EHX Fall Will Find a Brand New Home

Electronic House Expo Fall is no longer in its existing form. The show, held Nov. 5-7 at the Long Beach (Calif.) Convention & Entertainment Center, won't be staged in 2009 and will be launched as EHX@CES during the Consumer Electronic Assn.'s Intl. CES in January 2010 in Las Vegas.

Jim Wagner, general manager of Framingham, Mass.-based EH Events, which owns the EHX series, said the show will be at the Las Vegas Sands MegaCenter in 2010. The Sands is a convenient location for attendees to see product demonstrations at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, he added.

Exhibitors were told about the change during a presentation before the showfloor opened Nov. 5, Wagner said.

“The initial reaction has been really positive,” he added.

Wagner said the show, which was the Tradeshow Week Fastest 50 overall winner at the first TSW Fastest 50 in Houston in 2003, made the change for the fall show because the marketplace for home networking, automation, entertainment and security products is changing.

“It allows us to serve the market better,” he added.

The show is sandwiched in the fall between the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Assn.'s CEDIA Expo and Intl. CES, Wagner said. The show being at Intl. CES will allow exhibitors to accomplish what they need to; plus, exhibitors who don't normally exhibit at Intl. CES will have the opportunity to reach new customers, he added.

Also with the show's change came the announcement, Wagner said, of a partnership with CEDIA that will bring 55 training courses to the other show in the EHX series, Electronic House Expo Spring, held annually in Orlando.

It's the broadest offering of CEDIA training outside of the CEDIA Expo, he added.

The EHX Fall exhibitors Tradeshow Week spoke to expressed optimism about the move to Intl. CES, but with EHX@CES almost 14 months away, some said they couldn't commit to exhibiting at this time.

“I don't know what our plans are,” said David Horn, residential sales associate for Fairfield, N.J.-based Middle Atlantic Products Inc. “We don't currently exhibit at CES.”

Despite the uncertainty about the company's future exhibiting plans, Horn said he thought the move was a good one for the show. The show in Long Beach, he added, has a more regional base compared to the Orlando show, and the number of exhibitors has decreased.

Wagner said this year's showfloor was about 32,000 net square feet, which was down from last year. Preregistration numbers were flat at about 9,000, he added.

The move will help “bring everyone there and reclaim a destination at CES,” he added. Exhibitors were offered an incentive to rebook for the 2010 show at the same rate they paid in Long Beach this year, and rebooking numbers were strong, Wagner said.

So far, the show has 20,000 net sq. ft. available at the 2010 show, he added.

Michael Quinn of Square D, a Schneider Electric brand, said he's never been to Intl. CES before and would attend the show in January to determine whether to exhibit there in 2010.

“I think it's a possibility,” he added.

Quinn said the recent show was the first time the company's exhibited at the fall show, though it does exhibit at EHX Spring.

“I wasn't really surprised at the announcement,” he added. Quinn said he's pleased about CEDIA training at the spring show.

Another exhibitor, Amit Thaker of Gennum Corp. in Burlington, Ontario, said even though it was the company's first time exhibiting at EHX Fall, he thought having the show at Intl. CES would help draw industry interest to one place.

“I think it's a great idea,” he added.

Gennum also is exhibiting for the first time at Intl. CES in January, Thaker said. For the 2010 show, the company is looking into having more than one booth at Intl. CES so the company also can exhibit at EHX@CES, he added.

Attendees at EHX Fall weren't as thrilled about the show's change.

“It's too big. It's too stupid,” said Jeffrey Killermann, president of Oceanside, Calif.-based Classic Home Theaters, of Intl. CES. “The regional shows were worth it.”

Among his concerns are the spread out nature of Intl. CES and that the show's not focused specifically on the installer industry, he said.

Despite those trepidations, Killermann said he would probably go to the show in 2010, but he wasn't expecting to do any business because of the entertainment in Las Vegas and his other apprehensions. He attended EHX Fall for four or five years and also goes to CEDIA Expo each year.

John Connell, president of Torrance, Calif.-based Connell Communications, said he hadn't heard the show was going to launch at Intl. CES.

“I'm not going to go,” he added. “It's too far (to Las Vegas).”

Connell said he only attends shows in the greater Los Angeles area.

But not all attendees were reluctant about the impending show change.

Terry Levesque, director of Santa Ana, Calif.-based HTI Distribution, said he plans not only to attend the show in 2010, but he also hopes to exhibit there. His company's growing, he added, and will be in every major city in the next five years.

“I think it's an excellent move for the show,” Levesque said.