IFSEC 2015 postscript: better navigation and less noise!

In the vast centre of the hall almost none of the randomly shaped stands display their index number

I enjoy IFSEC each year, spending three days walking the halls. I do feel frustrated by the acres of "me too" products prompting a "meh" response. So often I’m left feeling the "big news" is that hype and lies are growing and continue to drown out the truth. If companies' marketing budgets were simply given over to their product development departments, we would find things remarkable enough to enjoy word of mouth. I often rely on meeting friends in the aisles to glean their opinions on what "big news" they think I’ll enjoy. Still, IFSEC is a good place to meet many international players in one big room.

It's all about navigation, navigation, navigation. As an attendee I wasted so much valuable time searching for each exhibitor. In the vast centre of the hall almost none of the randomly shaped stands display their index number, e.g. F750. The show’s smartphone app doesn’t have a built-in “you are now standing here” function, so we still won’t know which direction to take! It’s a big hall. Many of us have a lot of ground to cover in just three days, figuratively and literally, so the painful legwork and frustration of traipsing these unnecessary miles greatly reduces the pleasure of attending IFSEC. We must insist on clear booth numbering everywhere.

Oh, and stop antisocial noise! Huge novelty robots crawl the aisles and neighbouring booths emit prolonged conversation-killing music. People smack security glazing with sledgehammers. Please make them stop. Sort those two aspects out and next year’s IFSEC should be a corker.