Confabb Offers Two Shows Simultaneously

By Gary Tufel -- Tradeshow Week, 1/22/2007

Intl. CES in Las Vegas and Macworld Conference & Expo/San Francisco were both held the second week of January this year, creating a conflict for attendees who wanted to attend both, but there was a solution: Confabb.com. The conference Web site allowed users interested in CES and Macworld content to monitor both shows in real time — for free.

CES took place Jan. 8–11 at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Sands Expo & Convention Center/Venetian Resort Hotel Casino; Macworld, meanwhile, was Jan. 8–12 at the Moscone Center.

But visiting Confabb.com was like being in both places at once, said Jon Mandell, Confabb vice president of operations, who added that it was the only site to offer such a service.

Confabb can track nearly 17,000 conferences and tradeshows, according to Mandell. Users don't need to register to access most features, like schedule changes, speaker and session ratings, event photos and blogs, and they can follow friends' and colleagues' attendance. Live discussion boards allow attendees to share information, as well as opinions about sessions.

Dr. Rohit Khare, director of CommerceNet Labs and 2007 Macworld attendee, said, "Macworld and CES are two of the tech world's cornerstone events. Unfortunately, they're held at the same time."

Since he could only attend one, Khare chose Macworld. To stay abreast of happenings at the larger, more diverse CES, he used Confabb.com, which "offered a way to network with the attendees at CES while I was at Macworld."

"Confabb is going to be an important tool for the conference and tradeshow industry and all of us who participate in them," he said.

CES attendee Jim Hawarden, exposition sales manager for InfoComm, said, "It's an amazing site. You can only go to so many shows. This allows you to check out shows you can't get to. "

Mandell said he spent months gathering show data for the site; now, it comes from users. Some information comes from shows' Web sites, participants and speakers. Anyone entering data must register and is screened.

So, how does Confabb generate revenue on the site? "We'll fold in advertising eventually, but very delicately," Mandell said.

He also plans to host small- to mid-size shows' Web sites. "They can have their show site within ours and use all our tools, and (do it) more inexpensively than they could do it themselves," he said.

For users, he added, the site will always be free.