Ocean Media Group has responded to claims its Event Production Show has been cancelled by confirming the show and affiliated products are up for sale.
 
According to a letter to exhibitors dated 1 May and sighted by EN, Ocean informed exhibitors of the show’s cancellation and their right to a refund.

“It is with great regret that Ocean Media Group Ltd has decided to cancel the above event due to take place on 30 to 31 January 2013,” the letter stated.
 
“Any monies you have already paid to Ocean Media Group as a form of a deposit to secure your stand at Event Production Show 2013 will be refunded to you in full.”
 
In a response to EN, Ocean MD David Moran confirmed it is not running a 2013 edition of Event Production Show but said the organiser is in negotiations with four bidders to sell various combinations of the Event Production Show, UK Venue Show, Event Production Awards and the Access All Areas title.
 
“Disposal of the events business is part of our process of selling anything in an area where we are not market dominant,” he said in an emailed response.
 
Ocean has also offloaded Negotiator and Built IT magazines in recent months.
 
The future of the UK Venue Show, which debuted this year alongside the Event Production Show, has not been confirmed.
 
General manager of Church House Conference Centre in London, Robin Parker, was one of the inaugural UK Venue Show’s exhibitors.
 
“Since the UK Venue Show I have not heard a single word from the organiser, to either say thank you for exhibiting, to talk about next year or even to ask how the show went, so on that basis I am not the least bit surprised it is unlikely to be repeated,” Parker told.
 
“From an exhibitor point of view, the show was very poorly attended, and the feedback I have had is that the only people who visited were suppliers trying to sell to the venues. We signed up as there seemed to be a reasonable logic in trying to build a show in this area following Confex’s move to Excel. However, for whatever reason, it just didn’t work.
 
“If they were to hold it again in 2013, we certainly wouldn’t exhibit.”
 
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