From Thursday evening until Sunday afternoon, visitors came from near and far to explore what the 73 exhibitors had to offer. President of the fair, Philipp Reber (also the owner of Optik Gstaad), is proud and very happy with the turnout. He cannot single out any particular highlights but is thrilled by many things. Most noticeable was the drive and the dynamics of the exhibitors and visitors. "In recent years, there has been a change of generations in several of our local businesses. Many of them have chosen to exhibit with us; I appreciate that very much. We all invest much time in the fair, and these exhibition days are exhausting as we still have normal working days and exhibit during the night and weekend”, says Reber.

The days were long, that's for sure. But there was a buzz, and you could feel the joy of people seeing each other again - especially after the three-year forced break due to corona. There was laughter in one corner, engaged and critical questions in another, fumbling with joysticks and virtual reality glasses here and toasts of wine over there. The industry didn't just present; it had come alive.

Once is not enough

First conclusion: Overall, the 42nd Gstaad Fair was a complete success. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement, Reber points out. The Speakers' Corner, offered for the first time, did not achieve the desired response. Three lecture topics had been registered. Shortly before the fair, one was cancelled; the one that would have informed about the planned non-profit housing construction on the Ebnitmatte. The two other presentations were on first responders and the radiation-shielding coating technology Accuraum, which attracted too few people. As a result, one presentation was not even held.

“The problem was acoustics, and therefore, it was difficult to give the presentations," Reber explains. The Speakers' Corner installed on the gallery between the Kasperli Theatre and the Modellbau Saanenland adventure park proved unfavourable. "Moreover, it is difficult to pull visitors out of a discussion or make them change their route around the fair if not announced properly. While it is great for the fair that people enjoy themselves, it was a disadvantage for the Speakers' Corner," the cooperative president said. "But once is not enough. We must try it again because now everyone knows about this offer so that we might get more responses next time."

 A sobering experience

For the presenters, the situation was frustrating but not demotivating. Thomas Egger, CEO of Accuraum, presented his innovation to about eight people: It is a carbon and graphite-based base coating, and the electrically conductive paint is used to protect one's home from high-frequency electric fields. "We use every opportunity we get to make our product known. That's why I was happy to make the journey to Saanen," says Egger, who lives in Bern. Through lectures, he can explain complex topics better to people. Armin Werren AG hired Egger in Gstaad, which has been offering this technology for some time. "When we heard about the free Speakers platform, we wanted to use this opportunity to have an expert present our new offer," says managing director Philippe Werren. On reflection, we should have advertised more instead of only on social media, says Werren. Nevertheless: he will make use of this offer again. "At the Gstaad fair, many interested people are gathered in one place where we can introduce them to new products."

The same opinion is shared by paramedic Daniel Deubelbeiss, who wanted to present the first-responder system with his colleagues at the Speakers' Corner. The First-Responder System volunteers to go out in a cardiovascular arrest emergency to provide first aid until the paramedics arrive on the scene. "We had rehearsed a sketch to illustrate a possible incident to the audience," says Deubelbeiss. However, this did not happen because there needed to be more spectators present. "It is a pity, but I have to say that we had a good turnout at the booth and lots of feedback. Some have even expressed interest in becoming a first responder themselves."

Watch the video here: https://tinyurl.com/2s3knmv2

Text and photos based on AvS | JOCELYNE PAGE