This year’s Odmafair closed with an overwhelmingly positive response from exhibitors and media alike. A full analysis reveals that despite the challenging global economic climate in the latter half of 2008 and early 2009, results were far stronger than some commentators predicted.
The post event surveys show that 92 per cent of exhibitors were satisfied with the outcomes of their participation in Odmafiar 2009, with 96 per cent reporting that their objectives were well met.
About 70 per cent of respondents rated attendance numbers as satisfactory, with 88 per cent rating the audience as high quality with good business potential.
Only two per cent of exhibitors suggested they did not plan to participate in the next Odmafair, with 85 per cent voting to keep Odmafair presentations on a two-year cycle.
As expected, the overall attendance was down, some 20 per cent on the record breaking 2007 Fair. The organisers of the Fair also stated the number of businesses represented by visitors at Odmafair 2009 was only down 11 per cent.
The 2009 attendance breakdown also reveals that 23 per cent of visitors were Dispensers – the highest percentage of this category attending any one Fair since 1995 – whilst 29 per cent were optometrists.
Interstate visitors followed the worldwide trend down by 20 per cent, with international attendance was down only 16 per cent.
Almost 40 per cent of respondents advised they brought less people from their practice/ business to the Fair in 2009 than they had to past presentations. Attendance statistics support this with the numbers of general practice staff attending down from 18 per cent in 2007 to 15 per cent of total attendance in 2009.
An interesting figure to come out of the post event survey was that 64 per cent of respondents confirmed they were invited to other presentations held concurrently to the Fair, but only 36 per cent of these actually attended any of these.
Almost half the visitors chose to visit the Fair on more than one day – 17 per cent of those on all three days.
Plans are already in place for Odmafair 2011 which will be held from Friday 8 to Sunday 11 July 2011, once again at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.
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