Thursday 8 December 2011

Sentomol discovers Twitter


Social Media plays an important  part in communication.  Not only is it possible to follow companies and individuals who have a like minded interest in sharing thoughts and observations but it presents everyone with an opportunity to broadcast to an international audience or to a single individual.  A frightening thought.  We have embraced the technology and we shall see where it takes us.

Find us at @sentomol


We started tweeting on 8th December 2011.

Sunday 30 October 2011

IBMA October 2011

Lucerne is a beautiful medieval Swiss town, sitting on the edge of Lake Lucerne, the fourth largest lake in Switzerland.  Full of famous landmarks such as the Lion Monument, (a giant dying lion carved out of a wall of sandstone rock above a pond) and the reconstructed wooden Chapel Bridge, it has for the last 6 years been home to ABIM, the prime international meeting of the biocontrol industry.  On October 24th-26ththis key event was again held at the KKL Culture and Convention Centre.

The exhibition and conference is jointly organised by the International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association (IBMA) and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). In the six years attendance has grown from 200 to over 500 delegates representing more than 260 companies and organisations from all over the globe, each keen to exchange experiences and obtain information on the latest products and developments in the world biological products market.  A full time exhibition runs concurrently with the scientific programme, in which 35 presentations covered the latest developments in biological market development, regulatory affairs and novel products for plant protection.  In addition, 8 professional group meetings (available exclusively to IBMA members) provided the opportunity to discuss key issues affecting the industry and to develop co-operative strategies supporting common interests.  Perhaps more than many industries, the IBMA demonstrates some very collaborative, cross company activities.

Owen Jones, President of IBMA, commented, “IBMA represents the industry in Europe at the political, research and also the regulatory level to make sure the industry is adequately represented.  Here at ABIM, which is the flagship event for the Biopesticide Industry, it is an opportunity for members to network with each other, find new business opportunities and to further their own businesses and the whole sector in general.”  Biocontrol companies are still mostly small to medium size enterprises and the ABIM event encourages companies to generating synergies amongst member companies.  To facilitate introductions, this year for the first time, a commercial version of speed dating allowed companies to meet each other for the first time in 1 to 1 'partnering' meetings.  With each 1:1 meeting lasting no more than 25 minutes, it successfully provided delegates with the opportunity to meet potential customers or suppliers in a series of pre-arranged appointments. 

For those involved in biological pest control, Lucerne has become the key meeting place.  Whilst the conventional chemical pesticide industry event has moved from Brighton, to Glasgow to London, Lucerne has provided a consistent and increasingly popular international “meeting point” where biocontrol producers, distributors, consultants as well as opinion leaders can meet.  ABIM-Lucerne provides an excellent opportunity for organisations to convene meetings and the plenary sessions provide an excellent platform for industry representatives and researchers to present novel products and results from applied R&D activities.  This key event continues to go from strength to strength.

The 7th Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting (ABIM-Lucerne 2012) will be held on October 22th–24th 2012 and the IBMA is again inviting attendees to put the date in their diary.


For more information, copies of presentations and a video showing impressions from the 3 days, visit http://www.abim.ch/

Monday 24 October 2011

Pest World New Orleans 2011


Pest World 2011, the flagship exhibition event for the National Pest Management Association of the USA, was held this year in New Orleans. It was a pleasure to escape the cooler autumn days of the UK to feel the heat on the banks of the Mississippi. I joined Silvandersson Sweden on their stand promoting the range of pesticide free insect traps and monitoring solutions. Theme for the week/year still seems to be the dominance of bed bugs as a pest problem in a variety of domestic and  hospitality environments. Not surprising therefore the interest shown in Silvandersson's Cryonite. For those wanting a 2 minute summary of Pest World see the excellent coverage in Pest Magazine. For those not familiar with the happy people who work at Silvandersson, who manufacture non-toxic control products against insects and pests check out Silvandersson. Since 1982 they have been trying to market the little Sweden in the big world, offering high quality products and services to their customers.

Saturday 24 September 2011

23rd FAOPMA Annual Convention 2011, Goa, India


The Indian Pest Control Association (www.ipca.org.in), hosted the 23rd FAOPMA Annual Convention 2011, the third such occasion after successfully doing so, in 1994 and 2004. This is the biggest professional pest management event in Asia and was held concurrently with the 44th IPCA Annual Convention & Exhibition, at the Zuri White Sands Resort, Goa, from 22-24 September 2011.
The tent erected in the hotel grounds to host the exhibition
IPCA is a non-profit trade association of professional pest management companies in India. Founded in 1967, it is the premier association of the professional pest management industry in India, with close to 250 members throughout the country today. The Federation of Asian and Oceania Pest Managers Associations (FAOPMA : www.faopma.com), was officially established in 1989 with members from Asian and Oceania countries for the common interests of the pest management industry. Country membership is restricted to one pest management association from each country and/or region. Last years event FAOPMA 2010 was held at Manila, Philippines and the next year FAOPMA 2012, will be held at Adelaide, Australia.

The 23rd FAOPMA Convention was attended by close to 500 delegates from India as well as foreign participants from China, South Korea, Hong Kong-SAR, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, The Philippines, Portugal, Poland, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Israel, UK, USA, Australia, UAE, Oman, Qatar and Sri Lanka. The profile of participants wasfrom the top Indian and international pest management service and product supply companies - top/medium level management of product companies, managers/owners of service companies, industry experts, professionals, academicians and Govt. dignitaries.


Always a good time to meet old friends.  Mr Park from Korea

The hotel had a period feel