My kind of town...

And now, a few words from the Great (and Deceased) American Philosopher, Frank Sinatra:

Indeed.  As I leave for what's left of the Chicago Motivation Show, it's apparent to me that the Old Grey Mare just ain't what she used to be.  And there are reasons for that.   Here goes:

• Well, the damn business just changed.  A lot.  End Users left years ago (yeah, yeah, I know--more end users came last year.  Now we're only 90% below what it once was).
• Distributors started staying away too.  The Show has tried valiantly to attract more promotional products distributors, with education, bribes, and God knows what else.  It hasn't worked.
• The travel section deserted the Show this year.  Not everyone, mind you, but enough booth space left for IMEX that the show is now integrated--no more center aisle delineating merchandise from travel.  We're all One Not-so-Big Happy Family now.
• And even though it's My Kind of Town, Chicago is also a pain in the ass to go to for a convention.  It's expensive, full of surly, entitled Union types, and did I say it was expensive?
• I booked a room at the Vdara in Las Vegas--just about as upscale as you'd want-for $110 a night.  $110 in Chicago doesn't buy me anything I'd want to spend time in.  I have a $175 room that will probably give new definition to "intimate".

Long-term exhibitors (like me) have deserted the show because we can't justify the ROI.  And it's sad--really sad.  I have to agree with a colleague's assessment:  "it will never return to what it was.  And the longer it's being presented like it was, the more people will remember it and benchmark today's show against how it used to be when both floors of the North Hall were filled.  The only solution is to 'blow it up' and start over".

Harsh?  Yes.  Accurate?  Unfortunately so.  We'll go there this week and put on our Happy Faces.   Exhibitors will talk about "quality" and how "we got to spend time with our customers" but it's all just spin.  What was once the unquestioned meeting space for our market is now not that.

It's nobody's fault.  Everyone, especially Show Management, did everything they could to stem the tide.  But the Mo Show is becoming a casualty of trade shows in general--other than CES and PPAI Expo it's hard to find a show on an upward curve.

As a lifelong Cubs fan I can only say---wait until next year.  It works for me...


Pete