With companies in cost-cutting mode, trade show attendance is expected to take a major hit in 2009. Some evidence came last week when news arrived that Apple was pulling out of the Macworld Conference & Expo and Quiksilver was exiting the Action Sports Retailer show.
Apple said January will be the last time it will exhibit at Macworld in San Francisco, and its CEO, Steve Jobs, will not deliver his legendary keynote address as he has for the past 10 years. Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, will take his place.
Apple had launched iMac, iTunes and the iPhone at the conference. But the company noted that it has been scaling back on trade shows for years and has many other ways to get the word out, including its stores and website.
"Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before," Apple said in a statement, "So like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers."
Apple's pullout prompted Sam Diaz, senior editor at ZDNet, to speculate on whether the "Internet's next victim" would be the trade show.
"Think about the outreach tools that companies have at their disposal these days," wrote Mr. Diaz. "Webcasts have become online events where people from around the globe can attend without booking a flight, hotel room or restaurant reservations. Viral videos are being produced by companies to showcase their products and technologies in real-world environments. Brand names are creating loyal followings via 'fan memberships' on social networking sites such as Facebook. And, increasingly, there are smaller intimate shows that cater to crowds with specific interests - conferences dealing with social networking, cloud computing, open source and more. Those shows reach the audiences they want to reach and the bank doesn't have to be broken to participate."
Meanwhile, Quiksilver Inc. is pulling its Roxy, Quiksilver and Raisins brands from the Action Sports Retailer (ASR) show this January in San Diego, although its DC Shoes brand will be exhibiting.
"With retail sales off 30-60 percent, including action sports specialty, the entire market is feeling the reverberating effects," said Andy Tompkins, ASR's group show director, in the statement. "This includes manufacturers and in turn trade shows. But even in hard times, brands know to go with what works first and for 27 years ASR's been proven itself as the place for brands and retailers to connect."
Discussion Question: Is the internet reducing the need for trade shows? Is there anything trade shows can do to become more viable? Are you planning to attend fewer trade shows in 2009?