Politics and Tradeshows

With the Democratic and Republican conventions in the can and the party nominees now in full-sprint-ahead mode to the Nov. 4 election, one of the big unknowns is what, if anything, will change in the economy when one or the other is elected?

On the showfloor of the recent New York Intl. Gift Fair at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center of New York, more than one buyer and exhibitor told Tradeshow Week that they thought the economy would improve after the election. Most felt anyone would be better than the present administration, just so there was someone new at the helm.

Even so, once a new team is installed in the White House, what magic wand might it wave to turn this economy around?

On the most basic level, it might not even take something specific, such as another economic stimulus package or a tax cut.

Again, on the New York Gift tradeshow floor, it seemed that all people really hoped for was that, with a change of guard, consumer confidence would get the boost it needed and people would start buying again.

A lot of the buyers at the show said their store sales had slowed down considerably, and they desperately needed a boost in holiday sales at the end of the year to salvage any kind of profitability they might have coming their way.

On a larger scale, off the tradeshow floor and in corporate America, the struggling economy has stalled the mergers and acquisitions market. The subprime mortgage crisis that ballooned into a much bigger issue put the brakes on what was, just a little more than a year ago, an active marketplace. Private equity players have taken some time off, and the banks have gotten stingy with their money.

It might take a little bit more than just a new president in the top spot to jumpstart M&A deals, but after talking with a number of investment bankers recently, most of them looked forward to a shift in leadership in November to, at the very least, give a confidence boost to those in control of the purse strings.

So, even though politics doesn't always seem to play a role in the tradeshow world, the thought of better days to come after the election in November is bound to have an impact on how, and when, everyone starts spending and lending again. In return, that should ease the minds of the show managers worried about whether they will retain their exhibitors and, more importantly, their attendees next year; the suppliers anxious about the shrinking gap between the cost of materials to them and the price they can charge for them; the business travelers wondering if there will be a seat on the plane for them and whether they'll be able to afford it on their next business trip; and, finally, the hoteliers and CVB executives wondering if anybody's ever going to visit their towns again.

Rachel Wimberly is senior editor at Tradeshow Week. She can be reached at rachel.wimberly@reedbusiness.com.