Drumroll Please ... Supercomm's Back!

Three years, one break-up and three aborted telecom show launches later, Supercomm is back. The Telecommunications Industry Assn. and USTelecom Assn., which jointly own the show, made the announcement Sept. 9.

Walter McCormick, president and CEO of USTelecom, said, “We have undertaken considerable industry research since our last NXTcomm show; we looked at the show and its brand, ... and we (decided) to take the NXTcomm show and re-brand it as Supercomm.”

In a joint statement, TIA and USTelecom also said that NXTcomm Executive Director Wayne Crawford had resigned, and Jim Forlenza, previously director of public relations and business development for the show, was named interim executive director.

In 2005, the two associations parted ways and put the then-18-year-old Supercomm to rest – which in its last year attracted 25,000 attendees, 670 exhibitors and spanned 309,000 net square feet – so that each could produce its own show. In 2006, TIA launched Globalcomm and USTelecom, TelecomNext.

Going it alone didn't work out, so the two groups patched up their differences and launched a combined show the following year called NXTcomm, held at Chicago's McCormick Place.

The first edition of NXTcomm, which spanned 200,000 net sq. ft. and drew 500 exhibitors and 20,000 attendees, fared somewhat better than the two separate shows the year before – Globalcomm had 202,725 net sq. ft. of exhibit space, 501 exhibitors and 10,526 professional attendees and TelecomNext had 215,700 net sq. ft. of exhibit space, 278 exhibitors and 10,007 attendees, including exhibitors – but it still struggled.

At the 2007 NXTcomm show, exhibitor Kirsten McGregor, director of marketing communications for OCCAM Networks, told Tradeshow Week, “It's a little slow.”

Crawford, who was hired to launch NXTcomm just six months before the event, said at the time it was a challenge to brand a show in such a short time frame and looked forward to the following year. “With an entire year, we have a lot of time to solidify it,” he added.

One year later, NXTcomm collocated with InfoComm Intl. June 18-20 in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Still, that additional year apparently was not enough time.

During the show, Crawford told TSW that attendance, square footage and exhibitor numbers were basically identical to the previous year. Exhibitors complained about it being in Las Vegas where there were few telecom companies. “We would prefer it be in Chicago,” said Heather Komomua, tradeshow manager for ADC. “We'll be happy to see it come back.”

The re-branded Supercomm show will be held June 8-11 at McCormick Place.

Besides the turmoil that came with the name changes and re-branding the event(s), another problem has been with the telecom industry itself, which has undergone a great deal of consolidation, leaving fewer players on the field.

With the Supercomm re-launch, association officials said they intend to widen their horizons by exploring the world of broadband. While CTIA Wireless focuses on broadband in terms of its wireless capabilities and The Cable Show sticks primarily to broadband cable, Forlenza said Supercomm would encompass a much broader scope.

McCormick said, “The new world of communication is really about broadband. We felt what was missing (in the marketplace) was a forum for discussing the delivery for advanced broadband solutions.”

Forlenza said he intended to be realistic about the transition.

“I know we're not going to get there overnight,” he said, “but we want to expand our exhibitor base and have companies like a Yahoo or a Google down the road.”

The name change might help.

Grant Seiffert, TIA's president, said, “There's a lot of excitement to bring back, by popular demand, the new Supercomm. We're looking forward to it being back in Chicago.”

A day after the announcement, Forlenza said there already was a lot of traffic on Supercomm's new Web site, www.supercomm2009.com, with potential exhibitors looking for information.

It still might take more than a new name to woo back exhibitors. Barbara Boyle, senior manager at Tektronix, said her company had exhibited at both NXTcomms and wasn't planning to return next year, regardless of what the show was called. “A name change is one thing,” Boyle said, “but bring me back my customers.”

She said she planned to attend the show next year and then decide whether to exhibit in 2010. “We'll have to wait and see,” Boyle said.

There are a few unknowns right now about the future of Supercomm.

According to McCormick, the show only is signed on in Chicago for one year. “We have no commitment to Las Vegas, and we may do Chicago in 2010 or somewhere else,” he added.

Another thing up in the air, McCormick said, is whether Supercomm will collocate with InfoComm again. “Consistent with the industry's desire, we may look at new partnerships,” he added.

And lastly, McCormick said, “We will be looking for a new director, and Jim is a candidate.”