More than 600 delegates and participants flocked to Rome from more than 41 countries, including Australia, Peru and Russia, for the 2nd Global DIY Summit last week, chaired by EDRA, fediyma and GHIN.
The event combined a multi-faceted conference, featuring nineteen speakers discussing everything from their own business' success stories, to the biggest challenges and opportunities facing retailers and suppliers in the DIY industry today. Speakers from Google to Amazon, Kingfisher, OBI, Homebase and Weber ensured the Roma Sheraton conference room was packed to the brim over the two days, while a spectacular gala dinner at the luxurious Villa Miani celebrated a lifetime of industry achievement for OBI co-founder Manfred Maus.

"Everything just seemed to click," EDRA general secretary John Herbert told DIY Week, "the global attendance we had was just fantastic and really showed just how important this event has become. I think attendees really enjoyed the networking, Villa Miani was brilliant and the programme just really seemed to hit the nerve - a special mention must be made to Google, who really did enrich the event by having a presence there.

"Something which several attendees have said to me is that the event truly succeeded in getting the pulse of the industry," he added, "everyone left with a good idea of what is going on."

· Read more in the June 14 and June 28 issues of DIY Week