ICE Totally Gaming moved to its shiny new home – and all agreed that the pros outweighed the cons, writes Phil Clegg.
The move of ICE Totally Gaming from the old venue at Earls Court in London’s West End to ExCeL in the capital’s Docklands was much anticipated.
Few had doubts that the purpose-built exhibition centre would be up to the task, but equally few thought the new location would be better in terms of accessibility to all things London.
And that was pretty much how it turned out. Apart from a few complaints about the attitude of ExCeL staff in the build-up period, almost everyone agreed that the new venue was excellent. However, many people headed home feeling that they hadn’t really been to London at all.
But organiser Clarion did a good job with the transition and the show is here to stay for now. So people will just have to get used to making that choice – take the comfortable option and stay east or make a bit of an effort and get into town. Business wise the show was as good as - if not better than - ever. The attendance was good and the show itself took advantage of the available space to spread itself further. Novomatic dominated with its huge stand and many other companies took extra space.
It’s all change again next year when this year’s long, thin layout is replaced by a more square version with the use of the north side of the venue as well as the south. This should help the show to be even more cohesive.
Read the full article in the March issue of InterGaming.
