Licensing Blog

Welcome to our Licensing Blog, which takes a light hearted look at our mysterious world.

Easter eggs and volcanic ash(Posted: 27-04-2010)

Easter came and went. I love bank holidays when I don’t have to go anywhere. Why choose to join the rest of the country who are all on the roads at the same time? Unfortunately we had to, and spent the obligatory 90 minutes doing the last 5 miles up to and through the Dartford tunnel. At least it wasn’t raining.

Lowestoft has its own version of Alton Towers. I bet you didn’t know that! It’s a lot smaller and ….. (I’d better stick at that, I think). Anyway, £56 for a family ticket, would you believe it? After having a good moan at the gate about this I refused to pay it, and foolishly said I’d rather give the money to the kids to buy something useful. I spent the rest of the day trying to negotiate them down for cash.

Licensing must have been smiling. In our house we had eggs featuring The Stig, The Simpsons, Hannah Montana (more than once!), Spongebob, Toy Story, Cars and Dr Who. I didn’t see much evidence of the much talked about attempts to reduce the amount of packaging this year, so my recycling bins took another big hit.

I also can’t get my head around how Easter seems to be turning into another Christmas, and that, in addition to the myriad of chocolate eggs, the kids all seem to be getting presents as well. How did we get suckered into that one?

How the aisles and stands should look                    These exhibitors didn’t make it 

My next visit was to the first day of the London Book Fair, which was of course bang in the middle of volcanic ash crisis. Thanks to Iceland for sending us something other than Lazy Town.

Unfortunately over 50% of the fair’s 1672 exhibitors were from outside of the UK, and many of them didn’t make it. It was sad to see empty stands scattered throughout Earls Court. The impact on visitor numbers was there to see as well, and I just hope that those exhibitors who rely on this show for writing business can make it up at a later stage. There were many whose appointment schedules were decimated by the non-attendance of many of their overseas customers.

Imagine if this happens the first week in June or the last week in September. Advanstar would have to put their emergency plans into action. Fingers crossed the skies are clear at those times...