PROMOSEDIA²⁰⁰⁷ – International Chair Exhibition (8-11 September 2007) closed with good results. The quality of the exhibition, the number of fruitful contacts declared by companies, and the level of general satisfaction expressed by everybody, exhibitors and trade visitors alike, made it a definetely interesting event. This result confirms the international role and the specific value attributed by sector operators to this exhibition in comparison with other events in the furnishing sector.
This highly specialized fair has remained over the years a unique event in terms of both range and variety of seatings displayed. Promosedia²⁰⁰⁷ distinguished itself in the high level of international participation: 65 participating countries from the 5 continents, with a consolidated number of trade visitors from Europe and in particular from Belgium, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Greece, Slovenia and Spain – bearing witness to the fact that the appreciation of the Euro currency has led to a general strengthening of relationships with EU member countries. The exhibition also saw the participation of new countries from outside Europe with great business potential, such as India and the Arab Emirates, which are considered nowadays as the new business frontiers.
A detailed analysis of data on trade visitors shows that, in comparison with 2006, this year the exhibition registered an increase in the number of contractors, interior designers, retailers, distributors and wholesalers while confirming the number of buyers, architects and designers that visited the fair.

The results achieved by PROMOSEDIA²⁰⁰⁷ – International Chair Exhibition were also partly due to the high level of expertise and quality of the exhibits presented by the Italian and foreign companies operating in the field of chair production for various sectors: contract, residential, office, congress, the aged and childhood ..., using the most diverse materials and proposing an extremely vast array of finishes. Products displayed included tables, occasional tables, small furniture items and allied accessories, all contributing to the creation of homogeneous furnishing solutions for the living area of the house as well as for the hospitality sector.

The organisation of PROMOSEDIA²⁰⁰⁷ – International Chair Exhibition resulted from an even closer collaboration between Promosedia and “Udine e Gorizia Fiere S.p.A.”, the event management company that played a primary role in performing some organisational functions with particular regard to the management of exhibitors. The success of the exhibition, which lasted four days and saw many meetings and negotiations, was undoubtedly due to a more dynamic economic phase in comparison with previous years, but also to the fact that this exhibition has a unique characteristic, i.e. the ability to promote strong, immediate relations between people and the chance to compare products directly: this allows trade visitors to take the time to analyse the technical details as well as the innovation and quality characteristics of each model displayed, while establishing immediate dialogues with the exhibiting companies and seizing those opportunities that are hardly ever grasped on the occasion of other larger and consequently more hectic exhibitions.

Positive results were also obtained at the special Meeting Point created in collaboration with the Udine Chamber of Commerce to encourage a direct dialogue between demand and supply. Hundreds of meetings took place that led to solid business relationships, thus highlighting the exhibition’s ability to fulfil the expectations of international trade visitors, to help interpret the diversified needs of a global, heterogeneous and demanding market.

The improved quality of the many products displayed which were testimony to great manufacturing know-how, in-depth knowledge of materials and great attention to details, was greatly appreciated by the Italian and International press (more than a hundred journalists from just as many specialized publications of 25 different countries, from North America to Africa, from the Middle East to Australia and of course Europe). The press followed with great interest also the cultural initiatives that traditionally integrate the fair.

The exhibition featured a very full calendar of events. A prominent role was played by the highly coveted TOP TEN prize that is awarded every year to the best products proposed. The award is recognition of the goals achieved by the exhibiting companies and the designers who invest in innovation and technology and who have made quality their watchword. The prestigious international jury (including Paolo FAVARETTO, Designer, FAVARETTO&PARTNERS - Franco MIRENZI, Managing editor of OFARCH magazine - Paul MCGILLICK, Editor in chief of INDESIGN magazine, Australia - Patrizia MOROSO, Art Director MOROSO S.p.A. - Sergio PARONI, External Relations Manager BANCA DI CIVIDALE S.p.A. and Enrico PIROVANO, President of FEDERMOBILI) noticed that all the competing models shared a common trend towards rediscovering wood. The top ten Promosedia 2007 – International Chair Exhibition models were on show in pavilion 6 where they were appraised by the specialist press, designers and architects. The latter were in charge of selecting the two most interesting models: “The Contract Chair of the Year” and “The Residential Chair of the Year", respectively the POD model by CALLIGARIS SpA, designed by Lucci&Orlandini design and SIGN by PEDRALI LAB S.r.l., designed by Daniele Lo Scalzo Moscheri.

An entire pavilion was dedicated to young design within the framework of the PROMOSEDIA INTERNATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITION Caiazza Memorial Challenge. It housed the prototypes from the Section by Invitation co-ordinated by Marco Romanelli, who this year was assisted in the selection of young designers by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec and Fabio Novembre. Protagonists of the event were: Benjamin Graindorge (France), with the DRESS chair; Perrine Vigneron (France), with the ONE-HUNDRED PIECES CHAIR; Julia Lohmann (Germany), with the SAMMLER chair; Luca Nichetto (Italy), with the TAKAE chair; Mikko Laakkonen (Finland), with the ENO chair and Daniele Lupo&Angelika Burtscher (respectively Italian and Austrian), with the JIMMY chair. The exhibition presented, alongside the model conceived for Promosedia, products realised by every single designer for international furniture design companies as well as interesting prototypes of new projects. Alongside them, also the prototypes of the winning models of the Open Section of the competition – that this year included more than 300 designs from all over the world - were on show: Julian Appelius (Germany), winner of the First Prize with the PINOCCHIO chair, Jacopo M. Giagnoni (Italy), winner of the Honourable Mention for the LISA design, the Thai o-d-a group (object design alliance) of Piti Amraranga and Jutamas Buranajade, winner of an Honourable Mention for the NRML design. Lastly a Special Mention was won by Silvia Manelli (Italy) for the TWINS design.
The panel of judges for the 2007 Open Section included: Alba Cappellieri, lecturer of History of Architecture and Design at the "Politecnico di Milano" Technical University; Cristina Morozzi, journalist; Luisa Bocchietto, designer and President of “ADI Piemonte e Valle d’Aosta”; Alexander Kuckuk, journalist (MD magazine, Germany); Alberto Pratelli, President of the “ADI Friuli Venezia Giulia”; Marco Romanelli, designer and critic; Franco Buttazzoni, President of Promosedia (in office on the date of the Jury's meeting).

In the FANCY FOOD exhibition area, some rest stops were at the visitors’ disposal: small delightful areas set up with a view to presenting to trade visitors four basic CONCEPTS: four different possible settings with comfortable and trendy furniture for the hospitality sector, combining the love of food with the pleasure of living in spaces furunished in a comfortable and trendy stile. Designed by Marco Viola, the Fancy food spaces represented four different tastes: sweet (Coffee&Sweets), savoury (Happy Ham), light food (Light Flavours) and inebriation (Beer For Ever).

Finally, the “Talks Square”, the cultural corner of the Exhibition, provided the ideal setting for discussions about design, managerial training, tastes and expectations of markets showing increasing appreciation for the “made in Italy”. The corner hosted: the Design Talk BEING A YOUNG DESIGNER TODAY, presented by Marco Romanelli with the participation of designers Luisa Bocchietto, Fabio Novembre, and the young designers from the PROMOSEDIA INTERNATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITION 2007; the Management Talk INNOVATING THROUGH DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT, a meeting with Prof. Vittorio Chiesa, lecturer of «Strategy and Organisation through Research and Development» and of «Business Organisation and Economics» at the "Politecnico di Milano" Technical University; the New Markets Talk INDIA’s TIME, Mrs Lipika Sud, Secretary General of the Indian Institute of Design in Delhi, and Vidula Barton, Indian journalist, were interviewed by Pietro Ferrari, managing editor of the “L’Industria del Mobile” magazine.

The Talks Square also made the stage for the PECHA KUCHA NIGHT, a special evening dedicated to international creativity and the contamination between different peculiarities and creative sectors. Protagonists of the event were the young designers from the Section by Invitation of the Promosedia International Design Competition alongside some Italian Special Guests, such as Fabio Novembre, Marco Romanelli and Luisa Bocchietto, and other young creative talents, amongst whom were Dekleva and Gregoric Arhitekti (Ljubljana); Ulla Hell from Plasma, an architecture and design practice based in Bozen and London; the Italian film maker Lorenzo Bassano; Rok Oman and Spela Videknik for OFIS Arhitekti (Ljubljana) and Janne Kyttanen of Freedom of Creation, a design practice based in Amsterdam.