The official Facebook page of the European show organization should be the digital mirror of a real fair who speaks the language of the helicopter industry. But that's not the case

by Nicola Zamperini

After publishing this article we already know that Helipress will never be invited again to Helitech International. So, in other words, we can no longer go to London or Amsterdam or elsewhere. We decided that we are care more for the fate of the helicopter industry and its communication world than being simply invited to a fair.

Here's the story.

Yesterday morning, after our usual editorial meeting, we were preparing our focus on Helitech 2015 when our social media manager caught our attention with a really disappointed tone. He decided to share some pictures of the show and instead, flipping down the page of Helitech Events on Facebook, he was left literally speechless.

With an embarrassed smile he showed us the monitor scrolling down what had happened in the past months on the Facebook page of the third most important exhibition of the helicopter industry. And so we leafed through the photos of Helitech on the social network. And we could not help but take note of the images we saw: a goat, the snapshot of a pancake, people drinking beer, improbable recipes, a dolphin and so on.

Just take a look. 

There are also some pictures of helicopters, of course.

We hope the social media strategist at Helitech doesn't mind: we appreciate and we understand the irony. We love the irony. But this time we were astonished. And we got a question mark hanging over.

Where is the industry?

The assumption from which you need to start is that the Facebook page of a international fair is the digital mirror of a real fair. A fair that exist in the real world. And the Internet is not a means of communication (just leave this thought to fools and ignorant) the Internet is a place.

And the Helitech Events page would be the virtual place where you can meet the most important manufacturers and providers of the world? This would be the virtual place where industry will exhibit and show to the world the new machines? This would be the place where aircraft lessors will tell the latest financial solutions to buy a helicopter?

Airbus Helicopters, AgustaWestland, Bell Helicopter know that their helicopters will end up on the internet along with goats?

And what about the CEOs of these companies?

As usual you have to make an effort to keep staring at the moon and forgetting the finger, as Confucius once said. So you've to look not at the Helitech Facebook page but you've to to stare at the producers' reaction.

So we can say that the lamentations on the alleged Italian “provincialism” sounds now ludricrous. They're the same allegations that every now and then, half-heartedly, are also associated to Helipress. These considerations have no basis when compared to such a communication model.

Some might say that "Helitech International hosts worldwide known providers and manufacturers": well, just on Facebook there are a billion people and getting to it costs less than a flight to London.

But one thing more needs to be clarified.

We are curious, really curious to understand the link between a fair of the rotorcaft industry and a goat, the link between an aircraft leasing company and a pancake, we're eager to know the link between a new model of helicopter and an unlikely mixture.

We cannot ask these questions to the Helitech staff, that has every right to choose the social media management they prefers, even through what Sigmund Freud called "Free association".

We're asking these questions to the industry: what is the value of this type of communication?

Since we start, at Helipress we studied the best ways to talk with industry professionals through the social networks. Since we start, we applied ourselves to meet the needs of a community of specialized fans, as those who follow us know well. But this way of doing just eludes us.

And we cannot understand the ratio beyond the choice of those who have decided to bring their best helicopters in that web feed.