The second of the Plumbing Travelling Exhibitions (PTE) has been held and Rustenburg really stepped out to welcome us.
Notwithstanding the fact that half our street posters were stolen, being used for insulation I guess in the townships, this did not deter plumbers, business owners, operation managers and the mines from attending.
We had a higher than before pre-registration for Rustenburg and as is the nature of the plumbing business, emergencies take preference but those who registered and could not make it you will still receive information from the exhibitors as we include you in the list.
The exhibition started earlier due to visitors keen to get to the event and this further indicates the flexibility of this concept. The visitors were allowed in, and Rustenburg Expo had begun.
IOPSA workshops began in earnest as well with attendance being a constant flow as the topics moved from Compliance presented by SA Watermark, Geyser Faults and Drainage Faults and ending with the Cost of Doing Business. Steve van Zyl, technical manager of IOPSA, remarked at the high level of questions coming from the delegates which is really encouraging.
Exhibitors expressed satisfaction at the level of visitors with a few, quite rightly, asking for engineers and designers. Fair point and a huge effort is being put into these disciplines. Thanks to the Consulting Engineers of SA (CESA) who have kindly promoted the Pretoria exhibition through their communications with their members. Our own telemarketing team is also working hard in this direction.
A request was made to expand the event into other areas like aircon, electrical and solar. Suffice it to say that the 2022 exhibitions were a test to establish acceptance of the concept and we will certainly be looking at expanding into the MEP Travelling events. Quite a few bridges to cross before such an idea is a reality, but we are working on it.
Without a doubt the relaxed atmosphere adds much value to the exhibition with everyone engaging with each other and Rustenburg was no different.