How many shows can the industry support?

[DannyCox]

I came out of the Aerospace & Defense sector, and did a lot of the trade shows. The thing was there was only a maximum of two a year per event in North America. Most were very specific shows such as the SAMPE show (Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering), the SME show (Society of Manufacturing Engineers), etc. There was nowhere near the number of shows for a single industry as we have in Adult. Plus the seminars were actual seminars! Not just a bunch of guys trying to sell themselves or their product.

True Trade Organizations first have a Call For Papers where people interested in giving a seminar or being involved in one, submit their "lecture abstract" to a review board. The board then goes through the papers and selects the ones they feel are relevant for the show, or would make a good fit for a panel discussion. When you are approved, you then have to deliver your "article" which ends up being published in the Periodical from the Trade Show. I've done two papers for the trades and have been published twice in the SAMPE Journal.

I wish that more thought would go into the seminars, as they always seem just thrown together. I tend to walk out as soon as I hear anyone start talking about what "I" can do for you! That belongs in a booth or in a Trade Show hospitality suite, not in a seminar.