Trade shows are seemingly GOING... where trade publications WENT.

Is there anyone other than me that's old enough to compare what's happening to trade shows today, with what happened to trade publications in the past decade?

It's even spooky to look at the comparisons.

Trade Show = Publication
Show organizer = Publisher
Booths = Pages
Unions = Ad Agencies
Exhibit Manager = Ad Manager

Consider what happened to trade publications during the past decade. As readers began to find other ways to communicate with advertisers besides circling a reader service card (RSC) and waiting weeks to be contacted by the advertiser's sales force (if they ever were), they began using the Internet to ACQUIRE information about the advertised product, long before they picked up the phone to INQUIRE. Then, advertisers did a poor job measuring where the phone calls (leads) were coming from and lost track of any way to measure advertising ROI. The result? Look at the thickness of trade publications today.

LQQK what's happening today in the trade show world.

Show organizers are wayyy too focused on square-footage sales, general contractor's service costs are skyrocketing, exhibit houses are increasing pricing within their "bundles" and exhibitors (that can't prove ROI) are being forced to find other ways to SHOW their products and services. The result? Look down the aisles at the next trade show you attend.

Enter 2009... and the INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL WORLD for exhibiting and individual company events, and check back here soon for a "peek" at what this writer has found to be an upcoming trend to turn yesterday's SHOW n TELL into... SHOW n SELL.