Serious and concentrated

Maybe somewhat more serious and less spectacular, but more concentrated than the predecessors is how the 7th Global DIY Summit, the international major event in the home improvement industry, went. For example, this time there was no pacey start-up introduction round as in the two years before.
Something else which kept the glamour factor low was also the fact that there was no presentation of a DIY Lifetime Award - they said they hadn't found a suitable candidate and they didn't want to make any compromises. So the big gala evening was maybe slightly missing something of the staged celebrations of previous years, but the lack of laudation and acceptance speech didn't spoil the mood in the hall in any way.
Also in contrast to earlier years, the event organisers hadn't selected a location with wow-effect (such as the museum in Barcelona for example, or the villa with view of Saint Peter's in Rome). This may have had something to do with the hefty price level in the Irish capital, something which was apparently also responsible for the fact that the self-imposed target of once again topping the number of participants from the year before or at least jumping the thousand mark again was not reached. Around 930 persons were on the list. But to be quite honest: that is still an awful lot of people, at least enough for abundant networking - and, after all, that's what everyone goes there for.
The only programme item which did not fulfil expectations was the podium discussion. This was definitely not down to the host, Seven Collinge, who gave a brilliant introduction - but then still only received platitudes as reply. Sure, the commitment by Sergio Giroldi, Obi boss and president of the European association Edra and the global network Ghin, to stationary trade and to working "together" as USP of the industry was well received, but both the audience and the host would have liked to have heard more concerning the questions about Obi Next.
Erwin Van Osta, from the Belgian Hubo chain, also implored the necessity of moving from confrontation to cooperation. The podium, on which Hartmut Jenner from Kärcher and Vincent Legros from Bostik were also sitting, was in agreement on the fact that the speed in which innovations arrive on the market needs to increase.
The start to the congress was downright emotional: John Venhuizen, president and CEO of Ace Hardware, spoke about leadership and had examples from the Navy Seals and from his family life. The core of the message was…