Aerospace Techweek was one of the first broader events re-launching after Covid. This was clear due to the large amount of visitors at the event – held in Toulouse, France.
Airport transfer from Blagnac airport in Toulouse
About 25 minutes /€50 with taxi.
Nearby hotels
Plenty of hotels to choose from, if you want to stay at higher end hotels you need to select a hotel closer to the city. I stayed at the Sextant hotel, a three star property where there was not much to complain about. The rooms were clean and the bathrooms very newly refurbished. The hotel was about ten minutes of walking distance from the conference venue. I usually do a short running session each morning to get the blood flowing and it was easy to find a good running route from the hotel.
Reaching conference participants and networking.
Paying visitors had access to an app where it was easy to see the program and send messages to participants. As usual, one would like to know if the participant has checked in to the event on site. E.g. who is really here? It was possible to see who was online though but far from everyone used the app. In large it was great to meet old customers and partners again after so long time. I struggled a bit (with a few other I know) to find the right conference rooms but that was more on our bad sense of location than the organisers.
Surroundings
The surroundings wasn’t very inspirational, but this is the case for many events unfortunately. The venue is surrounded by commercial estates and very little to see. A large shopping center is found about 1km from the conference venue. I took time to visit the Aeroscopia Museum at the airport before flying home, which is highly recommended. Make sure the book an Airbus tour well before your visit, I missed out on that unfortunately.
Private spaces
This is an underestimated requirement at many events and this event is no exception for lacking private spaces. It was very hard to find secluded quiet spaces for online meetings, or meetings in person when you don’t want to stand in a crowded environment. I would wish for quiet rooms and more standing tables spread out all over the place.
Coffee and food
There was three locations serving coffee and beverages. Two coffee tickets / day was included for most visitors. Meals was included for exhibitors.
-Vegetarian options
Vegetarian sandwiches and salads were available at the venue. Pricing was fair, food was tasty.
Organisers
Very friendly and quick on replying to emails before the event.
General Impression
The event was absolutely worth attending. The conference sessions I attended was good but poorly moderated unfortunately.
Cloak rooms was properly manned with very lite waiting time. The only occasion I felt a little frustration was during check in. It was unclear where to stand in line for the conference passes, and many of the visitor stood in line for a long time ti find out they were in the wrong line. Hope to see more staff around the queues next year to guide the visitors. The venue itself wasn’t the most modern I have visited but it did the job. Most booths was manned all the time and all of them was easy to find with the help of the map in the app or the huge printed map at the entrance.
