Hannover. DOMOTEX has built up a reputation as a key international showcase for interior furnishers and decorators, parquet installers, floor layers, joiners and painters. Over the course of many years it has served as a one-stop shop for all the products and services needed by tradespeople who work in the flooring and related sectors. From next year on, to give exhibitors and visitors in these sectors even greater value, the show will feature a revamped hall layout in which the ever-popular TREFFPUNKT HANDFWERK skilled trades event and the displays of flooring application and installation technologies are located in Hall 13. The new location will give visitors from the skilled trades everything they need in order to be even more effective at their jobs. They will be able to compare notes with their peers, try out new products and familiarize themselves with the latest flooring application and installation systems. Hall 13 also offers professional development opportunities in the form of expert talks and lectures. And to cap it all off, the TREFFPUNKT HANDWERK showcase has a beer garden where trade professionals can relax and socialize with their peers.

Talks and lectures for practical tricks and tips

The TREFFPUNKT HANDWERK lecture program is all about giving trade professionals knowledge and insights they can use in their everyday work. The lectures and talks will be moderated by Norbert Strehle, an expert in screed laying, parquet installation and floor laying in general. Spanning all four days of DOMOTEX, the program will feature presentations on current issues and challenges and the latest solutions and techniques by leading experts.

Udo Hermann, tradesman, entrepreneur and author of the Das Erfolgskonzept für Handwerker guide to successful business for tradespeople, will be giving a lecture at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day on "Trades 4.0: Will Digital Tools Bring More Success?" Frank Pielot, an officially appointed and sworn parquet laying expert with the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, will be giving a presentation at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily entitled "No Cause for Panic: The Right Way to Deal with Customer Complaints." Karsten Krause, an officially appointed and sworn expert in textile and resilient floor coverings, will give a talk at 12 noon and 4 p.m. daily themed "Not for Amateurs: Why Luxury Vinyl Flooring Calls for Experts." The program will be rounded out by the traditional Expert Quiz, which will be held daily at 1 p.m. The lecture program will be held in German only and is organized in partnership with the German trade journal boden wand decke.

Another important new development for DOMOTEX 2018 is that the show will have UNIQUE YOUNIVERSE as its keynote theme. This refers to the current individualization trend and is designed to give flooring industry professionals, including tradespeople, an idea of the products and services their customers may soon be expecting from them. Increasingly, consumers are looking for ways to express their individuality through the products they use – including the products they use to shape their homes. They are looking for tailored solutions and unique combinations of materials, both old and new. Hall 9 is DOMOTEX’s ‘headquarters’ for this theme. There, visiting professionals will find concrete examples of what flooring and interior design might look like in the near future. That’s everything, from displays of individual products to integrated multi-product/provider display zones to artistic interpretations of the keynote theme.