How Long Can This Last?

I just completed a tour of early summer industry meetings, starting with the Exhibition & Convention Executives Forum in Washington, D.C., moving on to the Healthcare Convention & Exhibitors Assn. Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City and, finally, the Exhibition Services & Contracts Assn. Summer Educational Conference in Monterey, Calif.

While each of the constituencies served by these groups has its unique concerns, it seems to me that the overall consensus on the ongoing economic downturn's impact on the tradeshow industry is that it has been minimal at worst.

Certainly, shows that serve certain sectors (think construction, retail and anything involving transportation) are scrambling; escalating fuel costs are compelling show organizers and suppliers to use their imaginations (on the sidelines of the ESCA meeting, I learned more about the intricacies of calculating fuel surcharges than I ever thought possible); and everybody everywhere is wondering what the airline industry's challenges will mean to them.

However, that seems to be most of what's going on: scrambling, strategizing – and wondering. So far it does seem true that, even if sales and marketing budgets are tighter, people believe their particular industry's annual meeting is a meaningful way to interact with their customers and peers. So far it appears as if the rising cost of doing business is either being comfortably absorbed or passed on to customers without very much resistance. So far the lessons learned in previous downturns about how to cope have been applied well in most places.

And yet, you have to wonder how long this can all last, given how discouraging news of the broader economy continues to be. Oil and gas prices do not appear as if they will stop rising any time soon; nobody feels as if the housing market has bottomed out; and taking a trip on an airplane looks like it will only get more difficult and more expensive.

Still, the message I'm getting from the tradeshow industry seems to be: So far, so good.

Michael Hart is editor-in-chief of Tradeshow Week. He can be reached at hartm@reedbusiness.com.