Day 1: We woke up to -4*C and Snow!
The EdisonReport studio is set up in the foyer of Hall 4.2 at Light + Building and we conducted several great on-camera interviews. In addition, several people stopped by to say hello and to sample our fine German beer which we stock in our booth. Today, we had an unlikely visitor, a small Chinese company showed up to explained how they had been duped.
Their team of four flew from Shenzhen to Frankfurt, arriving on Saturday with nine fixtures to set up in their pre-paid, pre-packaged booth. When they arrived, another company was already set up in their spot. Turns out they bought the space from a broker, who bought it from a broker, who bought the space from a broker who may or may not have bought the space from Light + Building.
While this column is not normally a fan of Chinese luminaire manufacturers, primarily because of the price and margin erosion they cause, I felt sorry for these people. Four bright, smart, hard working people paid money and were expecting to have a shot at the European dream and they have nothing to show except a pre-paid hotel and a non-changeable flight to Shenzhen. They are stuck.
We spoke to Light + Building management and they were not aware of this scandal, but did caution against buying space from brokers.
We also reached out to LIGHTFAIR in an attempt to understand if they rent some booths through brokers. We received a response from LIGHTFAIR management that they had no comment on the subject.