The ONS 2006 exhibition, conference and festival in Stavanger has exceeded all the organiser’s expectations, says Kjell Ursin-Smith, managing director of the ONS Foundation.

Over 1 100 paying delegates – a new record – attended the conference, while the 1 251 exhibitors attracted roughly 34 000 visitors. This was a slight increase on 2004.

A record was also set for the number of journalists attending the event, with 330 from 20 countries registering with the press centre.

“My goal for the 2006 show was that people should feel welcome, and that we should see smiling faces all around,” says Mr Ursin-Smith.

“I feel we’ve achieved that, with clear evidence that people have enjoyed themselves and a lot of positive feedback. It also looks as if a lot of business has been done.

“At the same time, I’ve seen a number of minor areas where we’ll be aiming to make improvements for the next ONS event in 2008.”

He added that ONS had been very fortunate in its choice of “bridging the energy gap” as the main theme for the 2006 event.

“We’ve seen this reflected in the exhibition and very much in the conference. It’s even found expression in our festival programme, with the Hot/cold theme in the closing concert which ranged musically from Sami to salsa.”

He also paid tribute to the organising team, and took the opportunity to express his thanks to everyone who had contributed to the success of the show.

With 50 per cent of the exhibitors coming from outside Norway, the exhibition occupied just over 17 500 square metres of stand space divided between 10 halls and various outdoor sites.

There have been 366 stands, including 18 national pavilions which often housed smaller stands. Twenty-three countries were represented in all.