More Saying 'Here'

Location, location, location.

In the second quarter of 2007, that old real estate adage turned out to be true in the tradeshow industry, as many shows trying out new sites saw gains in net square footage, number of exhibiting companies and especially attendance.

Attendance was the big winner in the indexes tracked by Tradeshow Week. Average attendance at shows rose 7.6 percent compared with a 1.3-percent increase during the same period in 2006.

"Sixteen shows representing diverse industries reported double-digit attendance growth," said Michael Hughes, associate publisher and director of research services for Tradeshow Week. "The growth was likely due to a number of factors: strong underlying market sectors, improved attendee marketing or shows moving to a new city."

While attendance growth was the main story in the second quarter, net square footage also grew 2.2 percent compared with the same period in 2006, and number of exhibitors 1.9 percent.

But while that seems like a huge leap in attendance and a jump-start for the industry overall, the numbers aren't the whole story. Location played a big factor in some of the largest increases.

The Risk & Insurance Management Society Annual Conference & Exhibition posted robust growth in every index, and attributed much of it to a location change.

"In 2006, we were in Hawaii and, as a result of the destination, we suffered a loss in exhibit space, a drop in exhibiting companies and a drop in attendance," said Salvatore Chiarelli, director of meeting and events for RIMS, pointing out the long distance to Honolulu. This year's show took place April 29–May 3 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, where attendance grew almost 40 percent.

"When we were in New Orleans, it pretty much brought us back to the levels that we are usually at," Chiarelli added. "I would love to say our show had increased that much in 2007, but pretty much it was the location in 2006 that was the factor for the low numbers."

Even with the double-digit increase in attendance compared with the previous year, he said, the show still saw about 1,500 fewer attendees than normal, partly because of a continuing hesitancy to visit the city that is still rebuilding after the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina almost two years ago.

He added that RIMS had no reluctance revisiting the Big Easy and hoped to return in 2012 or 2015. The show is next scheduled April 27–May 1 at the San Diego Convention Center.

Another show that gained in almost every index because of location was the American Library Assn. Annual Conference & Exhibition, held June 23–27 at the Washington (D.C.) Convention Center.

"We were the first show in the New Orleans center following Hurricane Katrina, and thus all of our numbers were down," said Paul Graller, vice president and show director, of the 2006 show.

The show was already selling space for that year when the hurricane hit, and the association decided to honor its commitment to the city. The show suffered a 9.3-percent decrease in square footage, a 29.1-percent decrease in exhibiting companies and a 42.9-percent drop in attendance after a record-breaking show in Chicago in 2005.

"This year we were in D.C., which is traditionally a very strong city," Graller said. "For this reason, we had fantastic growth over 2006 and even exceeded our records set in 2005 in Chicago."

Attendance grew a whopping 77 percent compared with 2006, but grew only 1.1 percent compared with 2005.

Next year's ALA show is June 26–July 2 at the Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center. Graller said he hoped the numbers would remain strong there, but pointed out there are fewer potential attendees within driving distance, unlike Chicago and Washington, D.C., which have dense populations and a lot of libraries.

Changing locations wasn't always a winner; it meant losses for some too.

One example was George Little Management's Gourmet Housewares Show, held May 8–10 at Orlando's Orange County Convention Center concurrently with Reed Exhibitions' Natl. Hardware Show and Lawn & Garden World. Gourmet Housewares' attendance dropped 54.5 percent, according to the quarterly report.

In 2006, GLM collocated the show at the Las Vegas Convention Center with Natl. Hardware and its related events, said Susan Corwin, vice president and show manager for GLM.

"There was so much crossover when we were collocated in Las Vegas," she added. "We shared the same hall with a couple of divisions of the hardware show."

This year's show, though, only had an estimated 5,000 dedicated Gourmet Housewares attendees and very little crossover with the Natl. Hardware section adjacent to it, Corwin said. "We had a challenge this year because of the location (change) to Orlando."

She added that next year's show, back in Sin City, should regain exhibitors (the Orlando show was down 11.1 percent in that index) and be different from previous editions there.

Instead of collocating at the LVCC with Natl. Hardware, Corwin said, Gourmet Housewares will be at Sands Expo & Convention Center/Venetian Resort Hotel Casino with GLM's Global Home Textiles — launched this year in Orlando — and the newly launched Global Home Decor.

"They wanted to pull all their shows together, and we wanted to pull ours together," Corwin said of Reed Exhibitions.

The shows, scheduled May 6–8 at the two locations, will continue to share shuttles between venues and hotels, she added.