How Enthusiastic Are You?

I was talking to a friend the other day about how much I love my job, specifically in the context of covering Interbike Intl. Bike Expo, and he said, "Yeah, going to all those enthusiast shows must be fun."

No, I explained to him, Interbike is a tradeshow, emphasis on "trade." Although I'm a cycling enthusiast, enthusiast shows are generally public events where fans and practitioners of hobbies gather to have fun and buy cool stuff.

Right?

Then, I started thinking about Enthusiast Media (recently sold by Primedia to Source Interlink for $1.18 billion), which has events, magazines and Web sites for arts and crafts hobbyists, those who love tinkering with their cars, shutterbugs and more. The end consumers are enthusiasts, but the tradeshows are still for the trade — of enthusiasm?

I got confused.

Then, my friend pointed out to me that most of the bike shops we've ever been in are owned by cycling enthusiasts. These retailers are attendees at Interbike. I began to work it out: There are cycling enthusiasts in the cycling trade, meaning business is being done at the show by many people who are passionate about bikes.

Heck, even the show manager, Nielsen's Lance Camisasca, is an avid biker (the motorless kind).

The same is true for a lot of other tradeshows serving industries that breed enthusiasts. The Diving Equipment & Marketing Assn. Show is crawling with ex-divers. It's a pretty safe bet the chop-shoppers at the Specialty Equipment Market Assn. Show spend their spare time souping up their own cars. And you can't throw a rock at the Craft & Hobby Assn. Annual Convention & Trade Show without hitting a scrapbooker, knitter or model airplane pilot.

For that matter, isn't every tradeshow also an enthusiast show of sorts? How many people have you met who don't light up when you ask them about their work — be it food safety, chemical engineering or accounting technology?

OK, maybe not everybody gets excited about what they do. But it does seem to me, as products and services become widely available online and tradeshows evolve to offer people more compelling experiences and human connections, it's in every organizer's interest to be an enthusiast — or at least produce your show like you're one.