yoo Design Studio [ 6 ] - Decostyle

The value of experience in an inspiring environment
From 2 to 4 September, the first edition of the renewed edition of DECOoh! took place.
Since this year, the fair is known as ‘B-DECOoh! Open Door Days’, and is organized according to a
totally new concept. The target audience still consists of professionals in indoor and outdoor decoration.
The first edition of ‘DECOoh! new style’ can be called a success: around 7,000 visitors went
to the Heizel and the first reactions of the exhibitors were mainly positive.
Good atmosphere
Because of declining visitor numbers,
it was high time to revive DECOoh!
That is why organizer Brussels Fair
and Exhibitions clearly aimed at improving
the value of experience. Contrary
to the previous fair, B-DECOoh!
Open Door Days took place in one
single palace of Brussels Expo. Due
to this limited space no traditional
booths could be found here. Instead,
we saw modular, compact ‘boxes’.
The result was a very cosy fair with
a good atmosphere. The boxes took
away barriers and made it easier to
walk from one stand to another.
In addition, the emphasis was clearly
on exclusivity: a lot of exhibitors
offered discounts on orders that
were made during B-DECOoh! Open
Door Days. In this way, a visit to the
fair was much more worthwhile. The
centre of all was the Patio, where
networking could be done in a cosy
atmosphere, surrounded by festive
bouquets. The many side-activities
were well-visited as well. These
included demonstrations and performances,
each of which got a lot of
attention. At the entrance of the fair, a
number of exhibitors were offered the
opportunity to decorate some special
thematic rooms.
Learning process
After the first edition of this renewed
fair, organizing Brussels Fair and Exhibitions
drew up a positive balance
sheet. “Of course, the introduction of
a new formula always come together
with a learning process”, says David
Boon, director of exploitation of BFE.
“That is no different for this fair. We
remain convinced of the power of this
concept: creating value of experience
in an inspiring environment.”
How the concept catches on becomes
clear from the satisfied reactions
of most of the exhibitors. “The new
concept is certainly a step in the right
direction”, analysed Rob Haans of
Dutz Collection.
The new concept of the thematic
review
1 2 3
‘B-DECOoh! Open Door Days’
rooms however, scored somewhat
less. “I wonder what the link is
between the thematic rooms and the
booths themselves”, replies Juliette
Van Gijtenbeek of Riverdale. “This
is sometimes not very clear. But the
rooms look nice and create a good
mood.”
Refine the basic concept
Judging from this first edition of
B-DECOoh! Open Door Days, it once
again looks as if the fair has got a
future. David Boon: “Our main objective
now is primarily to further refine
our basic concept. This is a process
we’ve already started, immediately
after the doors of the fair closed! We
keep listening to what our visitors
and exhibitors have to say and tune in
to their wishes and needs.”
Meeting in February
Take your diary and note down the
next edition of B-DECOoh! Open Door
Days. This takes place from 3 to 5
February 2013. �
25 25
1 Dutz won an Innovation Award for the ‘Broken Look’ collection (All images: B-DECOoh!)
3 Several demonstrations took place in the Patio
2 According to most of the exhibitors, the new concept was a step in the right direction