We are so Amateur! - Postscript to London Intl Wine Fair Post

I'm fascinated to see that among the most frequent comments (on Twitter, Facebook and in the replies in this blog) about the London Intl Wine Fair and Prowein are complaints about Excel being an inconvenient place to get to and about the cost of WiFi and unavailability of food in Dusseldorf.

Get real! Excel is a successful exhibition venue; the LIWF is one of its smaller events. Thousands of caterers make their way there to look at cookers and plates at the Hotelympia fare; travel agents and operators from across the country pack out the Travel Market. What's so bloody precious about wine people that we can't handle the DLR?

If the wine trade was booming in the UK, the show wouldn't even be at Excel; it would be at the NEC in Birmingham, another inconvenient venue that has little difficulty selling its space to trade fairs.

As for the the WiFi complaint. Yes, it's annoying to have to pay €40 to be able to tweet or check one's email, but on a scale of 1-10, I'd place it very near the bottom. If that's all the Germans have to worry about, I don't think they'll be losing any sleep.