How many shows can the industry support?

[RawAlex]

Originally Posted by gonzo

Id imagine its a lot cheaper to send a boat load of staff than to ship and set up a booth on a show floor that is totally unattended.

Actually, the reality is that the expense of running a both is as much in the staff as anything else.

Example Internext Miami: Considering room cost, airfare, food, drink, yadda, yadda is cost round number about $2500-$3500 per person that a program takes to the show. Show floor ran for 3 days, plus at least 1 extra day to set up, and you need to have at least a couple of people on the floor at all times... so really you are looking at 10k or more of people expense and probably a similar amount of booth expense to do it right. This in a place where the show floor was only semi-attended.

For 20k, you can send the whole office to the Pheonix Forum (or now the Atlanta show), or send a couple of people to pretty much every regional event all year long.

So the numbers are out there. Internext Miami changed because everyone realized they could get as much done wandering around the pool and hanging in the lobby as they could on a show floor. Vegas is changing for the same reason, people figuring out they can do as much at the "circle bar" or hanging around in the passageway going to the show as they can on the floor. Why pay AVN $300 for the honor?