Which Course Expo 2010 - Exhibitor Reaction

With a footfall increase of approximately 50% on last year’s event, it is no surprise that exhibitor reaction was overwhelmingly positive at Which Course Expo 2010.

A noteworthy aspect of the Expo was the high quality of enquiries received by exhibitors. There was a widespread confidence that many would be translated into actual enrolments. A sign of the times according to Neil Gallagher of the College of Computer Training, as with no end to the recession in sight, ‘people have decided to do something about it’ by committing to upskilling or a new career. And Neil’s overall impression of the Expo? ‘Fantastic.’

The timing of the Expo was also noted by Donncha McCormack of the Executive Coaching Solutions stand, who reported ‘major interest due to redundancies’. He felt that people tend to wait about eight months or so after losing their job before striking out on a new career, with courses and the Diploma in Coaching in particular, representing a ‘golden ticket’ back into the workforce. ‘We’ll be back next year,’ said Donncha, but with more goodie bags as they were fast running out early on Sunday!

And what of the seminars? There was little in the way of empty seats all weekend. The MakeupFablicious seminar was a big production, involving a film crew and photo shoot, and as Angela Gallagher pointed out, the impressed audience immediately surrounded their stand once the seminar was completed. There they enrolled in one of the new MakeupFablicious courses, took part in a free make-up trial and grabbed a goodie bag.

Starting a new career was also a strong theme in exhibitor feedback. The Motions Health & Fitness Training stand reported ‘good interest’ from visitors looking to pursue a course outside their current occupation, taking a step further in areas such as fitness instruction for example. Similarly with Heartbeat Safety; their childcare courses for example were extremely popular with Expo visitors. Garrath Skerrit was the man running the show at their stand and he complained good-naturedly of receiving enough enquiries to keep them working solidly for a week!

The variety of job training on offer and the hunger for exciting new careers with good prospects was evident in the huge interest registered by two ambulance training stands: the Irish Ambulance Training Institute (IATI) and the Emergency Services Training Institute (ESTI). ‘Fabulous’ was how Ken Fox of the ESTI described the weekend, ‘twice the amount of interest we dared to dream of. We had   to draft extra people in!’

‘The most effective advertising we’ve ever had – we’re blown away,’ said Marian Turley of the IATI. ‘People are saying that they’ve always wanted to do this – they have the opportunity now as EMT [Emergency Medical Technician] training was only allowed to be provided privately in the last two years.’ Both Ken and Marian were quick to highlight the employment opportunities in EMT in both the private and public sectors.

There was plenty of innovation on show, for example: free make-up trials and an amazing na’vi look-alike (the blue things in the film Avatar) at the MakeupFablicious stand, toga-wearing exhibitors at the Greek & Latin Academy stand, the New Horizons ‘discount wheel’ that punters spun to avail of a course discount voucher, and free eyebrow threading at the Dublin Institute of Beauty & Holistic Therapies.

The unemployed were receiving great advice over at the busy INOU (Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed) stand. Welfare to Work Development Officer Joe McDonagh reported ‘a lot of interest’. Student funding was top of the list of enquiries, with visitors seeking information about payments such as the BTEA (Back to Education Allowance) and how to secure funding for a course in a private institution, many of which were of course exhibiting at Which Course Expo 2010.

And there was plenty of information available for visitors considering a move abroad. The USIT stand reported interest from ‘lots of people’ in their various volunteering, teaching and work visa programmes with exciting destinations all over the world. It had also ‘gone really well’ for Edgewater College, who prepare students for careers as English language teachers. It seems that the majority are not giving up on Ireland just yet however, as Edgewater’s Ian Humphries explained: ‘we anticipated the majority to be interested in teaching abroad, but a lot more than expected are looking to work as English language teachers in Ireland; and there are immediate work opportunities.’

Not every stand at Which Course Expo 2010 was so focused on careers of course; leisure and academic course providers also received plenty of enquiries. Over at the Greek & Latin Academy, Jim O’Dea and Daniel O’Connor were ‘delighted’ with the very big response. ‘A vote for the brain,’ joked Jim. The fact that Greek and Latin are at the root of European languages, and that a seed of interest was planted years ago when people may have studied the classics in school or college, all helped foster enquiries.

And that was just a brief sample of exhibitor reaction to Which Course Expo 2010. We’re already looking forward to next year’s event, to take place on Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th August 2011!


Exhibitor Testimonials

"We found the Which Course Expo 2010 a very successful experience. The show was well organised and ran smoothly with a high-calibre of visitors attending. Many of our public courses for autumn 2010 were fi lled mainly from this event, I couldn’t recommend it highly enough."
Garreth Skerrit, Heartbeat Safety

"We have taken a stand at the ‘Which Course’ exhibition since it started 4 years ago. The Exhibition has proved each year to be the most benefi cial medium to interact with prospective students for our part time evening and full time courses. In addition, it has without doubt, compared to all other marketing expenditure, proved to be the most rewarding for the return on our investment. It is extremely well organised, well marketed and more importantly has
an excellent footfall of attendees."
Eugene Grey, European Institute of Communications

"I would like to congratulate the Which Course Expo team yet again on another great exhibition. This is an important annual event for lifelong learning in Ireland, and the Adult Education market. We look forward to attending this very well organised and promoted expo. We always achieve good results from it."
Neil Gallagher, College of Computer Training

"We found Which Course Expo to be a very useful and cost-effective event for generating business/student bookings. Certainly well worth taking part in every year."
Aidan Alcock, Pulse College

“Well I am sure you and all the team of Whichcourse are exhausted but happy with the results of what I am sure was a great weekend. Please say well done to everyone.Just a little feed back from IPASS:Signage to the event was excellent, media exposure excellent, organistation of the event was excellent and great team work. As an exhibitor the constant feedback help and support from beginning to end could not be faulted.”
Noelle Quinn, IPASS

“I think we were all happy with how the event went and realised how important it was to have a presence there. Thanks to you and your team for all their help.”
Ross Weldon, Marketing Assistant, Portobello Institute

“We were delighted with the exhibition and have got good results so far. Many thanks to Kevin and all the team for their support.”
Helen Hughes, Dorset College


Booking Enquiries & Further Information
For information & booking details please contact Beth Rees (01) 865 2160 - beth@whichcourse.ie - or Lydia Nicholson (01) 865 2160 - Lydia@whichcourse.ie.