The Western IslesBoard

Overview

The Western Isles (Naval) Defense Exposition (WIDEX) is an international exposition hosted by Domanania every year for defense contractors in the naval sector to display their product and seek customers and/or investors for in service, under construction, or in development systems ranging from radars, power generation, drones, missiles, and naval vessels. The three day event is hosted at a prestigious exhibition hall within Domanania, and draws in around 10,000 visitors every year. These visitors range from civilian enthusiasts, to news outlets and national representatives from across The Western Isles. The event has been hosted in Domanania since 1985, and moved to the Saekrasa Exhibition and Convention Hall in 1998 and has been hosted there ever since.

WIDEX is hosted in the Saekrasa Exhibition and Convention Hall (Commonly known as SECH), which is located in the Vateun district of Saekrasa City. It features over 46,500 m2 of exhibition space and 53 meeting rooms. The hall was built in 1996 at a cost of around $138 million. In 2019, SECH completed an expansion, which added a 4,000 seat auditorium and a new exhibition hall.

SECH Exterior

The convention hall is one of the most popular convention halls in the country, hosting large concerts for domestic and international performers, award shows, and political conventions. The hall is located on the water, which has allowed the hall to also host various water based exhibitions, which is why it has been chosen for WIDEX as many nations choose to display medium and large sized ships and systems, which would be difficult to locate within the hall or its outdoor facilities. The convention hall built an attached dock for small vessels around 1km away along the shore, which can host various types of fishing vessels, small to medium yachts, and even small warships.

Over the course of the 3 day event, numerous scheduled events take place within, and outside the exhibition hall. The convention opens with a speech from the director of the Doman International Trade Association.

The events are organized to occur over the course of the day, with 6-8 large shows occurring in the meeting rooms or presentation theaters. Individual booths or sections may schedule small events within their designated areas.

The largest and most popular events are the at-sea demonstrations that occur over the course of the convention. This event was added in 2020 with the opening of the new auditorium, which shows live footage from off shore demonstrations to a large audience. The convention hall operates two small ferries which bring spectators out to sea to watch the demonstrations up close, and individual demonstrators may also bring their own spectator vessels for this same purpose.

From 2005-2008 the WIDEX also organized live fire demonstrations against small drones and land targets, but ceased demonstrations after increasing costs. Ever since, it has been up to the individual presenters to organize such events with permission from WIDEX, and are certified by a Navy, City, and Convention safety officials, ensuring the demonstrations are safe for public viewing, and will not cause harm to any structures, spectators, and vessels near the demonstration area. Live fire exercises using training rounds and inert warheads are allowed to host in person spectators, but ones that desire to fire live rounds at targets are streamed live to one of the show rooms.

WIDEX also hosts a variety of air shows for naval aircraft, drones, and helicopters, with as many as 3 demonstrations a day, but depends on the presenters willingness to perform. On opening day, elements of the Doman 2nd Air Group perform a flyby to inaugurate the event.

Dozens of presenters sign up for WIDEX every year, ranging from multinational corporations to small small specialty companies and military representatives.

The presenters at WIDEX are granted a section of floor space to construct a small booth and fill it with what they desire, within safety guidelines and common decency. Presenters are required to rent a space a year in advance, often selecting from predetermined booth locations and sizes. The larger booths, and ones in the high traffic zones often cost more. Many areas contain shared booths, where up to 5 presenters may set up within a 6㎡ area. The common single operator space measures roughly 9㎡, which comes in prefabbed booths. Larger spaces may reach up to 18㎡. Once a space is rented, how they decorate and display their product is up to the booth operator within provided guidelines.

Large displays must be approved by a safety commissioner before being set up. Booth operators were the ones who normally tested the safety of their booth, but following an incident in 2009, a safety commission for the convention hall was established to promote safety at all events hosted within the building.

Some presenters choose to forego a booth in the building and instead have outdoor booths. These out door booths can be constructed presentation pavilions, or floating booths hosted on ships in the marina. However, most booth presenters will use a small booth inside to promote the larger area outside. This exterior area also allows for larger mock ups and displays that wouldn't be permitted inside the main hall.

WIDEX also hosts a variety of seminars, without the use of a booth. These seminars are scheduled through out the day in specific meeting rooms and theaters. These seminars include on boarding for customers, and more structured presentations. Various business meetings are also hosting in meeting rooms, facilitating smooth transactions based on successful presentations.

Given the intricate nature of international relations, many nations desire to present at the international WIDEX, but may not be friendly with the host nation or any of the presenters. Because of this, WIDEX has a stated promise of neutrality, allowing any nation to present at the exposition regardless of national relations. The only limiter is available space within the hall or marina.

WIDEX also puts in significant effort to make sure that presenters that may belong to hostile countries are given a wide berth to avoid conflict. WIDEX also requires private and national entities that are permitted inside sign a document ensuring that hostile espionage and sabotage will not occur within the event. Failure to follow these rules may result in the exclusion of presentations at future conventions.

WIDEX prides itself on this promise of neutrality, and provides adequate security towards this goal. There has not been a recorded incident regarding hostile nations or entities since 2003.

WIDEX is one of the most influential defense expositions within The Western Isles. The exposition has lead to a wide range of international cooperation between several nations on naval and maritime projects, as well as greater public understanding of the maritime defense industry. WIDEX prides itself on being a beacon of cooperation and development.

WIDEX has also been cited as a cause of a sort of arms race that has persisted among the nations of TWI. Being largely island nations, the emphasis on naval technology and development is paramount, and the large scale display of systems and capabilities has caused many nations to increase their own capabilities to match those around them. Entities of all kinds push the limits of their capabilities to try and solicit customers, and intimidate their foes.