Btw When I said the show sucked what I meant is....
 

Everybody always posts "I got tons of business from the show. Great show." Yeah whatever we all got business done. The reality is when I say a show sucks I mean if I was the person throwing the show I'd be pissed and embarrassed. It's not about how much business you get done. it's about turnout. When far fewer people than ever show up that means it's a failure.

If you look at what the AVN show was and compare this summer to recent years it was a complete disaster. Nobody can dispute that. No matter how much business you got done. Europeans and West Coasters came out less than ever. It was a show dominated by ManWin crew, Toronto Webmasters and Florida webmasters.

I was away on vacation and just realized the other thread became about people comparing how much business they got done.

I get what you are saying. There are shows that are organized purposely to be smaller. So they get smaller hotels, more low key events, more networking type plans, etc.

The AVN shows are designed to be large-scale events and when we don't fill half of the Westin with only WMs - like we use to - it's clearly obvious that the show itself has gotten smaller.

So of course business still gets done, any rep should be able to go to a show and get their ROI. Just the quantity of people to attempt to try and do biz with is much more limited.

sigh... 2004 was my first time there and thanks to Shap i met a lot of interesting people ;)

now i don't even bother anymore. but Amsterdam should be worth it - from a european point of view

I still don't get Florida summer... went once, never again... I'm not humidity compatible.

The Xbiz LA show is probably the most interesting show for us because of the location. So many companies we do business with in LA so even if they don't go to the show we still get a lot of business done.

It used to be in October. That wasn't bad but too close to vegas i'm guessing.

i do business on the phone...
that way i can screen my calls ...

What's the best show to go to... Phoenix, Xbiz LA, or Cybernet Expo?

Yeah - agreed. I had something similar in my first post and had erased it.

Ft. Lauderdale where the AVN show is - there is PaperStreetCash, Nasty$, SCORE, MayorsMoney (was there) and many more.

If the show sucks, venture off and go visit a company nearby.

Phoenix and XBiz....In that order :2 cents:

Yet we did not manage to chat... Have to do that finally! Any chance you might go to Amsterdam? Or I will just have to visit you or invite you to Montreal..

I do mine on ICQ so I can log off :1orglaugh j/k

Why does this keep coming up as a topic of conversation?

Shows aren't EVER going to be what they used to. Why complain about them after the fact? You knew going in what it was going to be like.

It sure ain't 1999 anymore. Not on any level.

suck a dick faggot

Nice sig.

Interesting thread on their forum today too.

this is worth a quote:thumbsup

Are you going to albright's party this weekend? :upsidedow

My 2 cents

The most amazing thing about shows is the BS some dish out after the show about how well they did. I've been in selling decades and the first thing you learn is a "Yes let's do business" is much easier to say than a "No don't want to do business with you".

The time you find out if the show was profitable for you is months after. After the "Yes" turned into real business, it kept coming and the profits were made.

But let's not stop the BS we dish out to each other in an attempt to look good. :)

Because maybe it sucked so bad, people can't stop talking about it.

AVN should probably take the hint but they won't.

Because a lot that put on shows still pretend they are going to be what they use to be. Bigger and better than ever! Still in the same, huge hotel with the same ridiculous prices - that have actually increased.

Phoenix Forum still continues to sell out its main hotel and the blocks they have at two others ... that show is better than what it was when it first started.

I have to agree with this 100%. tons of times you chat with people and they are like "yeah contact me when your back in the office" and they either never reply or they come back with yeah i don;t think theres anything we can do together"

Talk is cheap. Unles syou hammer something firm there Biz is probally only 40% of what you are hoping after the "Biz" talks at shows

emailing you today about that

I've even met people at a show who on the 2nd day are telling everyone they paid for the whole trip. We get people posting this on GFY. Does anyone swallow this?

Unless you get pen to paper talk is cheap.

Sadly not even all of Florida webmasters thought it was worth going to anymore.

Thank You!

Chris, I think as Kristin is saying, maybe if the show wasn't hyped as "bigger and better" people wouldn't have walked away so disappointed. They are only pissed they didn't get what was advertised. You're kind of coming off like shame on the people who paid money to attend for thinking the show was going to be worth attending. :helpme

Saying that "It sure ain't 1999 anymore" is a cop out- people are still putting on successful shows. Phoenix isn't hurting and it seems like mainstream keeps on growing- I don't see Ad Tech or Affiliate Summit going away- they are all selling out and still delivering value.

Personally, I would MUCH prefer to go to a smaller, streamlined show where I know everyone in attendance is in the online space than a mixed bag filled with novelty and DVD manufacturers.

Agreed.. I prefer smaller shows as well. Phoenix is my favorite large show, probably because it's the best time of year in AZ and I don't have to get on a plane to go. ;)

Cybernet Expo has done me well over the years. One year I didn't attend and just sponsored the seminars and got shit tons of biz once people got back. Amazing what a strategically placed biz card can do. :)

This past year I attended Cybernet and got quite a bit of biz done from people I wouldn't have met otherwise. Very unique mixture of people and I welcomed it.

What kills AVN and XBiz - not having the hotel sold out to solely the WMs. Get a smaller venue if needed, but keep everyone together.

:thumbsup

Maybe because we keep being assured that this show will be bigger and better than the last.

I think venue is def a part of it. It's "not 1999" for everyone involved so putting a convention somewhere you know attendees are going to get price gouged doesn't help. If the show can't deliver like it did in the past why expect us to spend as much to attend (and in the way of the diplomat- more).

I think generally some of the shows just lack engagement, not just Internext. It seems organizers are so focused on sponsor placement and satisfaction they lose sight of attendee satisfaction. They're all interlinked. If you focus too hard on bending to the whim of your advertizers you'll lose attendees, and less attendees = less sponsors and sponsorship dollars. I think Fuzebox said it best, some shows make you feel more like a customer than a participant. Things have gotten a little too whored out IMO. :2 cents:

You could not sell out a Motel 6 in Las Vegas. All the venues worth their salt are way too big to be sold out to one group. A tower maybe.

Did anyone here go to T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2010? Curious to see how that turned out.

I'm just saying, use your own best judgement.

It's 2010 and we all know what the state of the industry is. Not copping out, not giving anyone a hard time, either. I just find that this stuff has become too obvious.