After what the trade show world has been through the past few years, it’s amazing now to see so many shows breaking records that it barely makes news. While we can’t mention all of the success stories (a great problem to have), a few do warrant highlighting. There’s no doubt that the construction industry has been one of the biggest victims of the economy, so when the World of Asphalt and AGG1 2012 sets records for attendance, exhibit space, and education sessions, that’s a big deal. As a bonus, those attendees were highly qualified, with 84 percent in managerial roles.
And those record-setting shows are happening “across the pond” as well. PATS Sandown, a recent two-day pet show held in Surrey, England, not only set an attendance record, they doubled their numbers from the 2009 show!
With growth often comes growing pains. It seems that the new show labor union leader in Las Vegas may be taking advantage of the upswing to strong-arm exhibitors. Check out this article on the Classic Exhibits blog for more details.
In other show news:
- Specialty Equipment Marketing Association (SEMA) purchases the PRI racing show
- Power outage at Boston Convention Center causes cancellation of 6,000-attendee health association event
One other trend to be aware of — at the recent SXSWi, many attendees went badgeless. No, that doesn’t mean the conference was going green. What has happened over the past few years is a growing number of people who choose not to register for SXSWi, but still descend on Austin to take advantage of all the social activities (many of which are free) and other non-official events. This blog post by Michelle Bruno details the lessons event organizers need to learn from this trend.
