Are Trade Shows a thing of the past?

[Hell Puppy]

Interesting little side show over there...some good discussion, but overall I think there's a good demonstration of how little most people understand about how trade shows really work.

The viewing angles fascinate me...

From the attendees point of view there's a pretty strong agreement that:

1) There are too many shows, they'd rather see a smaller number of larger more well attended shows than a dozen or more small-ish shows.

2) ROI and costs are now important, cheaper badges, cheaper venues, cheaper destinations are all very desirable.

3) The formats of the shows and content of seminars are "same old same old" and return little if any value unless you're a noob.

Meanwhile, the show producers we've heard from:

AVNChris -- Same thing we've heard from all of his predecessors. They claim they want the feedback, then they do same shit. He's clearly thinking Vegas/Miami rotation as usual. As long as they make money, or as long as that contract with the Diplomat lasts, nothing is changing.

Helmy -- Not surprisingly, it seems Helmy isn't exactly open to criticism. He left the thread early on.

LAJ and Connor -- These guys are the only ones who've really tried to consistently tweak their format to provide value and go after venues that are affordable to keep costs down. Their fellow show promoters clearly aren't out to do 'em any favors as evidenced by moving dates of Xbiz summer to be in front of 'em and on top of 'em. So these guys are taking the position of they'll continue to just quietly do their own thing. I respect that.

Sponsor point of view....

Surprisingly few big name sponsors chiming in....and these guys are who really dictate which shows live and die. Pretty clear the employees of these companies are desperate for the shows to continue. They insist we cant afford to let any of them die. This is silly, free market WILL correct the problem of more supply than demand every time. But I see where they're coming from since less shows means potentially less employees needed by these companies to support said shows.