Awareness is participating (2)

Editorial by Stefano Lavorini

«It’s a real pity. A host of ideas, plans and projects, a lot of effort, a lot of work and money… and then, despite all, end results that - to be sincere – we could at best define as not really up to the expectations and the quality of the contents…».
With these words I opened the July/August editorial and, as promised, I will carry on with the question dedicating this second instalment to…

Packology (Rimini, 11th-14th June). Fair event organized by Rimini Fiera and Ucima. Many the expectations for the second edition of this event in search of a new "identity".
Having foregone the classic formula of the horizontal industry fair, perhaps not consistent with the location and the historic offering of the market in Italy, the organizers have worked very hard to give content to the encounter.
Beyond the 150 timehonored traditional exhibitors (one only has to think of the IMA multimedial stand, very innovative in terms of mode of communication and way of relating with the visitors) the side events were truly numerous.
«Packology has confirmed itself as an interesting meeting, full of stimuli and events» Paolo Gambuli director of Ucima told us after the event. «We managed to create many opportunities for exchange of ideas and communications around the fair: 50 or so conferences, workshops, round tables and seminars and 456 B2B meetings between exhibitors and 50 international buyers. In the future we will see how to best define Packology and what the market expectations are, in terms of which we will decide the appropriate action both in timing and contents».
In short, if 8,043 registered visitors over 4 days is no small achievement, much needs to be done beyond what has already been attempted, to gain the attention of the industry and find a better balance between investments and results, both for exhibitors and for the organizers.
 
National Gifasp Conference: Redesigning the enterprise. From the crisis… an opportunity (Trieste, 14th-15th June). Now in its 33rd edition, quite an achievement for the small "club" of folding carton producers. In spite of the numbers (of associate members and all the more of active subjects) this Assografici group continues to move with enthusiasm and conviction, opening up more and more to complex experiences and cross-sector scenarios «in the belief - as the president Fulvia Lo Duca said - that Gifasp is the place where one speaks peer-to-peer and where one can share ones own experiences and learn from those of others».
No wonder then, if perusing the guest list, there are university professors, representatives of other industrial companies and associations, but also a FIST and CISL union representative, all called together to figure out how to combine flexibility and sustainability within the changes underway in the entrepreneurial world.
There was plenty of striking input, and the time spent listening to resilience (in psychological terms), models of sustainability, creativity vs. innovation, mind boggling corporate restructuring carried out blow-by-blow through "negotiations", was well spent. Unfortunately though only by the few who participated!
 
National Food Contact Expert Scientific Congress (Desenzano del Garda, 26th-28th June). The second edition of the study days organized by aibo-fce, with the scientific contribution of Pack.CO and the patronage of the Istituto Italiano Imballaggio, showed satisfactory attendance. I only partially took part at the works, but that did not stop me from seeing many familiar faces. Which had me suspect that, even in this case, I was at a gathering of "old fighters".
The subject was not an "easy" one, but the meeting being on the most important and topical issues in the context of food contact material and article legislation, again things just did not add up.
The food industry in Italy is one of the leading sectors in terms of export quotas and here packaging is master: how could it be then, that of the entire sector in the hall only delegates from a dozen (large) user companies attended the congress, a presence fortunately offset by numerous representatives from material and packaging producing concerns?
Where were the experts who only appear when, to a greater or lesser extent, trouble breaks out, as in the memorable case of ITX?
All the world is the same and Italians are Italians, for better or for worse, in their private life as in politics.
Yet… wouldn’t it be nice if those who live by packaging - who use it and produce it - were able to express a bit more awareness both in relation to implicit problems and issues as well as to the value of their own role.
This, of course, in order not to stop dreaming. Buon lavoro everybody.
 
In the previous episode: Economic Packaging Conference: the market to be (Venice, June 5th to 6th, 2013), organized by the Istituto Italiano Imballaggio.