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I forgot to mention

Posted by John Marks (M) on November 20, 2007 at 11:03:53

In Reply to: I want a show in Westerly RI! Mystic CT is TOO FAR AWAY!!!!! posted by John Marks on November 19, 2007 at 18:12:14:

I forgot to mention the factor that even though Boston is less than 300 miles from NYC, that is just far enough for the New York dealers to think twice about all the costs showing in Boston has that showing in NYC won't. Such as hotel rooms for their employees, thousands of dollars right there.

For whatever reason or no reason, many manufacturers seem to take the position "We do CES, local dealers should do the consumer shows." As long as that is the prevailing attitude, a consumer show will stand or fall on whether there are enough local dealers signing contracts and sending in checks that the financial risks are bearable.

Of course I wish that there was going to be a Show in Chicago in 2008. But from a business perspective, I can't argue with the logic that taking a brief Sabbatical has almost no downside for the new owners--it is not as though potential exhibitors or attendees are going to be so angry they will boycott.

I have been racking my brains to come up with a business model for cheap, quick and dirty regional shows, and it doesn't work that I can see. As in, all audio dealers and companies in New England having a one-day show in Framingham.

But the fixed costs of freight, personnel transportation, etc. are sufficiently large that cutting back on days is a false economy. If you hold it on Friday, you miss the people who can't take a personal day off work. Sat, some people will stay away. Sun, the same. So you need all three days, plus setup and knockdown. And then, is there a critical mass of audiophiles in New England who will come and buy rather than kick tires and socialize? That answer seems to be "NO!", based on subscription numbers. And such a small regional show will not have the budget to spend money on mainstream media to attract non-audiophiles.

I'll go to a one-day pro audio trade show because it is free and my expectations are modest. But if people want to charge money, there has to be the collateral panels and concerts and seminars to make it worthwhile to people.

Which means a big national once a year show in one of three or four major-metro areas.

None of this, by the way, stops a marketing-savvy local dealer from holding manufacturer special events at his own store, or even asking Stereophile writers to come by and talk and demo some stuff. The macro stuff works and the micro stuff works, the in-between stuff does not seem to.

Cheers,

JM

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