[Moderator David@stives]

I saw 2 seminars one was justins which was very entertaining the other one was ,what a facility manager expexts to see in a tender, that one was not very good.

[Ian_Giles]

I too saw David@St-Ives, I spotted his name tag but as he was in deep conversation at the time I didn't intrude
By the time I had walked aroud a stand or two he had gone
Now if I could have persuaded my Japanese-Geordie fellow moderator to come along for company I am sure we might have been spotted
Tosh does kind of stand out!
I watched Brian Dolby giving his seminar, but he seemed so fed orientated, if you wern't part of it, he didn't seem that interested in helping you out, and he refused to answer a couple of questions too...wasn't that impressed.

Wish I'd been early enough to catch Justin's one though

Ian

[sair]

hi shawn

kind comments couldnt get there was planning to go friday yet hospital appointment came up for little one , was well gutted looking forward to seeing people and where the industry is headed with new ideas . would have like to see the pro 7 and new face lift poles

but its been great to follow along with every ones comments on the forums .

cost is a big thing for the smaller suppliers many i should start saving for next time! it may take a while .

[Justin Ruggles]

I would have liked to have seen Justin's seminar. I liked Justins posts when he was on the forum and its a shame we don't hear from him anymore.
For those of you who don't remember he was about the first person I had ever come across using a WFP for domestic work, a real pioneer and it was he who opened a lot of peoples eyes to the possibilities of WFP.

Many thanks for the Kind Words, thou I dont post on here I do tend to come on daily to have a read. I am usally found on the other forum.

I might upload the seminar I held onto the Internet (pretty easy to do) so others can atleast get a idea of what I talked about, there is 45 Slides and approx 60 pictures plus. Some might help you some might not.

Overall I found Windex to be great, its more about networking than anything, having a chat and getting involded with others and picking up ideas off others. I made the mistake in 2004 of not doing that and leaving after 2hrs and thinking what a waste of time, this time round I made the most of it over the 2 days gettting to know people and cherry picking some great ideas to make my business alot better.

Many Thanks

Justin

[sunshine windows]

Spent longer on the public transport than i did at the exhibition. 1hr 15mins by train, about another 1hr by underground then a short trip on the light railway. By the time i arrived it was nearly time to turn around and come home again.

Had a quick wander round the hall, but like many others have said, it was more carpet cleaning orientated. Tried getting my head round the corner of a seminar but it was heaving. I think it was the risk assessment one.

Decided to head to the bar and try and locate a few of you guys for a chat about the business. Ended up sitting with 4 very nice blokes from Dover. Had a quick pint then grabbed something to eat and away i went for home.

All in all, a bit of a disappointment. Should have booked in to a hotel and had a 2 day visit. Wouldn't have been such a rush then. As it goes the only lesson i've learnt is that reliable public transport is as hard to come by as a reliable window cleaner. I think 3 of the trains i were on stopped for various reasons of some discription.

Worth a day off and a bit of a jolly anyhow,
Sunshine

[spotless2000]

Justin Ruggles

I would certainly appreciate it if you could upload your seminar.

I wasn't able to attend Windex due to my wife's illness.

Attending the seminars was my main reason for initially planning to go.

Best laid plans and all that.....

Cheers

Steve

[WavieDavie]

Disappointed with Windex

Well, you can see most of the goods on the manufacturers/distributers' websites - apart from maybe the really up-to-the-minute brand-new stuff. There are only so many suppliers to go round and as has been pointed out - it's bloody dear to get yourself space at something like that, so most of the smaller ones don't bother. I saw Darrell Chalkley from the WindowClean Centre there as a visitor but chatting to other suppliers.

To be brutal, if you're in a hurry you can go round all the window cleaning stands in under an hour, so what's the draw? The seminars and the craic! A couple of the seminars exceeded expectations, some were OK, and then there were the other ones. If it wasn't for the seminars I wouldn't have travelled from Scotland.

Depending on the standard of recently announced training courses, actualy going to listen to the contents of the seminars might be made redundant, so that just leaves the craic! Where could you find so many like-minded folk in the same place at the same time? Nobody can say they didn't feel the buzz, surely? There's only about three window cleaners I talk to in my town - the others are always in the chemist, buying plasters for their grazed knuckles after dragging them along the pavement.

At the last one, I only met Andy Cheney and Mike Boxall - this time, I met a whole stack of folk from the boards. Some of whom were very large on largesse if you know what I mean. OK, I had a bit of a sore head on Friday morning, but that was discounted by actually having a decent conversation about something you're enthusiastic about, with others who are of the same viewpoint.

Mike - Sorry, I didn't find out that you had a stand until afterwards or I would have popped in. I had a brief stroll round the non w/c bits between some of the talks but must have walked past you   

Anyway - I thought that overall it was worth going to, and as has been pointed out already, you can claim it back as an expense agaist the business.

Hope you kept all your receipts!

[DASERVICES]

Justin Ruggles,

Enjoyed your talk, one thing I picked up on you said that you did not have to
blade a flat conservatory roof. I've found that you have to do this as the water
does not all flow off so there is always residue left.

Trust my misses she always spots it, on your leaflet you spelt 'insure', she
pointed should be 'ensure'

Hope your success continues.

Doug

[Alex Gardiner]

Phillip you have made a good point about costs, most of us 'smaller' suppliers work on much tighter margins and therefore have less of the consumers cash in our pockets to spend on such exhibitions.

It would be cheaper for us to hire a local 50 room hotel as a venue supply free accomodation, food and drink for the day than it would be to exhibit at places like 'Windex'. We also wouldn't have to worry about the competition as we would only be promoting our range of products and services and could supply real world demostrations of systems and poles.

.....mmmm it's worth a thought.

Alex

[josephus]

i flew in from belfast with the wife.

we had a ball. i have to say that omnipole, who i didnt like before i got there got 15oo quid of my business. i love them now.

and i really mean this next bit, the guys from ionic didnt give a rats ass.

i told them about my banjaxed poles (only a year old) and the guy could not be bothered. he recommended chopping up my poles, and i was left to it.

alltogether i loved the day and the carpet cleaning section was great. i will be lookinf forward to my 60 foot pole any day now.

btw that big silver tank system for 5200 some mistake surely. mine was 1250. and the spec is the same more or less.

im now charged up and ready to kick ass back home.

josephus

[mark dew]

I would have liked to have seen Justin's seminar. I liked Justins posts when he was on the forum and its a shame we don't hear from him anymore.
For those of you who don't remember he was about the first person I had ever come across using a WFP for domestic work, a real pioneer and it was he who opened a lot of peoples eyes to the possibilities of WFP.

Many thanks for the Kind Words, thou I dont post on here I do tend to come on daily to have a read. I am usally found on the other forum.

I might upload the seminar I held onto the Internet (pretty easy to do) so others can atleast get a idea of what I talked about, there is 45 Slides and approx 60 pictures plus. Some might help you some might not.

I like reading your posts and would also appreciate accessing your seminar on the net.

nice1

mark

[Chris Cottrell]

Phillip you have made a good point about costs, most of us 'smaller' suppliers work on much tighter margins and therefore have less of the consumers cash in our pockets to spend on such exhibitions.

It would be cheaper for us to hire a local 50 room hotel as a venue supply free accomodation, food and drink for the day than it would be to exhibit at places like 'Windex'. We also wouldn't have to worry about the competition as we would only be promoting our range of products and services and could supply real world demostrations of systems and poles.

.....mmmm it's worth a thought.

Alex

Keep that thought in mind Alex I like the sound of that ........ I'll wait for an invite shall I

Chris

[Morph]

Phillip you have made a good point about costs, most of us 'smaller' suppliers work on much tighter margins and therefore have less of the consumers cash in our pockets to spend on such exhibitions.

It would be cheaper for us to hire a local 50 room hotel as a venue supply free accomodation, food and drink for the day than it would be to exhibit at places like 'Windex'. We also wouldn't have to worry about the competition as we would only be promoting our range of products and services and could supply real world demostrations of systems and poles.

.....mmmm it's worth a thought.

Alex

Keep that thought in mind Alex I like the sound of that ........ I'll wait for an invite shall I

Chris

Throw in free tickets to The Eden Project, I'm in!
You'd fill the hotel in a couple of days, with eco friendly window cleaners

[Alex Gardiner]

You seen the price of the eden project? it would be cheaper to give everyone a free pole!!!

ALex

[gaza]

SO WHY DONT YOU SMALL UNITS TALK TO EACH OTHER AND BOOK A SPACE FOR TWO DAYS AT THE NEC? UNDER THE TITLE "THE ALTERNATIVE" BRING A FEW THINGS TO SELL YOU MAY WELL BREAK EVEN ON THOSE SALES ALONE..
SOMETHING WAS MISSING AT WINDEX,IT WAS SOMETHING TO BUY.

 GAZA