Blenheim slams Novell for switch

The vendor's withdrawal from the Networks show has angered Blenheim

A row has erupted between Novell and events organiser Blenheim after the vendor pulled out of Blenheim's Networks show to back Networld & Interop.

The move led Blenheim to claim Novell was dropping out because it stood to profit from pushing the Networld & Interop brand, and was struggling 'to regain marketing direction'.

Graeme Howe, Blenheim's Networks 97 event director, said: 'As a firm which extracts financial gain from the Networld & Interop shows worldwide by virtue of its ownership of the Networld brand, Novell has to be seen to help its own event.'

In addition, Blenheim, determined to embarass Novell, revealed that only weeks ago the vendor's representatives were piling praise on Networks 96.

Tina Cowley, Novell UK marketing manager, who is on record as saying 'Networks 96 offers the best opportunity for Novell to promote its brands', tried to explain the change.

'Since that event we have been to Networld & Interop. Networks 96 was a good show at the time but Networld & Interop was better,' she said.

She confirmed Novell earned a royalty fee by licensing the Networks brand to Networld& Interop owner Softbank, but said she did not know if this was a yearly or one-off payment.

Tom Schuster, MD of Novell UK, said: 'We could go to many shows but you have to make a choice and that's what we did - there is no sleight on Blenheim.'

Both parties quibbled over attendance figures. Blenheim claimed Networld & Interop only pulled in 5,500 visitors, compared with its draw of 28,551 people.

But Novell said there were 11,000 people at Softbank's first show.