March saw the IDS return to Cologne, and the dental world sweep over and consume the city. Booking probably the last vacant hotel room in the whole of the region, I then organised flights and packed for my little German adventure. My enthusiasm waned slightly when I realised just how early the flight out was, but I knew with a little careful organisation I could still get my much needed eight hours in and make it on time. A minor passport panic meant all my meticulous plans were out the window, and what should have been a leisurely stroll to the flight ended up a stress fuelled race through security and to my gate. The gate was officially closed when I arrived, and the haughty girl on the desk shook her head as she saw me approach. If there's ever a motivation to plan things better, it is undoubtedly the feeling you are being looked down on by Easyjet staff. I wasn't the last to arrive though; after the joy of a scramble for seats one final German couple boarded the plane. As they hadn't seen me arrive late, I felt well within my rights to tut in disapproval at them. They looked suitably guilty; I don't speak much German, but apparently a tut crosses the language barrier.
On reaching Cologne airport I was taken aback by how efficiently organised it all was. It sounds like a horrible German stereotype but nonetheless it was true. Within a few minutes of leaving the plane I was at the attached rail station. The train left (on time!) and after just a quarter of an hour I was at the Koelnmesse, the venue for the IDS.
I have attended dental shows in the UK, but nothing comes close to the sheer size of the IDS. Spanning five halls at the impressive centre the exhibitors busied around their stands to cope with the thousands of delegates that appeared from all over the world. There were the familiar companies I knew from Britain, alongside some European names I had never seen before. The stands just seemed endless. I lost count of the number of different national tongues I heard, and in that sense it was completely different to the UK shows. Of course there was one similarity, there seemed to be a huge number of attractive women on the stands, luring in the male delegates with their feminine charms... apparently the tut isn't the only thing that crosses the language barrier.
Aside from giving companies a great opportunity to interact with potential customers, the show was an ideal platform for companies to launch new initiatives, innovations and products.
If I am honest I was half dreading the NSK press conference; a Japanese company launching products at a German dental show. Would I have a clue what was going on? Luckily they did the whole presentation in English, what with me being the only British journalist present it did make me feel somewhat big headed, which was ironic as the focus of many of the products was their small heads. The Ti Max Z is the company's latest range of contra angles, this was launched alongside the S-Max Pico turbine.
Upgrades on product ranges are one thing, but more interestingly NSK also announced its move into the realm of disinfection with the iCare+. The all-in-one maintenance system cleans, disinfects and lubricates. It can clean up to four handpieces and completes a cycle in less than 10 minutes.
At the launch the NSK president thanked everyone for their messages of support for the company and spoke of the emotion he had from the weight of feeling that had been received since the recent tsunami tragedy. He then said how the company's Samurai spirit would see them through. Mentioning Samurais was a bit clichéd perhaps, and it did make me wonder if his criticism of 'cheap Chinese' products was valid or just national point scoring, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on that one.
So my first experience of the IDS taught me a lot. I learnt about new products as well as the universality of some forms of advertising, along with the utter ridiculousness of national stereotypes. The exhibition was unbelievably large and my feet hurt by the end of it. However I endured the ordeal with a bulldog spirit, keeping a stiff upper lip, knowing that a cup of tea back in Blightey and I'd be right as rain.