eroFame 2015: New guidelines for exhibitors and visitors
Product piracy, fake products, brand piracy, products that are not certified for sale in Europe .. the list goes on and on, and all the entries have one thing in common: they are illegal and detrimental to the international erotic market. To crack down on such unfair practices, and to ensure that eroFame will continue to be a platform for reputable, respectable, and responsible exchange between the companies and trade members of the adult industry, the organisers are forced to introduce new guidelines for the exhibitors and visitors of the trade convention in Hanover. To nip unfair practices in the bud, the organisers of eroFame 2015 would like to remind all exhibitors again that they need to submit a list of the products they are going to present at the show. The corresponding form can be found in the event folder. What needs to be added for every product on this list is a copy of all the necessary documentation and certificates that are required for a legally sound product launch in Europe. The product list and the pertaining documents need to be submitted by August 17, 2015 at the very latest. If an exhibiting company fails to hand in the list and/or the required documents, the organisers reserve to right to bar this company from participation at eroFame 2015, to refuse them a stand at the event, or to cancel their stand booking.
If cases of product misuse are reported to the organisers during the trade convention, trained personnel will conduct controls, asking the companies in question to produce the necessary documentation for their products. Documents that are necessary in any event include the RoHS documents and CE certificates for motor-driven products. “As the organiser, we have to act on behalf of our exhibitors and visitors. We have to make sure that products are not presented illegally at eroFame and we also have to involve customs authorities if necessary,“ says Wieland Hofmeister, the CEO of Mediatainment Publishing eroFame GmbH, addressing the issue. “Should they offer pirated products or grossly violate trademark rights in other ways, companies and their representatives will be barred from the fairgrounds immediately, and they will be excluded from the event indefinitely. Naturally, there needs to be proof for such accusations. Therefore, we are asking our exhibitors to keep documentary evidence ready. Only if there is indisputable documentation can illegal products be taken off the show.”
To safeguard the interests of all exhibitors, companies or company representatives who have not rented a stand, will not be allowed to present their products in the catering area, the café, or in other public spaces of fair hall 27. “It just isn’t fair to companies that have rented a fair stand if other companies offer products on the fairgrounds at their expense, therefore, and in the interest of equal treatment, we cannot permit such activities – we are making it a point to keep the leases at eroFame at a moderate level so pretty much every market player in our industry should be able to afford a stand at eroFame,“ Hofmeister points out. “The only people authorised to present and offer products at eroFame are those wearing the exhibitor badge (“E“ / Exhibitor).“ Moreover, the organisers ask all visitors – everybody with a T/Trade badge – to leave suitcases, trolley cases, travel bags and the like at the wardrobe. Alternatively, such objects can be registered at the info counter. Apparently, this regulation does not apply to exhibitors and their personnel.
Lastly, the organisers would like to point out once more that any case of theft in the fair hall will be reported to the authorities and an unlimited exclusion from eroFame will be imposed in such instances.
“We have been faced with a growing number of problematic situations over the course of the past years, all of which have had negative effects on our exhibitors. Consequently, we have to act. I would like to point out that such ugly incidents are still the big exception, and that the overall picture of eroFame is a great one. This event represents a fair and wonderful industry. And that’s the way we want to keep it,“ Hofmeister concludes.
