Berlin: "It was the most successful exhibition I ever participated in my personal career at MSA. We could present product upgrades and an expanded portfolio of safety solutions such as our alpha Personal Network and SmartCHECK. Also the design of MSA's exhibition booth was praised to be very innovative".

The INTERSCHUTZ with its 125,000 visitors was one more time an excellent platform for MSA's product experts from all over the world to inform professionals and customers about products and the latest trends and innovations on the market and to generate new leads.

Khadija Ben Haj, Business Development Manager, UTC Fire & Security, Farmington CT, USA: "INTERSCHUTZ 2010 covered everything the global market has to offer the rescue, fire prevention, disaster relief, safety and civil security sectors. We were able to showcase unique innovations in the fire-fighting, suppression and early detection fields."

Rüdiger Unger, Chairman of the Board, German Red Cross, Saxony Regional Division, Dresden: "We got more out of the event than we had expected and are particularly encouraged by the response from politicians and policy-makers at INTERSCHUTZ. As a non-commercial exhibitor we felt that Deutsche Messe AG had done an excellent job in looking after us and the Leipzig infrastructure is first-class - the conditions there were perfect for putting our message across. INTERSCHUTZ enabled us to convey the idea that rescue services are a vital and valuable asset to society. In this respect, our presentation at INTERSCHUTZ went beyond the usual political remit."  

Dr. Fritz Helge Voß, Deputy Head of the Bavarian regional office of the THW (Technical Relief Agency), Munich, Germany: "As a non-commercial exhibitor we are very grateful for the support and cooperation that we encountered from the trade fair organizers, Deutsche Messe Hannover and Leipziger Messe. Their assistance meant that despite our own lack of experience as typical trade fair exhibitors we were in a position to stage a really effective presentation of our capabilities and specific strengths. Thanks to the input of many volunteer helpers we created a demolished house that was the core element of our exhibit. In addition to countless visitors from Germany, our stand also attracted many foreign visitors from Poland, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Luxembourg - even China. Apart from the opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities and know-how, one of the big rewards of taking part was the chance to recruit young helpers. We are delighted that we could meet so many young visitors at our stand."

Matthias Gade, in charge of the German Army stand in the category Fire Protection:  "Every aspect of INTERSCHUTZ left a positive impression on us. And this was confirmed over and over again in the course of discussions with the visitors. We were pleasantly surprised by the large number of professionals enquiring about top opportunities in the army's fire-fighting service. Our green-painted fire-fighting vehicles were an unusual and therefore eye-catching sight at the trade fair and certainly helped pull in the crowds for us. The support of, and co-operation with, the other exhibitors was exceptional. There was a great atmosphere."

Karsten Korte, Deputy Chief of Werl Fire Services (Germany) and Head of the Werl Fire Services ABC unit: "We found INTERSCHUTZ totally amazing. Before the event we had said that if we could achieve 50 percent of what we set out to do, INTERSCHUTZ would be a success for us but, as it happens, we achieved 200 percent. It was great to see so many trade visitors and professionals - for example, on the open-air site, where we were able to erect and demonstrate our hazardous goods training facility. We received many enquiries from Germany and further afield - for instance from China and Poland - as to whether the facility could be lent out or even purchased from us. We came to present our ideas and solutions and are genuinely pleased with the enthusiastic uptake of our ideas, even among some of the biggest fire services. Apart from this encouraging feedback, we also established some good contacts with exhibiting companies. The relationship between the non-commercial exhibitors and exhibiting companies was excellent."