TRADE SHOWS – WORTH IT?

Is exhibiting at and attending trade shows still worth it? With the easy access to information these days and many manufacturers choosing to launch products via the Web, can we still justify the costs involved?

I attended PLASA this year and quite frankly, I did not see anything really unexpected. Everybody sent out advance information about what was going to be new, trying to entice us onto their stands so they could get hold of our contact details (which the attendance list would give them in any case).

Ok, I did get a close up, hands on look at some products that I’ve only read about and I did come across something I would not have otherwise. Was it worth the expense (London is NOT cheap)?

Our local trade show, Mediatech, is already well into the planning stages and I am sure a lot of South African companies are asking whether it is going to be worth their while to exhibit next year. Past experience has shown that very little actual business is done on the floor at Mediatech, so where is the worth?

I can only answer as an attendee. For me, trade shows have two aspects – contacts and seeing the physical product. 

Let’s face it, we are still a touchy-feely industry, nothing beats actually touching the product and seeing what it does and what is under the hood.

Despite all effort, nobody can really look at every possible product on the Web, every now and then a surprise jumps up – happened to me at PLASA. I knew about D3 Technologies and have been keeping an eye on their innovative approach to projection for a while, but completely missed their D3 Designer software. Only a chance stop at their stand introduced it to me, and thanks to an excellent short demo, I am now a fan. Similar thing with Avolites’ Sapphire Touch – I’ve never been an avid Avolites supporter (despite their stunning parties). A personal demo of the new console went a long way to change my perception that their products belong only in the rock arena.

As one of thousands of attendees, these two swayed me, how many others did they do the same to? I would suggest it was probably worth their while to be there.

PLASA was also an opportunity to meet a lot of new people and renew old acquaintances – this, on its own, justified every cent of the cost – we still very much operate on a who you know basis and knowing the face is so much better than only an e-mail contact.

All I can say is that if you are wondering whether to exhibit at Mediatech, do it, you may just find that one client that has missed your product.

Start saving for Prolight+Sound and/or PLASA next year, attend at least one of them. Plan now to attend Mediatech 2013, meet people, touch the product, ask the questions – it is the only gathering of our industry in South Africa and who knows what you may come across.

AFTER PLASA 2012

It was a somewhat nostalgic show this year, the last PLASA at Earl’s Court – next year it will be a month later and at the new Exel London Conference Centre. A good and bad thing, good in respect of more modern facilities, bad for travelling, it is not as easy to get to as Earl’s Court, but we will get used to it. Also the relatively cheaper accommodation around Earl’s Court is not going to be available at Exel.

Now let’s see how wrong I got my predictions. Up front, I have to say, I got some very wrong…

MIXING CONSOLES: Spot on, the only “new” large format console was the DiGiCo SD5. Not that new, but its first appearance at PLASA. Soundcraft showed their Performer, a small digital console with DMX to control lighting – whether this is a good thing remains to be seen, but I can see some club owners going for it to save a salary. The question is, who will operate it, the sound or the lighting guy?

LOUDSPEAKERS: Spot on, nothing exciting or really new.

MICROPHONES: Some new radio mic models, otherwise, boring.

LIGHTING CONTROL: A couple of new models from the usual brands. Of interest was the grandma PC Fader Wing adding 15 faders and 45 buttons to your onPC Command Wing or as a stand alone controller with a PC – due for release at the end of the year. The new Avolites Sapphire touch is a brilliant console, easy to use and a bunch of new features.

LUMINAIRES: Yep, more LED fittings, with varying rates of success. Philips Selecon’s LED Fresnel is a fair replacement for a small theatre used to 500W fixtures. Otherwise, I got it wrong, nothing really interesting. Martin showed their new range of moving heads, but frankly, we could not get a good look at them, nobody on their stand was interested in helping us.

EFFECTS: Spot on. Bigger and possibly better, nothing new.

MEDIA SERVERS: Spot on! Green Hippo showed their V3 user interface which is stunning. Avolites’ AI with its dedicated (optional) controller was another highlight. My award of the show, however, goes to D3 Technologies – if you have not looked at their products, do so, it is an extremely well thought out system, designed by users, not software engineers.

RIGGING: Nothing much on the show floor, but I hear the Rigging Conference was excellent.

DIGITAL SIGNAGE: So wrong here, there was nothing, they stuck to IBC.

LED DISPLAYS: Spot on, some really amazing high resolution displays with some badly shown flexible ones. Quite a few manufacturers are going for more flexible displays, not all very successful, but it is getting there.

EDUCATION: To our shock we realized that our problems in South Africa are not unique, just about everyone was complaining about the same thing – a generation gap in technicians. The ABTT launched two new schemes at PLASA, ABTTech and TAP, you will hear a lot more about this in the coming months.

In summary, for us it was very worthwhile to attend, but a number of the major players passed on PLASA this year to concentrate on IBC as it overlapped totally (one of the reasons it is a month later next year). Despite this, trade shows in general, and PLASA in particular is a great opportunity to meet old friends, make new ones and in general enlarge the contact list.