The (Technology Trade) Show Must Go On?
from the time-for-the-niche-to-take-over dept
Someone over at CNN has noticed that the big name technology trade shows aren't doing so well these days. They look at the big name shows, Comdex and Internet World, and realize that it's tougher for companies to justify going to these shows (whether as attendees or exhibitors). However, they admit that there seems to be some room for smaller, niche trade shows. They mention the Game Developers Conference and the Consumer Electroncis Show, which both have been doing well lately. They haven't caught on to the popular shows in the geek world, such as those put on by Tim O'Reilly and Kevin Werbach - but I wonder if that's because they mostly view those as a bunch of folks patting each other on the back. I agree that those conferences seem way too "insidery" right now, and also mostly consist of people preaching to the converted rather than really generating new ideas. However, I think both have the potential to be a lot more. Eventually one of those conferences - or another like it - will become the "disruptive conference". Just like established tech companies ignore "disruptive technologies", the established conferences seem to ignore these new, niche conferences. If you compare the two types of conferences right now, it wouldn't look like the bigger ones have anything to worry about. However, as the smaller conference change over time, I can certainly see how more and more companies will view things like Supernova or O'Reilly's Emerging Tech conferences as the "must attends" while Comdex and Internet World look like dinosaurs.
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I didn't have to pay $5 for a hot dog and $20 to park for 2 hours. Sure, I miss the free schwag- Tshirts and rubber desk whatszits, but otherwise, good riddance.
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The relevance of conferences in the Internet era
Would an Internet virtual conference be and cheaper alternative and meet the goals of attendees, sponsors, and publications?
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Re: The relevance of conferences in the Internet e
I agree with both posters so far. The value of "finding out info about companies and products" has dropped significantly - but there's still a lot of value in the "meeting people face to face" part of the business. I don't think that can effectively be replicated online (and I once tried to build a system that would do that, so I have some experience seeing how people react to those sorts of things).
Unfortunately, I don't think most conferences really value that "meet face-to-face" part enough - and don't do enough to encourage it.
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Re: The relevance of conferences in the Internet e
Going back to your original observation, one large tech conference that still seems strong is CES. On the niche side, how about Demo and PC Forum?
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Re: The relevance of conferences in the Internet e
As for Demo and PC Forum, I agree that they're doing ok in the niche space. Demo, of course, has the hook that the stuff that shows up there is new - which lets it break the mold from some other conferences.
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