IMTS Posts Positive Results

Stephanie Corbin -- Tradeshow Week, 10/21/2008 1:36:00 PM

Rising oil prices are increasing the cost of gasoline, but for at least one show, that’s good news.

AMT-The Assn. for Manufacturing Technology’s The Intl. Manufacturing Technology Show, held Sept. 8-13 at Chicago’s McCormick Place, didn’t experience the declines some shows are experiencing because of economic difficulties. In fact, the show posted its best numbers since 2000.

“The price of oil actually works in our favor,” said Peter Eelman, AMT vice president of exhibitions. 

Manufacturing companies are bringing production of previously outsourced products back to the United States because of the cost of transportation.

The biennial show’s attendance increased from 91,985 in 2006 to 92,450 this year. The number of exhibiting companies rose from 1,780 in 2006 to 1,803 at this year’s show, and the size of the showfloor increased by almost 70,000 net square feet to 1,233,878 net sq. ft.

“You could almost call that flat,” Eelman said of the attendance increase. But, in IMTS’ case, the numbers don’t tell the full story. In 2006, the show ran for eight days. This year, show management went with a six-day format and, on the last day, Chicago received nine inches of rain, effectively trimming another day off the show.

“When you look at it in those contexts, I think it was really remarkable,” Eelman said.

The show went to an eight-day format in 1970 because of consideration for the travel needs of international visitors, he added. 

“We’ve been considering this (change) for a long time,” Eelman said.

This also was the first year the show used McCormick Place West, which opened a year ago in August. Eelman said exhibitors who had been in the bottom floor of the East Hall opted for more booth space in their new location in West.

The conference portion of the show also saw an increase, nearly tripling attendance, compared with 2006. “We look for that part of the show to continue to grow,” Eelman said.

Eelman said the show’s future is promising. “It’s a must to attend whether or not (a person) is in the buying cycle,” he added. For the manufacturing industry, Eelman said, the only answer to lowering production costs is innovation.

“From a show management perspective, we thought we did very well,” he added.