Comdex producers introduce nightclub events for showgoers

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003 | 10:54 a.m.

Some have said that many of the deals struck at Comdex have occurred at poolside parties and hospitality suites well after the trade-show floor has closed.

Organizers of Comdex 2003 decided to put that theory to the test this year, planning a series of themed "Comdex After Dark" parties over three nights at three of the city's most popular hangouts for young adults.

Comdex, the five-day computer exposition that in past years was the city's largest convention, wraps up today at the Las Vegas Convention Center. San Francisco-based MediaLive International Inc., producer of Comdex, said it believes it attracted the 45,000 to 50,000 attendees it expected at this year's show. MediaLive is having attendance figures audited independently.

MediaLive officials didn't need an auditor to determine that the wall-to-wall crowd at a one Comdex party was having fun.

"Our event at Rain was insane," said Eric Faurot, vice president and general manager of Comdex, of a Tuesday-night gathering at the Palms hotel-casino.

The event at Rain featured a "ready-to-wear wireless fashion show" in which runway models showed off the latest in wearable technology.

Faurot said about 1,500 people attended the most popular of the new after-dark events.

"The digital fashion show was kind of a Vegas-meets-geeks event," Faurot said. "The after-dark program gave some of our people a reason to go to some of the hipper spots in Las Vegas. I'm not sure they would have gone there if not for these programs."

While the fashion show was a late-night hit for most of the Comdex crowd -- about 85 percent of the attendees are men -- other after-dark events weren't quite as well attended.

Each Comdex After Dark lounge event was themed to one of Comdex's show themes -- digital enterprise; on-demand computing; Open Source; security; web services; Windows and .NET; and wireless and mobility.

Faurot said the themes gave participants a touch point for networking and conversation. He said when Comdex 2003 is reviewed by his staff, the after-dark events would be evaluated as well.

"We're still getting feedback on this," Faurot said of the events Monday at the Hard Rock hotel-casino, Tuesday at the Palms and Wednesday at The Beach. "We'll compile the data and see what they (attendees) liked."

Faurot said he doesn't think the after-dark program detracted from the private parties put on by tech companies hoping to meet with Comdex delegates.

"In a show this big, there are a lot of people bouncing around, going from one place to another," Faurot said. "The way we look at it, the more options, the better."