51st  IFA Berlin starts on 2 September 2011 and will again offer a comprehensive overview of the international market and attract the attention of trade visitors each year from more than 100 countries.  The event features seven different segments: IFA Home Entertainment, IFA Audio Entertainment, IFA Home Appliance, IFA My Media, IFA Public Media, IFA Communication and IFA Technology and Components, presenting the comprehensive range of brands, products and novelties.  IFA offers as usual a clear and simple structure, visitors will obtain detailed technical information from the leading figures in the industry and of course, the  shows and concerts in the IFA Summer Garden organised by exhibitors will ensure top-class entertainment.

The new  traffic management system will ensure easy deliveries to Messe. Contractors delivering supplies to Messe Berlin can take advantage of this online booking system starting from 25 July and benefit from shorter delivery times to the fairgrounds.

On the market is also the advance sales single ticket, which can be bought online or from 1st Aug from eight S-Bahn customer centres and any S-Bahn ticket machine in Berlin.  As part of its mobile marketing campaign, IFA is also offering visitors ticket purchases using a  Quick Response Code (“QR”). This barcode contains information which a smartphone can read. The user’s phone decodes this information and displays it. Following payment the ticket shop sends a 2-D code to the customer’s smartphone which is scanned at the entrance and the visitor is admitted.

The organizers of Prolight + Sound released a mobile browser. The free application (available for IOS and Android) contains a number of useful features, including live streaming news on Twitter, access to the press releases and at the same time – is an excellent exhibition navigator. 

The interactive map gives an overview of the site, and then lets you select a specific hall or booth and watch displays, making possible with just one click to see information on the exhibitor.  You can search by company name, product, halls, country of origin and alphabetically. Once you have found your company, you can choose to view the booth right on the interactive map, or add it to your list of favorites. In general, the application has excellent functionality and it offers almost everything you may need at the show. 

The world’s biggest trade fair for the consumer – goods sector Ambiente closed its doors on Tuesday, 15 February 2011. The high visitor quality and great decision-making authority indicates that the recovery is well advanced in Germany (around 77,500 of visitors came from Germany) and the world market (one in two of the buyers came from abroad, after Germany, the top five visitor nations are Italy, The Netherlands, France, the USA and Switzerland). The positive economic situation is also reflected by a representa­tive poll of exhibitors and visitors conducted by Messe Frankfurt during the fair. In 2010, participants were not very optimistic about future developments. After this year’s edition, the results are better – 80 % of all respondents consider the current economic situation to be satisfactory to good.

Dates for the next Ambiente are already confirmed, so you can update your calendar and start preparing your trip to Frankfurt on 10-14 February 2012.