TSW Consumer Show Report: Attendance Heads Downhill

The consumer show market had a rough 2007 by the measure that matters most – attendance.

Average attendance dropped 5.8 percent compared with 2006, which had experienced the first rise in attendance in several years.

According to Tradeshow Week's Annual Consumer Show Report, other indexes registered modest increases. Average net square footage was up 1.8 percent compared with 2006, and number of exhibiting companies, 0.6 percent. By comparison, in 2006, attendance was up 15.8 percent, compared with 2005; net square footage, 7.9 percent; and exhibiting firms, 1 percent.

The steepest attendance declines occurred at the Montreal Natl. Home Show and the Tampa/St. Petersburg Home & Patio Show, both owned by dmg world media. Attendance at each decreased by 57 percent, from 169,050 to 71,829 and from 28,564 to 12,200, respectively. The greatest drops in number of exhibitors were at the now-canceled Bead & Art Glass Festival (59.7 percent, from 67 to 27 exhibiting companies) and the Quilt Sew Needleart Festival (43 percent, from 60 to 34).

Major declines in net square footage were experienced by the Bead & Art Glass Festival (56.9 percent, from 20,400 to 8,800 net sq. ft.) and The Original Creative Festival – San Mateo, Fall (32 percent, from 100,000 to 68,000 net sq. ft.).

Kareena Gibson, manager of the Bead & Art Glass Festival, told TSW, “Due to lack of interest, the show will be discontinued.”

Vickie Hundert, show manager of The Original Creative Festival – San Mateo, Fall, and the Quilt Sew Needleart Festival, said location, economic conditions and escalating gas prices were to blame for declines. She said, however, she believed a solid interest in quilting, the focus of the seven Original Creative Festivals included in TSW's Annual Consumer Show Report, would give the San Mateo show staying power.

“There are more quilters than sewers in the industry, and this is a positive fact,” Hundert said. “They will travel to come for classes and education.”

Dmg world media show management representatives for the Montreal Natl. Home Show did not return calls for comment and managers of the Tampa/St. Petersburg Home & Patio Show declined to comment.

But the year was not without its successes and, naturally, those show managers who experienced growth were more eager to talk about it than those who didn't.

As in previous years, when economic conditions were less than perfect, attendees continued to flock to shows that indulged interests closest to their hearts, such as pets and the environment. Increases at the Edmonton Pet Expo and Alive! Expo Atlanta proved this.

According to Patrycja Siewert-Towns, president and CEO of Wild Adventures Media, Alive! Expo Atlanta rose 72.4 percent in attendance (from 6,300 to 10,863) because of hard work, strong marketing and the public's “green interest.”

“The show launched four years ago and, with any event, it takes word of mouth and advertising to help it grow,” she added.

But media attention also helped. “They are really embracing going green right now,” Siewert-Towns said.

The 50-percent attendance increase at the Family Productions-owned Edmonton Pet Expo, from 16,000 to 24,000, was the result of hard work, according to the show's producer, Louise Reinich.

“Attendance increased as a result of an aggressive promotional campaign,” she added, “and (the success) reflects just how much Edmontonians love animals.”

The Husker Lawn & Leisure Show was another show that increased in attendance in 2007 (up 35 percent compared with 2006, from 9,100 to 12,319 attendees.)

The reason in this case, according to Tom Junge, the show's director: celebrity appearances.

“We increased the exposure to the show by bringing in panelists from a local television show produced by the University of Nebraska Extension Service called 'Backyard Farmer,'” he said. “We received additional coverage from print and television media, and we feel (it) increased the attendance for the show.”

Shows that featured the most growth in exhibitors in 2007 include the Edmonton Ski & Snowboard Show, up 78.5 percent, from 65 to 116; the Cycle World Washington D.C. Intl. Motorcycle Show, up 40 percent, from 86 to 120; and the Cycle World Novi Intl. Motorcycle Show, up 35 percent, from 99 to 134.

Reinich said the Edmonton Ski & Snowboard Show, which she produces alongside the Edmonton Pet Expo, grew in exhibitors because of direct networking efforts, “working closely with the industry to develop promotions within the event to meet their needs.”

According to Jeff D'Entremont, the group show director and director of business development for Advanstar Communications' Cycle World Intl. Motorcyle shows, increases occurred for different reasons.

“In Washington, D.C., we worked on an exhibiting package (with Freeman) that included a cart service for move-in at no charge, and word-of-mouth that led to a significant increase in exhibitors,” he said. “As for the Novi show, we had an easy building to work with (the Rock Financial Showplace) and a great in-house decorator.”

As for net square footage, the New England Intl. Auto Show had a significant increase, up 69 percent, from 290,000 to 490,000 net sq. ft.

Barbara Pudney, vice president and marketing director for the Paragon Group, which manages the auto show, said relocation was key.

“Our show was able to grow so much because of our ability to move from the Bayside Expo (& Conference Center) to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center,” she added.

“For many years we were constrained by the size of the facility, with our exhibitors begging for more space,” Pudney said. “When the law changed to allow consumer events into the new facility in Boston, we were finally able to accommodate our exhibitors' wishes.”

The average consumer show of 2007 featured 114,824 net sq. ft., 473 booths, 242 exhibiting companies and 36,269 attendees.