IPC Show Trades L.A. for Vegas

L.A. Inc. officials say they're replacing old shows with new ones

By Stephanie Corbin -- Tradeshow Week, 5/7/2007

For the fourth time in less than a year, a tradeshow has left the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Assn. Connecting Electronics Industries announced it was moving IPC Printed Circuits Expo, APEX and the Designers Summit, scheduled Feb. 21-23, to Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas April 1-3.

What's more, convention and visitors bureau officials in Los Angeles say it doesn't really matter much.

"We're very happy for them," said Michael Krouse, senior vice president of sales for LA Inc. - the Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"The bottom line is they could, in Vegas, be in one hotel" and not have the expense of providing shuttles to the venue, the case with this year's show in Los Angeles. He added, "It is just simply a better fit for them in Las Vegas."

The first tradeshow to leave the convention center came last year when the Entertainment Software Assn. canceled E³/Electronic Entertainment Expo, and replaced it with E³ Media & Business Summit, an invitation-only event scheduled for July 11-13 in Santa Monica, Calif., a Los Angeles-adjacent coastal city.

But Krouse said he sees the adjustment as a win. E³ Media & Business Summit stays in the area, and the Los Angeles Convention Center gains a new show, Entertainment for All Expo, a consumer version of the former gaming giant tradeshow.

"We didn't lose a thing," he said, noting that 60 percent of E for All's exhibit space has been sold for the Oct. 18-21 show.

In February, Randall-Reilly Publishing announced a deal with the California Trucking Assn. to stop producing the Intl. Trucking Show, formerly in L.A., and instead sponsor The Truck Show in Las Vegas. A week later, the U.S. Green Building Council announced it was moving its Greenbuild Intl. Conference & Expo 2007 to Chicago after Los Angeles shifted the show's dates twice.

Still, according to Krouse, no problem.

"The biggest thing to remember is that we're so busy right now that we have to move dates," Krouse said. He couldn't confirm the details without signed contracts, but said two Chicago-based medical associations each booked dates for two annual shows recently.

"That's the kind of thing that happens everyday here," Krouse added. Since July, 32 new shows have booked the Los Angeles Convention Center, helped along by construction underway in downtown L.A. that will provide more hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues in the near future.

But IPC still didn't stick around.

"It's really from feedback from responses we received from our attendees and exhibitors," said Anna Garrido, director of marketing and communications for Assn. Connecting Electronics Industries, explaining the move to Las Vegas. "It was just the venue. They didn't really care for Los Angeles."

Hotels located some distance from the convention center and traffic congestion were reasons exhibitors cited in the surveys, said Alicia Balonek, director of tradeshow operations for the association. "The traffic congestion was also an issue," she added.

A 12-percent drop in exhibit hall attendance also played a part in the move to Las Vegas, she added.

"They have been very upfront with us that they would come to Los Angeles when our new hotel is built," Krouse said, referring to the L.A. Live project, which includes a convention center-adjacent hotel.

The association looked for other Southern California locations for the show, but Long Beach, Anaheim and San Diego didn't have dates available, Garrido said. Past exhibitor surveys indicated Las Vegas was the next best possibility, and Mandalay Bay happened to have the April dates open.

"It's going to be a great fit for our event," Balonek said. The show is also working to secure 2009 dates at Mandalay Bay.

"Mandalay Bay is thrilled that IPC is coming to our world-class facility," said Richard Harper, vice president of sales and marketing for Mandalay Bay.

"Vegas, wow! I'm ready," said Paul Walsh, president of Brock Electronics, an exhibitor in the show, the only year the show's been held in Los Angeles.

"From a personal perspective, it was good," Walsh said of the Los Angeles show. But from a show perspective, he said the company's activity was down and there weren't as many attendees as in previous years.

"Before I went (to Los Angeles), I was really negative on the move," Walsh said. But many of his reservations about the city did not materialize. "It was better than I thought it would be," he added.

Still, moving the 2008 show to Las Vegas suits him fine.

"I've got to be honest and say I love Vegas," Walsh said. "To me, it sounds good."