Comdex cancelled

[Sharpie]

We just got a call from the Las Vegas Review Journal, telling us that it was officially announced that Comdex (which was once the largest computer show in the country) was cancelled for this November.....

My how things have changed over a few years.....................

[Winetalk.com]

Originally posted by Sharpie@Jun 23 2004, 04:01 PM
We just got a call from the Las Vegas Review Journal, telling us that it was officially announced that Comdex (which was once the largest computer in the country) was cancelled for this November.....

My how things have changed over a few years.....................
porn shows will never go out of style
;-)))

[sextoyking]

Sharpie,

wow that surprises me...

[RawAlex]

here's the news... (http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/06/23/HNcomdexcancelled_1.html)

Last year they didn't even get 50k people to the door. November is now going to be a dead month in Vegas... all those taxis with no ads on them! :-)

Alex

[kath]

WOW.... now we won't get to hear all the cab drivers and hotel people say, "at least you porn guys are better than those Comdex geeks!"

<_<

[Hell Puppy]

I'm not so sure Vegas properties will miss Comdex.

Most of the casino managers will tell you that the typical comdex attendee comes with a $20 bill and a knit shirt with the company logo on it and doesn't change either while he's there. .....kinda like Wiseman.

[kath]

Originally posted by Hell Puppy@Jun 23 2004, 02:44 PM
I'm not so sure Vegas properties will miss Comdex.

Most of the casino managers will tell you that the typical comdex attendee comes with a $20 bill and a knit shirt with the company logo on it and doesn't change either while he's there. .....kinda like Wiseman.
I know... I love that line... :rolleyes:

It even made its way into a PC World article a few shows back... it's TRUE! :okthumb:

[Sharpie]

Originally posted by Hell Puppy@Jun 23 2004, 05:44 PM
I'm not so sure Vegas properties will miss Comdex.

Most of the casino managers will tell you that the typical comdex attendee comes with a $20 bill and a knit shirt with the company logo on it and doesn't change either while he's there. .....kinda like Wiseman.

That is true as far as gambling goes........... but, the room revenue was nothing to sneeze at! Even with only 40,000 people, that is a sizeable amount of rooms to lose. The money spent at the adult clubs will certainly be missed:-)

[SykkBoy]

Originally posted by Sharpie+Jun 23 2004, 06:35 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Sharpie @ Jun 23 2004, 06:35 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Hell Puppy@Jun 23 2004, 05:44 PM
I'm not so sure Vegas properties will miss Comdex.

Most of the casino managers will tell you that the typical comdex attendee comes with a $20 bill and a knit shirt with the company logo on it and doesn't change either while he's there. .....kinda like Wiseman.

That is true as far as gambling goes........... but, the room revenue was nothing to sneeze at! Even with only 40,000 people, that is a sizeable amount of rooms to lose. The money spent at the adult clubs will certainly be missed:-) [/b][/quote]
Yeh, it came as a surprise, but not overall shocking. Vegas was gouging them at every step, from triple room rates to $20 parking fees.

The big companies like AOL pulled out a couple years ago and rumors were running rampant that Microsoft was pulling out and they were the biggest spender.

The titty bars will definitely feel the pinch though.

This means that rooms will be EXTRA cheap in November....for anyone planning on coming here then...

[SykkBoy]

I wish someone had the balls to do a show during that time that could put adult and mainstream together (at least on a technical level).

For example: at cybernet expo, there was very little of the David Lace type problem and it was fairly professional atmosphere and I was amazed that I actually did talk to a few reps from "mainsteream" tech companies there (in fact, a friend of mine who attended just hooked up one of the software vendors with a contact for distibution of his software in the Philippines).

I'm sure there are some tech companies who've already made travel arrangements to come to Vegas (especially foreign companies) as well as others who aren't doing much that time of the year.

[Dravyk]

Maybe someone will finally do a big show in the Northeast.

Amazing that other than the one in North Jersey Sharpie did many eons ago (so many I was even too new to make it), that everyone seems to have neglected this entire part of the country.

I guess it's not hot enough here in August. :( And nope, shows in Ontario just aren't the same thing.

[Hell Puppy]

I'm guessing that a lot of small shows, and big ones too for that matter, steer away from the northeast due to the added expense of the union hassles.

[Dravyk]

Possibly, HP. But -- wish I could remember who I spoke to in the last two weeks (talk to so many folks I can't recall who now) -- but they were telling me after the Teamsters all but destroyed their booth in packing it back up in January's Vegas show (no, they said they didn't do a thing to antagonize any of them) that they would never have a booth again in Vegas. I doubt NY or Philly or Baltimore could be any worse.

[Sharpie]

SykkBoy - Combining mainstream & adult to a high level will probably never happen... We have strived over the years to do this & have had limited success. We have contracted with several mainstream companies over the past years to have the people at the top cancel it out prior to the show.

As CD ROM distributors in the early 90's, we exhibited at all the big shows. Our line was half mainstream and half adult. We got away with it for a couple of years because we operated at as a business, and didn't call too much attention to ourselves. However, as the technology grew and more people got into the frey, they DID call a lot of attention to themselves & went overboard - (Comdex 1994 was a prime example) After newspaper headlines at the biggest technology show around - the idea of co-exhistence was over....

Jay worked very hard to get the mainstream technology companies to Cybernet. We hoped for more of them than we ended up with - but it is a beginning. I would have to say that the behaviour of the attendees was exemptlary. It was truly a business conference! It planted the seed for 'more good things to happen:-)

Dravyk - We have looked at locations in the East - and we have not found them to be Adult friendly, or way too expensive.... However, we do have excellent references if we can ever get that far with them. Maybe having a show in a consertative area with San Diego, will help on the reseme... Even Atlantic City wants to add on to the price for Adult conventions (they have been there and done that & are not happy with previous adult conventions) You also need an area that has a lot of Adult companies & potential attendees within a stones throw... It is also good if you have the support of 3 or 4 local companies going in.

[Dravyk]

Between Maine and Virginia, there's Spice Cash, Wasteland, Reyko, SexKey, DreamXotic, part of Max Cash, Dirty Gloves, Standard Internet, VirtuBucks, XXX Games, Adult Plex; there's Green Guy, DMan, GoGoBar and the companies they have. And those are just off the top of my head. I'm certain medium and large regional companies would love to sponsor something if there ever were something here to sponsor.

As for expensive, I think webmasters are tired of going to uncomfortably sweltering places at the wrong time of year just to save a few bucks. (Not to mention the watered-down $12+ drinks at the Diplomat are not what I call cheap.) We all know how webmasters spend a ton of money, and we know how fast hotel suites are taken up early.

So why should they balk at being some place comfortable? I think the San Diego, Phoenix and Canadian shows demonstrate there's a desire for webmasters to go places where they can be comfortable and not baking, sweaty blobs of humid flesh.

[SykkBoy]

Originally posted by Sharpie@Jun 24 2004, 09:46 AM
SykkBoy - Combining mainstream & adult to a high level will probably never happen... We have strived over the years to do this & have had limited success. We have contracted with several mainstream companies over the past years to have the people at the top cancel it out prior to the show.

As CD ROM distributors in the early 90's, we exhibited at all the big shows. Our line was half mainstream and half adult. We got away with it for a couple of years because we operated at as a business, and didn't call too much attention to ourselves. However, as the technology grew and more people got into the frey, they DID call a lot of attention to themselves & went overboard - (Comdex 1994 was a prime example) After newspaper headlines at the biggest technology show around - the idea of co-exhistence was over....

Jay worked very hard to get the mainstream technology companies to Cybernet. We hoped for more of them than we ended up with - but it is a beginning. I would have to say that the behaviour of the attendees was exemptlary. It was truly a business conference! It planted the seed for 'more good things to happen:-)

Dravyk - We have looked at locations in the East - and we have not found them to be Adult friendly, or way too expensive.... However, we do have excellent references if we can ever get that far with them. Maybe having a show in a consertative area with San Diego, will help on the reseme... Even Atlantic City wants to add on to the price for Adult conventions (they have been there and done that & are not happy with previous adult conventions) You also need an area that has a lot of Adult companies & potential attendees within a stones throw... It is also good if you have the support of 3 or 4 local companies going in.
I understand that and I know you and I have talked about it before, but maybe with the changing climate, they'd be more willing. There are a lot of issues like DRM, ACACIA and their ilk, etc. that affect the mainstream as much as the adult.

I'm not saying it could happen this year, but with the "seeds planted" at the San Diego show, maybe there can be even more planted and it can grow from there.

I remember the early problems with COMDEX when they used to have adult exhibitors. The funny thing is, if the two sides ever got together again, the biggest partiers and wildest stories would come from people in mainstream moreso than adult ;-)

[kath]

I have to agree with Dravyk - I do like the shows where we can be more comfortable. You have to think about the comfort of your attendees and creating a desire to want to go. Sweaty South Florida in AUGUST just isn't my idea of a good time. Now South Florida in February is a whole nother thing - I loved Ft. Lauderdale in February, it was gorgeous!

Phoenix - in the Spring (before the 110 degree days set in) and San Diego in early Summer (gorgeous year-round really) are VERY appealing. Those two shows have definitely become my NEW must-attend events for 2005!

:rokk:

[Hell Puppy]

Originally posted by Dravyk@Jun 24 2004, 02:15 AM
Possibly, HP. But -- wish I could remember who I spoke to in the last two weeks (talk to so many folks I can't recall who now) -- but they were telling me after the Teamsters all but destroyed their booth in packing it back up in January's Vegas show (no, they said they didn't do a thing to antagonize any of them) that they would never have a booth again in Vegas. I doubt NY or Philly or Baltimore could be any worse.
If you wanna make sure your booth is in good shape, a tip/bribe goes a long ways. Also a good idea to have someone from your company on hand the entire time to supervise.

Someone likely pissed someone off....a guaranteed way to make sure a fork lift "accidently" runs into the most expensive portion of your booth or worse.