Posted July 23rd, 2009 by Zach
Well since we just had the TS2 show, which I was able to attend, I thought it would be fun to analyze both of the exhibit professional trade shows.
First lets start with the Exhibitor Show.
This show has been for years, known as the show to go to if you are looking to see what's new, who's who and everything in between. It really hasn't had any trouble (except in 2001 and during recessions...2009) to turn out a great crowd of attendees. Companies like GE, Boeing, HP and alike all come to the show to make sure they have the latest trends by the biggest exhibit house.
How does this show have so much success? Is it the simple location of Las Vegas that brings everyone together? Or do the show managers really know how to put on a successful show?
In my opinion it is a little of both. I think that the location of the show does help twist the attendees arm to coming. However the Exhibitor Show Managers do a great job in creating hype and making companies almost feel like if they don't go then they are missing an opportunity.
Now for TS2
Well I have only had the opportunity to attend the TS2 show for the last 4 years and I have to say that it is definitley getting worse every year.
How?
Where to begin?
Lets start with the attendees. They are getting less interested and more irritated. The show I am sure brings some companies ROI or else it wouldn't have lasted this long. But I mean evey person I talked to said: "they weren't expecting much" or "this is TS2." How do you expect to keep attendees coming back when the exhibitors are losing interest in the show, and therfore becoming more how you say bland with there booths.
Then we have the show cities...can't we just pick one and stay with it? I mean are we going to a city where Hargrove wants to try to get an in with? Chicago is a great East Coast trade show city, leave it at that. Washington...ok, Philly (I can't sayanything or else the union will hunt me down), Boston...no thanks and then Atlanta COME ON!! Its like the show managers don't care enough to make it a real show.
In fact, this year I heard they chopped down the show floor as a lot of companies backed out (welcome to 2009). But they didn't try to work with the companies that had good second aisle spots they just threw them to the curb and said there was nothing they could do about it. I even know of one company that had only exhibited in 2008 and they got a main spot in the front row. So it's no wonder that hardly anyone signed up for the TS2 Show next year and that it is becoming a "joke" of a show to the industry.
Should they combine forces with the Exhibitor Show and hope that somehow they can turn the show around? Or is it to late? My opinion...Exhibitor Show stay away as the TS2 Show is a sinking ship and you will only drown with it.
Zach
The fact that TS2 has combined forces with cross promotion with IAEE says something... possible buyout down the road?
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Good post-
Ironically...Ts2 used to be the main show until roughly 10-12 years ago and Exhibitor was always secondary. Once a show has a bad year in comparison to a competing show in the same year, it typically creates a RAPID decline because everyone decides the other one has better ROI so they put more $$ and emphasis on the one with the better results (this is true for both exhibitors & attendees), even if it was due to extenuating circumstances (bad location, bad dates, etc.). It only takes one bad year or one bad location to make a show rapidly decline each year thereafter. I think Ts2 hit some locations many years ago that were not well attended and it started the downhill slide of the show (again, I noticed the network party at Navy Pier that was part of Ts2 was very well attended and actually seemed crowded). TSEA is still a very strong organization and has the potential to bring a well attended event to the table - like everything else, you have to reinvent yourself along the way sometimes or you end up getting left behind.
With tight budgets and a tight economy, I think people have naturally decided they don't need 2 of the same exact thing (Ts2 & Exhibitor) - as you saw in my other post, I think the way to save Ts2 is to completely change the format so it's a different experience from Exhibitor that allows for a higher number of exhibitors which will bring more attendees (going to a table-top conference to encourage a larger participation by the industry, promoting more networking events, more meetings/seminars/events to deal with with industry promotion/development).
I believe Ts2 is trying to focus on technology to try and bring more people, but to me...that's just a small "tweak" to the show/conference. They need a major overhaul to get it back on its feet as a major player.