How big tradeshows get small
Back in 2011, long after I'd sold ENTECH to a big-box tradeshow conglo, they co-located it with SMPTE. That is the film and TV tradeshow. Both were in decline, so they reasoned running them together would save money. They could have shared the savings with their clients by dropping a little of the exorbitant rent but no - they trousered it. And both shows got more screwed.
Which is how I got to buy back ENTECH for 1.5 cents in the dollar! All I got was the name, and 23,000 email addresses but hey - it meant I could re-brand my CX Summer Roadshow, and ENTECH Roadshow is now the jewell in our empire.
Funny story: 3 years ago we looked at co-locating ENTECH with SECTECH, our Security Tech Roadshow that we run in partnership with another publishing family. It didn't stack up - yeah we would save money - and pass it down via cheaper prices. But the cultures were too different. A serious exhibitor selling facial recognition cameras would not enjoy a blast of fog from a lighting guy.
At first glance the two shows are similar. But different. Which is why I was delighted this week when the two big box shows run by the huge multinational tradeshow goliath Diversified announced they would co-locate! The two things I compete against have become one! Now ENTECH and SECTECH are the ONLY dedicated events for their respective industries!
It's a win-win for me. And for Diversified, since they now have one guy selling two shows, one build team, one rego contractor, and they'll cut cut cut costs - and trouser the savings.
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Chapter One - I Was A Roadie
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