MILAN—Mido, the international optics, optometry and ophthalmology exhibition held annually here, took place at the Fieramilano Rho-Pero center from March 1 to 3, 2014, with a range of new activities, including a public event throughout Milan, Midounvolto, to raise the profile of eyewear.
This year, organizers shared that companies that had not been exhibiting returned to the show and overall the exhibition had more than 1,100 exhibitors from 49 countries, representing all five continents


    Cirillo Marcolin.

“We are particularly proud of these figures which confirm the vitality of our exhibition,” said Cirillo Marcolin, president of Mido and ANFAO. “Over the years, Mido has succeeded in keeping itself up-to-date without losing sight of the importance of its networking value and on-the-field experience. Our goal is to continue to be a fundamental tool at the service of companies that compete globally. This is what we have focused our organizing efforts on this year and we appear to have been rewarded by the response of companies.”

A fundamental part of this renewal, and an increasingly more experiential and relational approach, is the partial reworking of the exhibition layout, organizers said. This project began this year and will continue in the coming years. “Mido should, on the one hand, enable companies to offer their products as effectively as possible and, on the other, give visitors a complete overview of industry production, in a quick and functional way,” added Giovanni Vitaloni, vice president of Mido and ANFAO.

To accommodate this plan, the show was divided into different product areas that were distributed among the various pavilions. Pavilion 9 hosted Mido Tech, showcasing machinery, and equipment, and the Fair East Pavilion and Pavilion 11, which housed exhibitors from Asia. Pavilions 13 and 15 held the Mido Fashion District for frame companies and the Press Village with trade magazines from all over the world. Pavilion 22 was dedicated to Lenses, with a new Design Technologies area hosting suppliers of raw materials. Lastly, in Pavilion 24, there was the Mido Design Lab which housed the companies that are most focused on design.

Additionally, for the first time this year organizers partnered with Bocconi University in Milan to enlist the students completing a Master’s in Marketing and Communication degree to come up with some innovative ideas for Mido. Two of these proposals were accepted and implemented directly by the students under the supervision of Mido’s staff; the Beststand Award and Midounvolto. The Bestand Award was given to the booth with the most eye-catching, original and communicative stand. Visitors were able to vote for the best stand using the MidoApp and mobile site with the award going to the most-voted stand. The winner, Silvian Heach, which was a first time exhibitor at the show, was announced on March 2 and won their choice of exhibition space at Mido 2015.

Midounvolto, was a project that aimed to engage the public, drawing its attention to the world of eyewear. For the first time during the exhibition days, Mido held events throughout the city; first was a pop up runway show that started in the Piazza della Scalawent down to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and ended in the Piazza del Duomo greeted by a full contingent of paparazzi. The event followed a communication campaign with teasers on social sites, local promotional activities and guerrilla marketing. Midounvolto ended with a large party planned for “all young eyewear maniacs” and “eyewear aficionados” on Saturday evening at Superstudio’s Artpoint in Via Tortona 27. Entertainment was provided by DJ Alex Farolfi, La Pina and Diego from Radio Deejay and blogger Silvia Paoli with live tweeting from the party.

Lastly, this year Mido brought in KPMG to analyze Mido’s performance and advise on the direction to follow in order to maintain its leadership. Vision Monday will report on those findings as soon as they become available. Mido 2014 show attendance numbers were not released as of VMail’s presstime.

The 45th Mido exhibition will be held at Fieramilano Rho-Pero center from Feb. 28 to March 2, 2015.