Conventions

May 1-3, 2012. Categories covered at the National Hardware Show included hardware and tools, homewares, laws/garden and outdoor living, paint and decorators’ accessories, storage and organization systems, plumbing and electrical goods, tailgate products such as grills, tents, sports equipment etc….  An Inventor’s Spotlight section was co-located with Pitch Tank, and inventors had the chance to pitch their breakthrough business concepts and products to Kevin Harrington, Investor Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank and Chairman of TV Goods, and Steve Rogai, CEO and Co-Founder of TV Goods.  The investor seminar covered topics including licensing of inventions, sourcing from suppliers, funding inventions, distribution…  Hey, I’ve got this cigarette lighter vacuum cleaner thing that also cleans your bowling ball and sets off an alarm if it detects smoke….

Trade Show Network News (TSNN), the trade publication for the Trade Show industry has just published its Top 250 trade shows for 2011 and Las Vegas again leads the pack with 7 of the top 10.

While we haven’t fully explored the entire list, it does include several that have pulled out of Vegas because of the expense in exhibiting here. NAPTE comes to mind as they were one of the 1st to go back in 2008. It’s not so much the cost of rooms & meals because we all know that Vegas is king when it comes to cheap room & board. It is the cost of actually putting on the show for both the trade show companies and the exhibitors themselves.

Frequently we hear from vendors that one of the reasons they hate to exhibit in Las Vegas is the uncompromising stance of the unions. For example ASD which is 2 yearly now completely moved into the LVCC when it once was so crowded that it completely filled the Sands Expo, the South Hall at LVCC & the Mirage. Many vendors have pulled out because even if they had no trash or their booth wasn’t messy, they were charge daily for service, often when they came in the next day only to find their trash still full or their booth still with signs of the previous day’s floor flotsam.

The city of Chicago, in 2008, negotiated a deal with the unions that in order for them to grow their trade show opportunities, the unions would give up some concessions while the city agreed to promote their venues as a better bang for the buck. Certainly not in January but April – October, they have increased their trade show purchased footage by several 1000 sq. ft.

2008- In June, major trade show contractors and the union representing the largest single group of workers on the trade show floor announced a new collective bargaining agreement designed to further reduce costs for McCormick Place exhibitors and provide them with greater operational flexibility

Miami and Dallas have followed the lead of Chicago and have been able to attract many more trade shows, not just from Las Vegas but globally since revamping their trade show efforts.

Recently both CES and the Shot Show have renewed their contracts with Las Vegas, but as the old Wall Street adage goes “buy low, sell high, make a profit” it is the opinion of B-T-B that LVCVA needs to think about where it wants to be in the next 5-10 years with the trade show industry that has become the bread and butter of the casinos or do they want to continue to lose market share while focusing on weekend events like the Electric Daisy Carnival that brings crowds with limited money for gambling or trade shows, the bigger of the high dollar revenue drivers? Who has more disposable income; 6 20somethings stuffed in a hotel room with 20.00 each for the weekend or the business person coming for 3 days finding him/herself at 2am jet lagged and in the casino to chill out.

Rossi Ralenkotter & his staff have done an amazing job with turning Las Vegas into a business destination for companies and executives alike but we need to keep growing as THE place to not only have fun but to bring products to market in a business friendly environment.

Where’s Oscar?

Apr 22-25, 2012. CinemaCon “celebrates the moviegoing experience”.  This is the official convention of The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), which claims to play host to the entire motion picture theatre industry, with more than 5,000 industry professionals on hand from the worldwide cinema industry.  It clearly held appeal for most facets of the international motion picture theatre industry—exhibition, distribution, marketing, publicity and advertising, internet and social media. and the theatre equipment and concessions manufacturers and dealers.  The show’s schedule was packed with sponsored events, seminars, screenings, product presentations and a gala award show honoring the best output of the movie industry. CinemaCon also once again incorporated a special day of programming geared for the International Marketplace.  You want me to super-size that popcorn order for you…?

Just some random shots from a few shows this week. Full galleries and coverage will be forthcoming but this is just a little preview:

Technically the last 2 pictures don’t really belong to any show. The 1st one on the bottom left is Remy, who has been trained to find bed bugs. We met him at the Pest Control show in New Orleans. I just like this picture his owner sent us because it shows that even if we have differences, we can still all get along.
The picture on the bottom right is the Space Shuttle Discovery in its last flight on its way to the Smithsonian in Washington DC. By doing this low, 1500 ft, flyover it brought together people from all areas in a city that is constantly ripped apart by partisan politics but on this one day, no matter the party, everyone came out to salute the shuttle. There is another one scheduled to do a fly over in NYC on Monday, April 23rd. It will be the Enterprise not the Discovery but it will dip its wings in the direction of the WTC as a salute to overcoming obstacles and letting our imaginations soar. The Enterprise will be on permanent display at the Intrepid, the Air Space Museum on the Hudson.