Wednesday, April 30, 2003 | 11:03 a.m.
Barring a last-minute rush, the NetWorld+Interop technology convention in Las Vegas this week will fall well short of the 40,000 attendees at last year's event.
As predicted two weeks ago, Key3Media Group Inc., producer of the show, said Tuesday that pre-registration numbers and early arrivals indicate total attendance of about 30,000.
Michael Millikin, senior vice president with Key3Media, said there is still time for numbers to climb. The convention opened Sunday, but exhibits opened Tuesday and could attract additional traffic.
"We are tracking for about 30,000," he said. "We'll still have to see how it goes. Last year we had 11,000 people show up on our doorstep unannounced."
The lighter crowd on Tuesday was obvious to attendees.
"Attendance is down," said Kaoru Numata, president of Tokyo-based NRI Pacific Inc., a management consulting firm assessing companies at the event.
A weak Asian economy is to blame for some of the thinning of the crowd, Numata said. As convention dollars dry up, he said, companies are being forced to be more selective of the shows they attend.
"Many companies choose to go to (Key3's) Comdex over this show," Numata said.
Millikin said international fears over severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) resulted in about 2,000 fewer Asian attendees at this year's convention.
Bahram Eslampour, director of sales for I-Bus, a hardware manufacturer based in San Jose, Calif., agreed that attendance was down. With fewer attendees, that has left a lot of sales people on the exhibition floor talking to each other.
"So far, there's been a lot of people wanting to sell us stuff," Eslampour said. "People buying? Not yet."
It could pick up by Friday, the last day of the convention, he said. Even with more attendees, however, a generally weak technology market will still make sales difficult, Eslampour said.
"We can find people that want to buy, but finding somebody that has a budget is a different story," he said. "Everybody feels the pressure."
That pressure has affected Key3Media, which sought bankruptcy protection shortly after the Comdex convention in November. The company has since seen its fortunes improve.
On April 10, the producer of NetWorld+Interop, Comdex and other technology-related tradeshows and conventions announced it had reached an agreement with creditors in its bankruptcy case. The reorganization plan reduced the company's debt from $372 million to $50 million. It also received a $30 million financing package with Thomas Weisel Partners LLC.
"It's extremely good news," Millikin said, adding that the newly announced plans eased the fears of show participants. "The bankruptcy announcement definitely gave people reason to pause. It's not something you go into lightly."
Better financial news is expected to have a greater impact on Comdex, Millikin said. The $30 million cash infusion will allow the company to further invest in the show, and the market has responded, he said.
Millikin pointed to a recent announcement that Microsoft founder Bill Gates will appear at Comdex as positive news.
"Within the next 30, 45, 60 days, we will have a very clear idea about the shape of that show," he said.
Millikin said Comdex organizers are confident that attendance will be consistent, hovering around 100,000, but the economy could affect the number of exhibitors.
"The exhibit fluctuates with marketing budgets," he said.
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