Tech woes reflected in Vegas show cancelation

Kevin Ferguson

Thursday, March 15, 2001 | 11:13 a.m.

The shake-out in the U.S. technology industry is spreading to the trade show industry with cancelation of a Las Vegas exposition that was set for next week.

IDG World Expo, a major trade show producer based in Massachusetts, has canceled a Las Vegas show set for March 19-22 because of disappointing attendance expectations.

The company also postponed two shows scheduled in August so they could be co-located at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the same week in September.

The March trade show was going to be the launch of Internet Entertainment Expo. Show organizers were hoping for 8,000 to 10,000 visitors and 200 exhibitors. Charlie Greco, IDG World Expo's president and chief executive, said the company decided to cancel the show about a month ago because it had only signed up about 100 exhibitors.

"We postponed the show until June of next year because of the downturn in the Internet sector, which has caused a lot of companies to rethink their trade-show budgets, for both exhibitors and visitors," Greco said.

This is a common trend among small trade shows that focus on niches, said Michael Hughes, director of research services for Los Angeles-based Tradeshow Week magazine.

"Trade shows mirror the industry sectors they cover. If the sector is hot, the trade show will be well attended, and if the sector is in a recession the trade show will suffer," Hughes said.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index has plunged more than 3,000 points since its all-time peak March 10, 2000. This week its been teetering on the so-called psychological level of 2,000, strongly demonstrating the troubles the tech industry is suffering.

IDG World's Internet Commerce Expo, originally slated for July 30-Aug. 2, and ASPWorld Conference, originally planned for Aug. 13-16, have been rescheduled for Sept. 11-13 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Both shows were previously held at the San Jose Convention Center in California and attracted between 6,000 to 8,000 attendees last year.

Greco said the move to Las Vegas is because the shows outgrew San Jose.

The downturn in tech trade show attendance, which industry observers say is being felt nationwide, comes as the Las Vegas Convention Center is in the midst of a $150 million expansion.

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority spokesman Rob Powers said the expansion, which will double the exhibiting space from 1.1 million to 2.1 million feet, is on schedule for completion by the end of the year.

But LVCVA officials believe troubles in the tech industry will have little effect on the local convention business.

"It's an industry-wide known fact that (attendance at) technology conferences is down, but tech shows are a small piece of our market," said Nancy Murphy, LVCVA director of sales. "We have all kinds of trade shows from the World of Concrete, which last week brought in 76,000 visitors, to the Nightclub & Bar Convention this week to the Snowsports Industries America show."

Technology industry observers say when companies shrink their travel and trade show budgets, they are more likely to focus on the major shows, like Comdex Fall, Consumer Electronics (CES), Networld+Interop and the National Association of Broadcasters -- all Las Vegas trade shows that attracted between 65,000 to 225,000 visitors last year.

Jeff Joseph, an executive of the Consumer Electronic Association, which runs CES, said the 2002 show has been sold out since the end of this year's show in January. Last year's show brought 126,000 techies to Las Vegas.

"People were coming into our booth during this year's show to sign up for next year's," Joseph said.