Speaking of Trade Shows

There's been an interesting conversation about trade shows bouncing between this blog and John Blyler's. One thing that hasn't been discussed, however, is the competition between industry groups and events. The competition between CES and COMDEX eventually killed the latter. And DesignCon and DAC have been working at opposite ends as well. But last week the Fabless Semiconductor Association announced a name and purpose change. They are calling themselves the Global Semiconductor Alliance now, claiming worldwide membership of semiconductor, EDA, manufacturing and SIP companies. The FSA events are far flashier and exclusive than the semiconductor and EDA events, much less academic and relatively profitable for the organization. However, their exhibitions have been less than stellar and that's where the real money is. I'm wondering if they are making a play for the exhibition business from the smaller organizations.

Comments

  1. John BlylerDecember 12, 2007 at 1:25 PM

    ".. claiming worldwide membership of semiconductor, EDA, manufacturing and SIP companies." And so the pendulum swings. Or is it being pushed. -- JB

    ReplyDelete
  2. Richard FeldmanJanuary 21, 2008 at 4:41 AM

    It was not competition between COMDEX and CES that "killed" COMDEX.

    COMDEX was a wonderful show when computing was new and only one source of information was necessary. As time went on and computing technology grew, company messaging broke down into niche verticals like networking, security, and others that more specialized events began to fill those specific needs. COMDEX became less relevant and was just not needed any more. Don't forget that the first COMDEX was even before IBM introduced the AT or XT.

    PS: I was a COMDEX exhibitor from 1984 to 1997.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Richard FeldmanJanuary 21, 2008 at 4:42 AM

    It was not competition between COMDEX and CES that "killed" COMDEX.

    COMDEX was a wonderful show when computing was new and only one source of information was necessary. As time went on and computing technology grew, company messaging broke down into niche verticals like networking, security, and others that more specialized events began to fill those specific needs. COMDEX became less relevant and was just not needed any more. Don't forget that the first COMDEX was even before IBM introduced the AT or XT.

    PS: I was a COMDEX exhibitor from 1984 to 1997.

    ReplyDelete

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