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PARIS—Organizers of the Silmo exhibition, which was held at the Parc des Expositions - Villepinte Sept. 27 to 30, reported that it welcomed 35,888 visitors, an increase of 2.5 percent over 2018, comprised of 56 percent international and 44 percent French attendees. There were 970 exhibitors at the show this year. Silmo offered a range of activities, events and programs to create a "360-degree experience" at the fair this year. In addition to the education presented at the Silmo Academy, the organizers also presented a first-time, 24-hour Silmo Hackathon, where five international multidisciplinary teams of five people each were "invited to imagine tomorrow's retail world."

Open to professions in vision, distribution, merchandising, design, the social sciences, marketing and production—from the optical world or elsewhere—this is a collaborative event which is designed to provide views of the future.

At the Silmo Next space, the Selection presented an exclusive, selective panorama of trendy products by the exhibitors, a three-dimensional showcase of the digital magazine. Within Silmo Next, Futurology space featured theme lectures on the markets, new digital innovations and several speaker presentations. Silmo presented its 2019 Silmo d'Or laureates during a special event on Sept. 28, as VMAIL reported.