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Much of the UK ground to a halt this week due to a foot (30cm .... well, its a global business!) of snow, cueing much gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands all round as the everyone complained about how "other countries" could cope a lot better.

What's this to do with events? Of course, several big shows - most notably EMAP's Spring Fair - were taking place this week. Something that depresses attendance in the midst of a recession clearly isn't going to help anyone, but personally I suspect that exhibitors are smart enough to take into account the effects of a once-in-20-years event when they evaluate the show, and decide how (and if) they are coming back next year. Doing less business due to snow will hurt, but it's not going to break the basic model.

But the real problem with all this snow is wider.

Something like this that artificially depresses attendance in a dramatic fashion at a flagship event is bad news because it delays yet further the date at which the UK industry can really finally get a true like-for-like comparison on a major show, and from that decide just how badly it will be affected by the recession.

So, we are all literally, and metaphorically, still stuck in the snow...

Labels: exhibition, snow. spring fair