29,736* visitors brave the big freeze to make BETT 2010 the second highest attended show ever!

Heavy snow on the opening day of BETT failed to deter visitors from attending the world’s largest technology in education show. According to official figures, 29,736* educators, teachers, and leaders graced the halls of Olympia, London, over four days from 13-16 January.

Reinforcing its position as the largest, most impressive show of its kind, BETT pulled out all the stops to bring visitors the latest innovations in education and the best Continual Professional Development (CPD) opportunities available.

With the forecast for heavy snow and freezing temperatures, exhibitors were apprehensive, yet the show saw a massive turnout with visitor attendance less than one per cent shy of last year’s record of 30,007.

Admiral exhibited its solutions to reduce telephony costs. “From VoIP to traditional communications and hosted IP, we’re unique in having dedicated experts in each product area. Working with leading brands like Mitel and Aastra the potential to reduce costs and improve business processes can be enormous. We give impartial independent advice” said Paul Allen, Managing Director of Admiral Voice & Data Limited.

Richard Joslin, exhibition director of BETT organisers Emap, says: “BETT proved its credentials, through adverse weather conditions, as the world’s ‘must attend’ event for the education sector as technology continues to forge ahead, improving learning through creativity, innovation, flexibility and diversity.  Heavy snow falls seem to have managed only to focus attention on the value of BETT and the critical need it fulfils.”

“I owe a word of thanks to all those that participated in BETT this year as feedback from both exhibitors and visitors has been overwhelming, with the strong consensus being that it was the best BETT ever. This just serves to reinforce how technology is as ripe as ever in education and that, even in a year of economic uncertainty, schools and educational establishments are deadly serious about the need to invest in the best solutions for the sake of our learners.”

BETT continues to evolve with the sector in order to bring the latest news and information to its visitors. 2010 saw the introduction of an exciting central feature area called ‘Playful Learning’, developed by the legendary Prof. Stephen Heppell. The feature demonstrated the positive impact games have on a child’s learning, encouraging engagement and ingenuity. Visitors also had the chance to witness the classrooms of the future in the ‘Future Learning Spaces’ area, developed by Emap in collaboration with Partnerships for Schools.

Richard Joslin concludes: “BETT owes its success to the thousands of educators in the UK and throughout the world who are dedicated to advancing learning, to the commitment and innovation shown by suppliers and to the support of leading associations, such as event co-founder and partner BESA and Government departments.  It is these individuals and organisations that use BETT to create, innovate, share, learn and improve every year.”