Sounding Off at EHX

EHExpo 2010 in Orlando was a great show for some, a disappointment for others, and perhaps an event of indifference to many. It reminded me of the anchor stores closing in a major mall leaving the smaller stores to fend for themselves. 

The show was decidedly smaller for sure, but those in attendance were plugged into their business in a more creative fashion, looking for competitive advantages.  They gained an edge in product awareness, knowledge and insight. 

Participating vendors could cater to this select audience by exposing them to new and better products as well as to teach solid business approaches that help improve their bottom line.  All I can say is that our booth was nonstop for three days, jammed with involved attendees. Were you there?

Quality isn’t about a companies size or annual sales, it’s about leadership and innovation - after all, would you rather own a Monitor Audio, Epson, B&K, and Straight Wire system or shop at WalMart? Duh!  We might applaud those who displayed and attended instead of exposing them to dim-witted ridicule.  Criticize the “anchor” vendors who have abandoned our industry events when we need their support the most.  In the mean time, activist dealers and manufacturers will continue to take business from those complacently sitting on the sidelines.

Jay O’Brian & Alan Hook
Monitor Audio U.S. Directors of Sales

Well said Jay!  I didn’t make it this year due to a lack of funds but I have always enjoyed the show and hope to attend again.

The worst part of this show is having it slammed down our throats for two months prior to the event.  The more CEPro tried to make this show look meaninful the more desperate they appeared.

Why is it that exhibitors at trade shows (EHX) always say that “the show was great” even when there are no attendees. “We only had one guy come to our booth but, he made our show!”

WHY do mental munchkins frequently use absolutes like “always” or “no attendees” or “only one” as if exaggeration helps them make their point? 

WHY consider that for three days hundreds of ‘non-attendees’ crammed our booth, dozens of ‘non-attendees’ lined the AV demo room at any one time, and over 400 badges were scanned from those blithely inattentive “non-attendees” who were not there.

Jay

More people think I’m innocent than attended the show.

I attended the CEDIA show in Atlanta last September. It was clearly not as busy as previous shows I’d been to! That said, in almost every booth I visited I was told that, although booth visits were down, the quality of attendee was at an all time high! Makes sense too! The dealers who were suffering stayed away, the forward thinkers, looking for new avenues of opportunity, were there! As a retailer who’s been in the business for 35 years I’ve spent many hours manning booths at shows that have been well attended by people with no interest in what we were there for, and also shows with, relatively few attendees who were really into our products and services. For me, a quality contact is far more important than quantity. The bottom line is, however, (and to quote a famous phrase of Wayne Gretzky’s) 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take, won’t go in! I applaud any company who makes the effort even though times are tough! Bravo Jay!

I’m late to this discussion, but Global Caché was an exhibitor at EHX, so I feel compelled to comment. We were worried going into the show that because there were fewer vendors this year, it might be a waste of our resources. We were very pleasantly surprised by the quantity and quality of the new contacts we generated there. Also, it was a great opportunity to catch up with our current customers as well. Perhaps our new WiFi products helped attract a lot of the attention we enjoyed, but even exciting new products can’t do that without having the potential audience available. We were satisfied enough to sign up for next year.