Monday, July 31, 2006
E3: Dead?
Rich Westerfield picks up on the blogosphere buzz about the potential demise of E3, the gigantic video gaming show. No word on the accuracy of the story--and E3 hasn't responded, which might make a good case study in dealing with the new age of media.
According to the buzz, the big exhibitors aren't coming back to E3, citing the massive costs of exhibiting. I've seen this major exhibitor exodus happen before in several industries, and the results aren't pretty.
UPDATE: The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) confirms the "evolution" of E3 for next year "into a more intimate event focused on targeted, personalized meetings and activities....While there will be opportunities for game demonstrations, E3Expo 2007 will not feature the large trade show environment of previous years."
The cost of booth space is the least of the expenses that trade show exhibitors incur--with the expense of booth construction and shipping, travel and staffing, and outside promotion adding up to far more money, a cut of which the trade show organizer doesn't see. Perhaps ESA's move will result in less expense for its members, and even more revenues for ESA.
In any case, there's an object lesson in here for all trade show companies. Shows can get too big, and too costly, to sustain themselves using the classic business model of big booths, medium booths and small booths. Large companies will always want to show off, to compete with each other for the flashiest and biggest booths--until one day they wake up and wonder what value they get when the spend $1 million to build a small city for three days. And then...poof, the show starts losing the major exhibitors, and goes the way of Comdex, which took some time to die and did so quite publicly, or E3, which looks like it's more willing to change its business approach to accommodate the realities of its exhibitors.
My former client, Richmond Events, is built on a business model where exhibitors are charged per attendee, no booths are allowed, promotional costs are minimized and the event is focused on face-to-face meetings with delegates, all arranged through a proprietary scheduling system. It sounds as if ESA is looking at something similar.
If you do big trade shows, so should you.
UPDATE TWO: Scoble's take: "So, why does anyone need to go to a big conference to hear the news again? Simple: you don’t. It’s not worth doing....I wonder how long CES will survive?"
Comments
|
According to the buzz, the big exhibitors aren't coming back to E3, citing the massive costs of exhibiting. I've seen this major exhibitor exodus happen before in several industries, and the results aren't pretty.
UPDATE: The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) confirms the "evolution" of E3 for next year "into a more intimate event focused on targeted, personalized meetings and activities....While there will be opportunities for game demonstrations, E3Expo 2007 will not feature the large trade show environment of previous years."
The cost of booth space is the least of the expenses that trade show exhibitors incur--with the expense of booth construction and shipping, travel and staffing, and outside promotion adding up to far more money, a cut of which the trade show organizer doesn't see. Perhaps ESA's move will result in less expense for its members, and even more revenues for ESA.
In any case, there's an object lesson in here for all trade show companies. Shows can get too big, and too costly, to sustain themselves using the classic business model of big booths, medium booths and small booths. Large companies will always want to show off, to compete with each other for the flashiest and biggest booths--until one day they wake up and wonder what value they get when the spend $1 million to build a small city for three days. And then...poof, the show starts losing the major exhibitors, and goes the way of Comdex, which took some time to die and did so quite publicly, or E3, which looks like it's more willing to change its business approach to accommodate the realities of its exhibitors.
My former client, Richmond Events, is built on a business model where exhibitors are charged per attendee, no booths are allowed, promotional costs are minimized and the event is focused on face-to-face meetings with delegates, all arranged through a proprietary scheduling system. It sounds as if ESA is looking at something similar.
If you do big trade shows, so should you.
UPDATE TWO: Scoble's take: "So, why does anyone need to go to a big conference to hear the news again? Simple: you don’t. It’s not worth doing....I wonder how long CES will survive?"
