Attendance among us attendees was up about 12% over last year, although it felt like the Exhibit Hall had shrunk a bit in size. I don't know whether there were actually a bit fewer exhibitors or exhibitors were downsizing their footprints. Nevertheless, almost all the post-show comments from exhibitors were universally ecstatic with both the quality and quantity of leads they got. This bodes very well for our industry.
The emerging trend I saw at the show, is a definite movement away from printed material, in collateral, signage and even exhibit structure. I suspect that in a few years, the "augmented reality" technology will be applied to all the structural elements of the exhibit, making printed or vinyl copy a thing of the past. As the cost for this technology drops, the obvious benefits of personalizing and customizing the exhibit experience will bring us ever closer to kind of exhibit environments like the retail environments of "Minority Report". A little freaky, particularly if you visualize every exhibit employing similar tactics.
The classes and networking at Exhibitor were, as always, outstanding. Of course, there's always going to be one or two "lemons" mixed into the curriculum, but overall, it's as good as educational marketing conference as there is anywhere.
I also don't know of any other event (outside of maybe a Star Trek convention) where such a strong sense of tribal community is created. Trade show managers are indeed Lone Ranger's in their own company, and it just feels so good to rub shoulders with people who share your pains and frustrations.
I can't wait till next year.
TSB
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