Ask the experts at trade exhibitions

THE BEST find to find information – even in the internet age – is to obtain it direct from the experts; that is why a range of business and trade exhibitions have sprung up across France.

As an example, more than 40 companies and experts will be at the Best of Provence in English exhibition at La Motte in the Var at the end of this month, where they will be faced by hundreds of visitors eager for answers.

Similarly, Angel Traders pull in keen crowds for their business trade fairs in the Dordogne and surrounding departments, while Success in the Dordogne’s show next month will have representatives from across the department in industry, transport, commerce and government to pass on information and allow people to make good contacts.

AngloINFO is running the Var event, and another one in Brittany. Brigid Kennedy, the director of AngloINFO Provence, says that its free exhibition is largely driven by the people who use its website.

“We ran the exhibition for the first time last year, and based it on the questions people were asking on our forum: how do I do this, where do I find that, can anyone help me with this?

“It will bring together an essential mix of English-speaking local business experts, associations, artisans, winemakers and more, giving a complete picture of life in the region and loads of practical advice to those living here, considering moving here or spending more time here in the future.”

The more time people spent in France, the more they found their need for information also changed. They were confident of knowing what was what during a short visit, but if they stayed longer they needed more complex information.

Ms Kennedy said: “Buying a home in France is a cultural shock. The bureaucracy of the purchase is not the end of it.

“So exhibitions give people a chance to find out more about language, culture, bureaucracy and they reflect people’s needs to understand a lot more about the situation they are in. It is also a chance to make friends. You can find friends, work, schools, financial advice and personal advice all in the one place.

“For the forum users especially it was a chance to put a face to a name of the people they had been chatting to online or thank them for information given.”

Ms Kennedy said organising an exhibition could take six months and gets so intense they have to take in help in the weeks before the event. Venues have to be hired and must be sited so they attract the maximum number of visitors. For the Var event, they expect visits from Marseille, Aix, Vaucluse and the United Kingdom.

Then the exhibition’s experts have to be found, such as Michael Annett, the director of Pelican Consulting and an English-speaking French specialist in tax and investment; Rebecca Penna, of Refervescence business advisers; or Linda Field, of Auberge du Vin Wine School.

Ms Kennedy said experts were chosen not just for their expertise and ability to pass it on, but also for being apt: that is why she was trying to find a garden expert to advise on rebuilding gardens damaged in this year’s tragic Var floods.

The Connexion is media partner for the Best of Provence in English on Saturday, October 30 at the Salles des Fêtes, Avenue Achille Rouvier, 83920 La Motte. Publisher Sarah Smith will be there, with new editor Mark Stanway, to meet readers.