If you are packing for the tech trade show CES you should bring some fly spray and some pepto-bismol.
According to Forbes the entire show is being killed off by parasites. We caught one of those in Tunisia once, and to quote the King James Bible, "our bowels sounded like harpstrings."
Forbes said the parasites are turning the show to mush following the death of Comdex in 2003.
The tech industry had been using Comdex as an excuse to meet in Las Vegas in November for years, and when that show went belly up, the crowd reassembled itself around CES.
It claims that people come to Vegas because everybody has agreed on the place and time. But they don't actually participate.
It said that Microsoft's decision to opt out of the show after 2012 is the most visible symptom of a deeper condition.
The thing is, vendors and customers all want different things from a show. Vendors want shows or vertical events that attract particular buyer segments while buyers want to see everything in one go.
As a result, the major vendors have abandoned the show floor and are taking up rooms elsewhere in Vegas where they hope to drag in special guests and hacks. Some of them, such as HP, are holding their own parties and meetings.
Dell has thrown a party and held meetings for years at the Rio, and Acer has taken space at the Hard Rock. All these are parasites on the main show, reasons Forbes, and since they don't pay for the experience they effectively help send CES the same way as Comdex.
The internet has killed off these dinosaurs. Only the Orientals still cling to this outdated vestige of the brick and mortar age.
With the net to showcase your items, and fedex amazon to ship to buyers, who needs Ye Olde Computer Shoppe, who sent to the CES and Comdex. The Big one in Europe will also start to decline. (Cebit)
As a vendor, I dont want to be in an environment, showing off my exclusive products and having exclusive conversations in a room full of competitors, I didnt spend all that money for a brochure.
But as a buyer, I want to see everything . . tell you what though . . if Dell/HP/Microsoft want me to go off to a party at the MGM and hear about secret widget number 5 . . ill go there instead of being harrased by hundreds of mini vendors.
Split the days up perhaps?