SIGGRAPH Draws Bigger, More Animated Audience

Graphics event benefits from being held in entertainment capital

By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 8/23/2004

Los Angeles—If the Assn. for Computing Machinery were only interested in drawing attendees, the group might consider permanently locating SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles, where computer animation is currently a big part of the film industry.

But the 57-year-old association has more to worry about than luring blockbuster audiences for its annual computer animation tradeshow — namely balancing the varied needs of its more than 75,000 members.

"ACM is not for profit," points out Sheila Hoffmeyer, a marketing and media specialist with SmithBucklin, which manages SIGGRAPH's conference. "We like to expose ourselves to different markets."

Still, results from this year's show, held Aug. 8–12 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, once again demonstrated the attendance bounce that organizers typically get from holding SIGGRAPH in the City of Angels.

At 73,000 net square feet and featuring 229 exhibitors, the showfloor was only slightly larger than in 2003, when 240 exhibitors filled 68,000 net sq. ft. at the San Diego Convention Center. But attendance of 27,825 this year was up markedly from the 24,332 professionals who turned out in San Diego.

Moreover, attendees and exhibitors alike seemed delighted with the gathering's Hollywood-adjacent location. As Rob Bennett, senior support engineer for exhibitor DVS Digital Video, put it: "The industry's here. All the customers are here. L.A.'s the way to go."

Two years ago, the show moved to San Antonio. Attendance plummeted to 17,274, and rather than generating $1 million or so in income, the show incurred a $1.3-million loss. On the showfloor this year, exhibitors were still fuming about the 2002 location choice.

"Moving it to L.A. (permanently) would be the best move SIGGRAPH could make," said Adrian Bottos, product manager for Toronto-based eyeon Software. "To go to San Antonio just didn't make sense."

The 31-year-old show's location is decided years in advance by a conference advisory group comprised of members of ACM, whose policy calls for SIGGRAPH to be held in a West Coast venue during odd-numbered years and in a non-West Coast location during even-numbered years. However, the advisory group can break with policy provided it gets a waiver.

Tellingly, in reaction to disappointing conference registration numbers in 2002, the ACM advisory board decided not to hold the event in Atlanta in 2004 as planned, opting instead to move it to Los Angeles. The group reasoned that the $1 million in potential additional revenue could more than offset the $48,000 cancellation fee paid to Atlanta.

"Because the West Coast has a higher concentration of our conference attendee base, it is estimated that we would have 1,000 more technical attendees, as well as higher overall attendance, if the conference were held on the West Coast," stated minutes from a 2002 advisory group meeting. The minutes went on to note that "exhibitors prefer the higher overall attendance figures that we get with the California venues."

Despite that, Los Angeles for the time being will remain just a temporary stop in the show's rotation. Next year, SIGGRAPH is confirmed for the L.A. Convention Center from July 31 to Aug. 4. But in 2006, it will be held at the new Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

Mike Weil, a vice president and show director with Hall-Erickson, which manages the SIGGRAPH exhibition, said he believes the Los Angeles location "plays a large role" in boosting turnout. Exhibitors appreciate the fact that the entertainment-industry buyers the show draws when it's held in L.A. are their core customers.

But even though computer graphics and animation are hot areas of interest in Hollywood, Hoffmeyer said the entertainment industry represents only one of the markets the show is trying to reach.

Besides an exhibit floor displaying the latest software to help animators do their jobs, SIGGRAPH provides a platform for the presentation of technical papers from both academic and private research efforts. And while some companies, such as Microsoft, can't be found on the showfloor, their research efforts are prominently represented in the technical papers, Hoffmeyer said.