Number of industry congress attendees remains stable despite economic crisis

Harald Kniele, Managing Director, Kniele Baumaschinen GmbH
I have attended the BetonTage congress for over ten years. I particularly appreciate the large number of customers who join this event, the proximity to my business headquarters and the high quality of the audience. At the congress, I am able to cater to the needs of my long-time
customers whilst also turning prospects into new customers. Although the upcoming Bauma is tangible already, I am getting very positive feedback here in Ulm as well.

Christian Schmees, Construction Systems Marketing Ltd.
I am attending the BetonTage for the first time and am registered as an exhibition visitor today.
I will gladly come to the event again in the coming years and would like to attend some of the
panels then. This year, I am establishing customer contacts and visiting the exhibitors.

Dr. Thieme, Ch. Ende, Harold Scholz GmbH, and G. Büchner, LanXess We, LanXess, are the world leader in the iron oxide market, and I [Mr. Büchner] have been in this business for 37 years. For more than 30 years already, I have attended the BetonTage congress in Ulm. This year’s event is the last one for me as I am going to retire soon. As the partner of LanXess, or previously Bayer, in the iron oxide business, Harold Scholz has also been at the Ulm BetonTage congress for decades. As a matter of course, we also listen to the presentations if the panels include interesting topics in the fields of concrete blocks and pavers and gardening and landscaping, or presentations of general interest, such as on the market situation, or contributions by architects regarding projects in which our companies had been involved, such as the Holocaust Memorial. We’ve also already delivered some presentations ourselves. This year, the mood is very relaxed, and congress attendees are rather positive about the industry. The 54^th BetonTage congress can again be considered an information platform. What is important to us is to take care of our existing customers, and sometimes even new contacts are established. And if you ask us where we see the position of the BetonTage congress: it ranks second, after the Bauma trade show.

Stephan Steffen, Managing Director, SF Kooperation GmbH Betonkonzepte
This year, I have already attended panels 2 and 5. I have been attending the Ulm event for nearly 20 years, mostly to maintain my existing contacts. Yet I also enjoy participating in the long-established legal panels. What is clearly tangible for me this year is the slightly optimistic outlook, or the modest market development. It appears that quite a couple of things are driven by current market trends.

Christian Tigges, Authorized Representative (“Prokurist”), Otto Quast Compared to last year, the mood is more relaxed. When everyone pointed to the crisis in 2009, attendees from the industry were much more nervous. I’ve been visiting the event for the seventh or eighth time, and very much appreciate this industry get-together.

Reinhold Weber, Managing Director, Nüdling Basalt
I am here in Ulm for the thirtieth time or so. What I always very much appreciate is the opportunity to renew friendships and the continuing training aspect. I am able to enjoy both in personal talks with attendees and exhibitors. Yet many of the presentations are also interesting so that I can learn something new at each BetonTage congress.

Jörg Rasbieler, Managing Director, Kobra Formen GmbH
As an exhibitor, I certainly do not see any euphoria this year. That being said, customers are quite interested in our offerings. One of our employees traveled to Ulm to attend panel 2 to acquire new knowledge and industry impressions. As for myself, I am primarily interested in meeting our customers here at the BetonTage. This is the fifteenth congress for Kobra.

Alexander Hieber, Managing Director, Hieber Betonfertigteilwerk GmbHHere in Ulm, it’s all about collecting new ideas. The most important suppliers are here, enabling me to get a good overview of what’s on offer. Although the atmosphere is generally good here, I feel that interactions and communications have become tougher as a result of the competition. Even during my tenth visit, Ulm provides a good opportunity for me to keep up with latest advancements and trends. I am also able to use my time to get some of my industry association work done right on the spot.

Thomas Eisele, Structural Engineer, marbeton GmbH FertigteilbauThe sentiment among attendees is always good, and I am meeting so many people here to whom I only talk on the phone, or not at all, during the year. These include both former colleagues and business partners. I hope to get insights into the direction we are heading in as regards standardization. I am particularly interested in the EC 2. I believe that the division into different topics, such as structural precast, has led to an increase in the quality of the content.