Dealers give Softeach a gold star of approval

Although the numbers for last weekend's spring Softeach were slightly down on last year - 1,998 dealers, compared with more than 2,200 last year - those dealers which did attend enjoyed the extra attention they received.

The show's highlights included the official reseller grand prize of a u2,500 holiday and a camcorder. The low point was a brawl between a vendor and a dealer in the hotel on Friday.

Merisel marketing director Venetia Edney-Ball said: 'The figures for last October were slightly up on May, but we don't market this one as hard, so we were very pleased with overall attendance.'

AST and Novell were both up-beat about the event, Novell having seen about 500 dealers over the weekend despite no longer having an applications business.

David Atherton, MD of mail-order dealer Dabs Direct, said: 'Merisel is not actively trading with as many people and didn't market Softeach as hard which was reflected in the numbers. But since it's a weekend show, there's a good chance of meet ing other dealers while training your sales staff.'

Sinead Marshall, distribution sales manager for US Robotics, which had a circus stand, said: 'We had packed out seminars every time and had to turn people away, so that's why we gave them candy floss.'