Frequently asked questions and answers

spoga+gafa365 is a year-round digital matchmaking platform for buyers and suppliers in the garden lifestyle industry. It is not only used by spoga+gafa participants to prepare for and follow up on the etrade fair in Cologne, but also by buyers throughout the year for supplier and product scouting and by suppliers throughout the year for new customer acquisition. In addition to trade fair exhibitors, industry companies that do not exhibit at the trade fair can also present themselves digitally here. The spoga+gafa app, on the other hand, is a purely event-related application and designed as an on-site trade fair companion, i.e. it has functions exclusively for your on-site visit to Cologne. The app contains a list of exhibitors, the hall plan, the event program, the ticket wallet and a badge scanner.

Both the use of the digital matchmaking platform spoga+gafa365 and the spoga+gafa app are free of charge. For the use of spoga+gafa365, only the registration of a Koelnmesse account is necessary. Access to the spoga+gafa app is currently still reserved for holders of trade fair tickets, but in future will also only require a Koelnmesse account for full use.

The list of exhibitors and the digital hall plan for spoga+gafa can be found on the digital matchmaking platform spoga+gafa365 and in the spoga+gafa app. As an exhibitor, you have automatically purchased a marketing package with basic services when you registered for your stand. This package includes your entry in the list of exhibitors and the hall plan on both digital channels of spoga+gafa. To access these and other functions, please log in with your Koelnmesse account.

No. For reasons of sustainability, spoga+gafa is foregoing printed media completely. There is therefore neither an exhibition catalogue nor a visitor guide. Pre- and post-fair preparation will be carried out exclusively via the matchmaking platform spoga+gafa365. The spoga+gafa app will also help with orientation on the exhibition grounds on site.

The exhibitors' press releases can be found on the company profiles on the digital matchmaking platform spoga+gafa365.

The visibility of one's own contact details for other users can be adjusted during onboarding or at any time in the personal user profile. On the spoga+gafa365 matchmaking platform, this can be done under "Edit profile", on the spoga+gafa app under "Contact details". You can choose between the settings "private", "contacts only" and "public".

The spoga+gafa365 can be set to German or English in the top right-hand corner using the button next to the profile picture. The spoga+gafa app automatically identifies the language that is set by default on the mobile device. If this language is not supported, English is set as default. The language can only be changed by changing the language settings of the device to German/English.

All main exhibitors, co-exhibitors, group organizers and group participants at the spoga+gafa trade fair automatically receive a virtual showroom on the spoga+gafa365 matchmaking platform and an entry in the exhibitor directory on the spoga+gafa app via the obligatory marketing package. The most important showroom information is automatically transferred from spoga+gafa365 to the exhibitor entry in the spoga+gafa app. Maintaining the virtual showroom on spoga+gafa365 therefore pays off twice over. The virtual showroom at spoga+gafa365 will remain in place until April 30 of the following year and can be extended beyond that either by registering for a new trade fair or by booking a virtual showroom.

To increase your visibility and findability, you can edit your basic entry in the list of exhibitors at any time on spoga+gafa 365 and upgrade it to a virtual showroom free of charge. In the virtual showroom you can store your logo, banner, product entries and links to further information such as press releases or brochures. Here you can also edit the name and heading of the company, for example to be found under a specific brand name. The virtual showroom records all digital visitors and allows them to contact the exhibitor interactively via chat and appointment request.

Non-exhibitors can also book a virtual showroom on the matchmaking platform spoga+gafa365 for 150 euros per month.

Initially, only the respective main contacts of Koelnmesse who have registered the trade fair booth or booked the virtual showroom have the authorization to activate a company team and thus the virtual showroom at spoga+gafa365. Each company should have control over which digital content is entered and which employees are made visible to the platform and trade fair community.

The activation and maintenance of the virtual showroom takes place on the matchmaking platform spoga+gafa365. The main contact person of the company for Koelnmesse must log in with their personal Koelnmesse account access data. The e-mail address must be identical to the one on the trade fair registration or showroom booking so that spoga+gafa365 recognizes the user and grants the authorization to activate the corporate team and thus the virtual showroom. In the course of onboarding, the company team is automatically activated, provided that the setting "Activate company team" remains unchanged. The "My Team" button at the top right takes the user to the back office of the showroom and allows them to edit the showroom content, team, leads and company chat.

A description of the individual steps to activate your digital trade fair presence can be found here.

Only after the company team has been activated at spoga+gafa365 will all showroom functions be activated. Only then can the company link additional employees, enter products, btrademarks, press releases and other content, collect and export digital leads and be contacted by users. The most important information is automatically transferred from spoga+gafa365 to the spoga+gafa app.

The main contact person for the fair is automatically assigned to the exhibitor's team and thus receives access to the exhibitor's back office area. This person must then activate the area "My Team" and can then invite other employees, provided that they have already registered as users on the platform.

Leads from the virtual showroom on the spoga+gafa365 matchmaking platform can be edited in the "My Team" area. Once the leads have become contacts or meetings, the contact data of these leads can be exported as an excel file. The export of leads collected via the app, e.g. by badge scanning from stand personnel, can be done free of charge by sending a request to digitalsales@koelnmesse.de and specifying the employee names. Here, too, there will be an automated export in the future.

The spoga+gafa app is currently designed as a companion for the trade fair visit in Cologne, while the matchmaking platform spoga+gafa 365 is accessible all year round. Thus, the virtual showroom at spoga+gafa 365 will remain available for digital users until the following trade fair. The virtual showroom will continue to record digital leads and contact enquiries from customers. The virtual showroom at spoga+gafa 365 will only be deactivated if a company has neither registered for the spoga+gafa trade fair nor taken out a digital showroom subscription at spoga+gafa 365 by 30 April of the following year.

All information on the digital marketing packages can be found here . Please contact Sabine Morgenstern for a personal consultation at s.morgenstern@koelnmesse.de .

In the future, virtual B2Buyer events will be held on spoga+gafa365. These are B2B speed dating events that regularly bring together interested buyers and vetted suppliers based on their preferences and search criteria. For all questions about the B2Buyer events, please contact Sabine Morgenstern personally at s.morgenstern@koelnmesse.de .

An iFrame interface can be added to the basic virtual showroom for 1,800 euros. It is linked to the subscription period of the respective showroom and enables additional 3D product scans or promotional films to be integrated. Enquiries can be sent to digitalsales@koelnmesse.de .

Exhibitors and visitors can now log in to the platform at https://www.spogagafa.de under the top navigation item "spogagafa365". Access is free of charge.

No ticket is required to access the matchmaking platform spoga+gafa365. Only a personal Koelnmesse account is required. If a personal Koelnmesse account does not yet exist, a new one must be created. A ticket is currently still required for app use; here, too, a Koelnmesse account will soon be sufficient for the full use of all functions.

For the login on the matchmaking platform spoga+gafa365and in the spoga+gafa app, the data of the personal Koelnmesse account must be used. If no personal Koelnmesse account exists yet, a new one must be created and the e-mail address must be confirmed once.

For the login on the matchmaking platform spoga+gafa365 and in the spoga+gafa app, the data of the personal Koelnmesse account must be used. If no personal Koelnmesse account exists yet, a new one must be created and the e-mail address must be confirmed once.

In case of login problems, an email can be sent to support@spogagafa365.com .

The spoga+gafa app has been available for download in both the App Store and the Play Store since the end of March 2023. Anyone who still has the spoga+gafa app from 2022 on their mobile device should uninstall it and download the new event app.

The spoga+gafa app is available for the iPhone and for Android-based smartphones. Note for Huawei users: You can find the spoga+gafa app in the Aurora Store.

Among other things, the app contains a list of exhibitors, a digital hall plan, a ticket wallet and a badge scanner. An overview of all app functions is available here .

The ticket is located in the ticket wallet, which appears on the start page.

The badge ID and the badge scanner are located on the start page of the spoga+gafa app.

The spoga+gafa app contains a badge scanner and an individual badge ID. With the scanner, employees at the stand can digitally record customer contacts. The collected contacts are saved in the employee's personal profile. If you wish, we can make these leads available to you as an Excel file after the trade fair. To do this, please send your request with the names of the profiles concerned to support@spogagafa365.com . We are working on being able to offer you a download of the badge scanning contacts at the touch of a button for the next trade fair, just as it already works with visitors on the spoga+gafa 365 matchmaking platform.

Please ensure that you have installed the spoga+gafa App 2023 and delete older versions if necessary.