Size Still Matters

Two recent developments, more or less related, have reminded me once again of what I have considered a quandary ever since I arrived on the scene here more than four years ago.

First is the publication of our most recent Tradeshow Week 200 and the flurry of press releases that ensues from cities and shows, demonstrating their size, credibility, influence, etc., through their inclusion on the list.

The second is a story on the cover of this issue of TSW indicating that next year's CONEXPO-CON/AGG could very well be the first tradeshow in U.S. history to sell more than 2 million square feet of exhibit space. Meanwhile, as you can read, officials at the Consumer Electronics Assn. – never ones to shy away from a challenge – might, just might, beat them to the punch with the next Intl. CES.

Regardless of how things turn out, it is likely that the No. 1 spot on next year's TSW 200 will be taken by a show with more than 2 million sq. ft. of space.

But is the size of the tradeshow floor really the best gauge of a show's success?

The very first TSW 150 (it would be several years before the list was expanded to 200) had the Intl. Machine Tool Show at No. 1 (with 500,000 sq. ft., by the way) and the Natl. Farm Machinery Show at No. 2. That list was in 1975. It would be five more years before the computer era made its way into the TSW 200 with COMDEX's first appearance at No. 130.

That was still a time when the bigger an object was, the more valuable it probably was. A big piece of equipment, like a crane or a tractor or a dump truck, cost more than a small one (think sewing machine, television set or telephone) and required more space on a tradeshow floor to exhibit. So, naturally, the bigger the showfloor, the more commerce was conducted.

Here in 2007, it is conceivable to buy software or a medical device that easily fits in the palm of your hand – and have it cost more than one of the largest pieces of equipment you will see set up next year in the parking lot of the Las Vegas Convention Center for CONEXPO-CON/AGG. We write news stories all the time about industry-leading tradeshows that are less than 200,000 sq. ft. (Another p. 1 story this week notes that the largest biotech show in Europe this year will be somewhere around 100,000.)

Yet what other way is there to quantify success in the tradeshow industry? By the revenue generated by all the exhibitors in the show because of leads developed there? Of course, but good luck ever getting a handle on that.

Square footage, as imprecise a measurement as it is, remains the most reliable way to quantify success in this business – until we come up with something better.