And Then There Were Two

By Rachel Wimberly -- Tradeshow Week, 8/28/2006

After nearly two decades as the premier event for the telecommunications industry, SUPERCOMM met its demise in 2005 when the two organizations that jointly organized it couldn't agree to continue. In its wake two new shows launched this year, and now officials at both, the Telecommunications Industry Assn.'s GLOBALCOMM and USTelecom Assn.'s TelecomNEXT, say they'll be back for more in 2007.

Both associations claimed success with their show launches. GLOBALCOMM attracted more than 18,000 attendees and 502 exhibitors to just over 203,000 net square feet June 4–8 at Chicago's McCormick Place. TelecomNEXT drew 10,000 attendees and 270 exhibitors to 215,000 net sq. ft. March 19–23 at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, USTelecom said.

By comparison, the last SUPERCOMM in 2005 had 25,000 attendees, 670 exhibitors and 309,000 net sq. ft., according to the Tradeshow Week 200.

Exhibitors, some of which attended both shows, have had time to consider their relative value and decide what to do about next year. There are not many easy answers, particularly since it appears clear the two organizations are not going to reconcile their differences.

Rhonda Wickham, editor in chief of Wireless Week magazine, said, "People now have to resign themselves to the fact is this is the way that it's going to be."

Both associations are reassessing and planning changes to their shows based on exhibitors' feedback.

"The feeling after this year is, I think, GLOBALCOMM marketed better, which resulted in better exhibitors and attendance," Wickham said, "and TelecomNEXT had better conference material."

Susan Vasquez, marketing manager for access equipment provider OCCAM Networks, wasn't thrilled at all when she heard about the SUPERCOMM split.

"The initial reaction was, there's enough shows we all go to throughout the year," she said. "We weren't overly excited about it. It just created additional work and more time out of the office."

Still, her company bit the bullet and sent her to both new shows. Neither one received overall high marks from Vasquez.

"At GLOBALCOMM there was a lack of attendees and the return on our investment was not good," she said.

She admitted her expectations for TelecomNEXT were lower, but it wasn't anywhere close to being like SUPERCOMM.

"The ideal situation would have been if one had done fantastic and one had failed," she said. "It would have been a no-brainer."

Even so, her company hasn't ruled out returning to both next year.

First-year shows are expected to have growing pains, and neither TIA nor USTelecom is shying away from exhibitors' concerns.

One main hurdle was exhibitor expectations, unrealistic or not, that the new shows would match their SUPERCOMM experiences.

The GLOBALCOMM exhibit floor opened on a Monday, while the previous SUPERCOMM shows started on a Tuesday. As a result, TIA officials said, there weren't a lot of attendees the first day.

Matthew Flanigan, president of TIA, which represents equipment vendors, conceded attendance was slow at the beginning of the week, a situation he hopes to rectify.

He said, "I don't think people wanted to travel on a Sunday so, at the exhibitors' request, we have gone back to the Tuesday-to-Thursday schedule."

Beyond scheduling and attendance issues, Flanigan said he was "very pleased" with this year's show, and TIA has already rebooked close to 160,000 sq. ft. of space for next year.

One more possible disappointment in the year to come: Practical Applications' OSP Expo will not collocate with GLOBALCOMM as before. Instead it will hold the show on its own in San Jose, Calif.

"We are looking for other conference partners as we speak," Flanigan said.

TelecomNEXT had a different set of challenges to contend with. One of the biggest was creating an identity separate not only from SUPERCOMM, but also from GLOBALCOMM.

"There was a lot of concern and anxiety over making a choice," said Ed Templeton, senior marketing manager for TelStrat. "We put our money on the TelecomNEXT side because we thought we had a better chance of meeting up with our customers at that particular show."

TelStrat, an equipment manufacturer based in Plano, Texas, had previously hosted an off-site event in conjunction with SUPERCOMM and took a gamble on the new show.

"We were disappointed, because the total attendance wasn't what we expected," Templeton said.

Templeton held hourly live presentations in TelStrat's 20'×20' booth, often for only three or four people when he had expected at least 12. He said he was still undecided about returning to TelecomNEXT in 2007, but also unsure about GLOBALCOMM as an alternative.

Walter McCormick, president of USTelecom, which primarily serves telecom carriers, said the key to TelecomNEXT's success will depend on marketing itself as something unique that also reflects the changes in the telecom industry.

He said, "Communication and entertainment are converging, and it's no longer just about equipment."

Another possible reason for TelecomNEXT's attendance problem: CTIA Wireless was scheduled just two weeks later, April 5–7, at the Las Vegas Convention Center, meaning some exhibitors probably chose between the two.

"The tradeshow calendar is very full, and we understand that the biggest challenge is getting space," McCormick said. "We will address the timing going into the future, and we do know the exhibitors' concerns."

At the same time, however, he stressed the quality of the attendees over the quantity.

"We wanted to make it a place where executives could come and discuss business partnerships," McCormick said. "We were very pleased with the attendance base. There were a lot of C-level executives who were there in an unprecedented way."

Hoping to continue what McCormick believes is a trend, TelecomNEXT 2007 will feature a number of high-profile telecommunication and media industry executives as keynote speakers. Among them will be Ed Whitacre, ATT chairman and CEO; Bob Wright, General Electric chairman and CEO; and Tom Freston, Viacom president and CEO.

Next year's TelecomNEXT is scheduled March 18–21 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas. GLOBALCOMM will return to McCormick Place June 18–21.