Trade shows

Trade shows are industry- or association-organized displays of companies’ PRODUCTs. In the United States, businesses spend billions of dollars on trade shows annually. Trade shows provide businesses with the opportunity to demonstrate and write orders for their products, provide information to DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL members, generate sales leads, build relationships, and compare products to competitors’ offerings. There are trade shows for almost every imaginable industry segment. In North America there are more than 4,000 industry trade shows each year. Trade shows rank second to ADVERTISING in U.S. businesses’ MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS budgets. Shows are expensive; often the display fee alone can be $5,000–$10,000, so companies determine which shows to display in based on potential or past sales and the number of vendors and visitors. Most shows are open only to industry members, while some, like automobile, boat, and home shows, are open to both the general public and industry members. Comdex, the leading computer-industry trade show, is held annually in Las Vegas. Many technology companies use Comdex to display their latest products, and competitors have found it to be a valuable source of MARKET INTELLIGENCE, often gaining new ideas for their companies from competitors’ presentations. The PGA golf show in Orlando each winter is another example of an industry trade show; more than 5,000 golf products firms participate each year. Convention centers in major cities are often hosts to trade shows. The World Trade Center in Miami, Atlanta Merchandise Mart, and Las Vegas Convention Center host a variety of trade shows annually. In addition to national trade shows, there are also many smaller regional shows. Trade shows can be found in various ways. Since many are hosted by industry associations, the Encyclopedia of Associations, available is almost any library, is an excellent resource, and www.tscentral.com is a searchable website listing many shows.