Las Vegas Gets a Little Less MAGIC

Advanstar subsidiary MAGIC Intl. will cut one day from the four-day schedule of MAGIC Marketplace, the country's largest fashion-industry tradeshow, starting in August.

The winter version of the semiannual show took place last week, Feb. 12-15, at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Las Vegas Hilton. The 2007 version drew 4,090 exhibiting firms and an estimated 120,000 total attendees to nearly 1.1 million square feet of exhibits, including the men's, women's, children's and sourcing sections, as well as separate shows Project and Pool, which Advanstar acquired in 2005. Projections for the 2008 show were not available at press time.

In announcing the one-day cut, MAGIC said it was responding to requests by exhibitors and attendees, and that it had done extensive customer surveys before determining it was the right course of action.

“We are committed to delivering the most dynamic fashion trade experience with the most powerful buying and selling environment,“ said Chris DeMoulin, who was appointed executive vice president of Advanstar's Fashion Group and president of MAGIC Intl. less than a month before the announcement. “Both exhibitors and buyers told us that a three-day show would allow for a more cost-efficient, time-sensitive and effective use of their resources.“

Along with the switch to a three-day format, MAGIC is making other changes to the show:

• Starting with last week's edition, it replaced the one huge end-of-show bash - in recent years a party and concert that has featured acts such as the Goo Goo Dolls and Chris Isaak - with three separate networking events tailored to the specific markets of men's wear, women's wear and street wear.
• It is offering seminars to teach exhibitors and new buyers how to get the most out of the show.
• It is hosting regional get-togethers to introduce buyers and sellers.

In his statement, DeMoulin assured stakeholders that MAGIC would keep investing time and energy into bringing the right people to the show.

MAGIC declined Tradeshow Week's requests for further comment before press time.

Alison Nieder, executive editor of California Apparel News, said she couldn't recall any buyers or exhibitors telling her specifically that they wished the show was shorter.

She added, “I imagine the three-day format will be helpful for exhibitors, from an economic standpoint, but there might not be much impact on the buyers. They don't necessarily stay for the full four days, and, if they do, they probably are visiting a few of the satellite shows as well.”

(Those other shows, incidentally, run for two or three days each.)

Nieder's observations are in line with those of longtime tradeshow managers, who have seen their fair share of shows get shortened.

Chuck Schwartz, chairman of SEMA Show manager ConvExx, noted that the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (which, like SEMA, is part of the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week in Las Vegas) recently cut its show schedule from four to three days. “They claimed traffic was bad and their exhibitors demanded it,“ Schwartz said, adding that this is often the case when managers decide to cut days out of shows.

Without speculating on MAGIC's reasons or methodology for scaling back its show, Schwartz said generally such a decision is risky if it's not backed up by solid research.

He explained: “What can be worrisome is when show management does it, then people start saying, 1397967985We're spending $500,000 on our booth, and now we only have it for three days.'… If you have done studies that prove manufacturers are not doing well on the last day, you should trim it down. But if you're a manufacturer, and you see that you got 90 leads the last day of the show, you'll know it's worth it to keep that last day.“

Schwartz added that, in his experience, no matter how long a show is, exhibitors will always complain about slow traffic on the last day. “The first day is like the first round of a fight, the kickoff in a football game. It's all downhill after that,“ he said.

Sam Lippman agreed. He is president of integrated show management and marketing, which produces both the Exhibition and Convention Executives Forum and the Large Show Roundtable, and pointed out that the biennial Intl. Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago cut back from eight to six days this year.

“Usually, it's because the organizer wants to leave the attendees and media with a strong last impression,“ Lippman added.

Both he and Schwartz said such a decision typically is not a financial one, at least from the organizer's perspective. Whether the show is four days or three, management pays the same amount for marketing and services and will only save money on the actual space rental ($0.25 per square foot per day at the LVCC).

Attendees, likewise, see no real cost savings, as they can come and go and spend as they please, regardless of a show's length. Exhibitors, however, will save money on travel and per diem expenses.

“I always figure it costs an exhibitor between $400 and $800 per day to have a person at a show,“ Schwartz said. “So, if nothing else, if you have five people there, you're saving that.“

Asked whether current economic conditions might be driving exhibitors to save money, Nieder said, “I think most apparel manufacturers are expecting buyers to be cautious with their spending this year. … I think both manufacturers and buyers are going to look for ways to keep costs down when it comes to tradeshows. They will be looking to spend their money where they think they will get the biggest return.“

She said many people in the fashion industry “gripe about there being too many shows,“ adding, “but some manufacturers would say they hated to skip any show for fear of missing out on a possible sale.“

The big loser in the change may be the city of Las Vegas. The exhibit halls will lose revenue from rent and service fees for the day cut, local hotels will lose one-fourth of their room nights, and restaurants, shops and shows will miss the ecnomic impact created by those 100,000 or so attendees on day four.

The showfloor of MAGIC Marketplace, ranked No. 5 and 7 on the most recent TSW 200, has undergone considerable change in recent years. In 2004, following a contractual dispute with the Sands Expo & Convention Center, MAGIC consolidated the show under one roof at the LVCC. It also added its sourcing section, which now has some 750 exhibitors.

In 2005, the company partnered with Reed Exhibitions to put an extension of high-end jewelry show JCK Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Hilton. That section was discontinued after one year.

Last year, MAGIC moved Pool into a pavilion in the Gold Parking Lot of the LVCC. At the most recent show, Pool occupied part of the convention center's Central Hall, while the women's wear section went next door to the Hilton, where it was joined by the collocated Lingerie Americas.