2007 TSW 200: A Little Old, a Little New

Several shows reappear on the list, others make their final appearances

By Stephanie Corbin -- Tradeshow Week, 4/30/2007

It's a feat to launch a successful show. It's an even bigger feat to land it squarely on the Tradeshow Week 200 in its first year.

But that's just what Las Vegas Market did for its January 2006 show.

The show had the highest debut of any new show appearing on the TSW 200 for the first time — No. 41. Not including the 1 million square feet of permanent showrooms at World Market Center, the market had 1,000 companies exhibiting in 469,600 net sq. ft., attracting an estimated 45,000 attendees and exhibitors.

There is also a July edition of the Las Vegas Market, which debuted in 2005 and is ranked No. 26 on this year's TSW 200. That show spanned 626,000 net sq. ft., had 1,134 exhibiting companies and drew an estimated 50,000 attendees and exhibitors.

"This distinction is consistent with our plans from the outset to launch the largest tradeshow event for the industry," said World Market Center CEO Harvey Dondero.

Las Vegas Market isn't the only show to land on the TSW 200 for the first time this year. Finds Dallas Temp Show — both the January and June 2006 editions — found themselves on the list of largest tradeshows at Nos. 161 and 156, respectively.

Dallas Market Center created Finds as a temporary component to its gift and decorative accessories market. The January show had 168,010 net sq. ft., 876 exhibiting companies and 50,000 attendees. The June show boasted the same number of attendees, but grew to 172,120 net sq. ft. with 961 exhibiting companies.

"This ranking both validates the show and points to its continuing growth as a leader for gift and home products," said Cole Daugherty, vice president of marketing communications for the Dallas Market Center. "We were not surprised by the rankings, and we anticipate higher ranking as the show expands."

Some newcomers to the 2007 top-200 list are actually old-timers.

Optical Fiber Communication/Natl. Fiber Optic Engineers Conference, No. 193, found itself back on the TSW 200 for the first time since 2004, when it was No. 125.

"We're excited OFC/NFOEC has once again achieved the TSW 200 distinction," Show Manager Dave Coray said.

He added that it's not surprising the show is one of the country's biggest, considering it's the leading event for optical communications, which allows high-bandwidth applications and faster Internet connections.

OFC/NFOEC isn't the only show to reappear on the TSW 200 since last making the list in 2004: Cable-Tec Expo is ranked No. 197 this year; it was No. 200 in the 2004 edition.

The 2007 TSW 200 also bid adieu to a few shows that won't be returning. Last year saw the end of E³/Electronic Entertainment Expo, ranked No. 36.

The gaming industry staple announced last year that it would downsize its show to the invitation-only E³ Media & Business Summit in Santa Monica, Calif., July 11–13. That also means 2007 will be the first year for consumer show Entertainment for All Expo, which also rose from the ashes of E³, scheduled Oct. 18–21 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

In addition, this year marks the first and only appearance of TelecomNEXT, ranked No. 125, and Globalcomm, ranked No. 132. The two shows, held by the United States Telecom Assn. and Telecommunications Industry Assn., respectively, replaced Supercomm, which the two associations formerly co-produced.

Now, the associations have abandoned their separate shows to launch NXTcomm June 18–21 at McCormick Place.