Ready or Not, Here Comes CONEXPO
Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 2/29/2008 10:49:00 AM
The Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers’ CONEXPO-CON/AGG is right around the corner, March 11-15, and it’s going to be a monster.
… Not that it was ever a mouse. The last staging of the triennial construction equipment event in 2005 hit the top of the Tradeshow Week 200 with 1.84 million net square feet of exhibits and 97,913 professional attendees (not including exhibitors).
This year’s show is on track to dwarf that, said Megan Tanel, AEM vice president of exhibitions. CONEXPO – already moving into every available square inch (indoors and out) of the Las Vegas Convention Center and Riviera Hotel & Casino – is slated to span 2.29 million net sq. ft. AEM’s collocated IFPE/Intl. Exposition for Power Transmission will fill another 128,000 net sq. ft..
This CONEXPO will not only be the largest in size, but also will feature the largest equipment and booths the show has ever had. Tanel said JCB Excavators’ exhibit in the Gold Lot fills 25,000 sq. ft. and has a building more than three stories tall.
Even more remarkable: Attendance at the combined event is tracking 16 percent ahead of last time.
“The last couple shows (this year) in Las Vegas have been a little short of what people were expecting,” Tanel said. “We’ve been talking about this with all our vendors. As of right now, we’ve got close to 24,000 room nights on peak. Last show at this time, we were closer to 19,000, and we’ve got total room nights of 114,000 right now. Reg’ numbers may be one thing, but if they’re really coming, the hotel numbers are going to show that.”
In other words, brace yourselves. Tanel said the massive show was taxing all her vendors, adding that general contractor GES Exposition Services has all the labor it needs, and all the hotels – even those that are newly built – are gearing up for the deluge.
One thing everyone – exhibitors, attendees, vendors, press – needs to prepare for is parking. “There is no parking at our show,” Tanel said. Period. Exhibits will take over every space in every lot on the entire LVCC campus. AEM even had to arrange to shuttle staff of the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority to and from work during the show.
“We will, of course, be using the Monorail, and we provide 165 buses running 12 routes throughout the show,” Tanel added. Seven intra-show buses will also be running the circuit of stops along the exhibition, from the Riviera to the LVCC Green Lot, off Joe W. Brown Drive and Desert Inn Road.
Among those descending on Las Vegas for CONEXPO will be a new demographic: high school students. Some 500 aspiring builders and engineers will participate in a construction challenge, the final tournament in a year-long competition that has selected the most enthusiastic and creative youngsters from around the country.
“We’re really excited and have a number of exhibitors sponsoring these teams,” Tanel said.
Another addition to the show will be a safety zone, sponsored by Volvo Construction Equipment and staged in the Gold Lot. There, representatives of companies and government agencies will be showing how to properly use equipment.
