Comdex Operators File for Bankruptcy

VileScum writes "According to this article in The Australian, Los Angeles-based Key3Media Group, the company operating the giant Comdex trade show, filed for protection from its creditors yesterday in the United States Bankruptcy Court. Does this mean I have to start buying cloths again instead of getting them at trade shows?" Also see a story in The New York Times. Concerns of bankruptcy were voiced last November.

Comments

cloths?

[jd81eldo]

I got a few free shirts at Comdex, but I never saw a booth giving out free cloths

noooo!!

[borgdows]

Computer industry will be doomed without the yearly 'Bill Gates COMDEX Keynote' !! ;-)

unsurprising

[Boromir son of Faram]

Comdex has been in steady decline for a few years. I don't think anyone's exactly floored by this announcement, which is just ceiling the fate we all saw coming as the trade show has become increasingly walled in.

Then we have trade shows like LinuxWorld that have trouble selling enough booths to cover their costs. I don't think this is anything to be upset over. The Internet is to some extent doing away with the need for meatspace trade shows, and in these lean times it's hardly shocking that businesses don't want to throw away money on a trade show booth that could be spent in their web presence with many times the return on investment.

So, the Comdex bankrupty filing has been found, as legend foretold.

Conventions are doomed anyway

[Mononoke]

Ever exhibit at a convention? Ever seen the bills you have to pay? The convention support firms (Freeman decorators, various unions, et al.) are killing the business.

Just a few of the typical expenses (daily rates):

• $20 to rent an $8 table.
• $25 for access to an electrical outlet. Don't plug anything in yourself, though, or some teamster will break your fingers.
• $200 for access to a fractional T1 (a very small fraction, most times).
• $10 to rent a $4 chair.
• Want carpet? That'll be $100. Want that carpet unrolled?...
• Bring your own equipment? Too bad, you've got to pay a fee to be allowed to use it.

You haven't dealt with monopolies until you've tried to exhibit at a convention. One company controls all access, labor, and equipment, and you've got no say over how any of it is handled.

A manufacturer's money is much better spent sending out press releases and designing an infomative web presence.

How not to survive a downturn

[FunWithHeadlines]

From the NY Times article, two quotes that explain it all:

"Crucial exhibitors began dropping out, some going out of business themselves, and others scaled back the elaborate booths that had been a staple of the dot-com era. And as Key3Media's business began looking tenuous this fall, some exhibitors became reluctant to commit to shows even six months away."

Business cycles go up and down, and the smart business will prepare for these down cycles. After all, you cannnot assume that good times will continue indefinitely. There does come a time when companies will hesitate to spend the money to exhibit. Did Key3Media plan accordingly?

" Key3 Media -- built up in the late 1990's as the technology boom was reaching its crest -- around the same time accumulated substantial debt, making it especially difficult to operate when the downturn in technology became sustained."

Oops. Yet another victim of boom mentality. It seems they jumped in with both feet when the feeding was good, did the usual VC thinking of growth, growth, growth at the expense of debt, debt, debt, and now find themselves hurting when the inevitable down cycle occurs.

Comdex provided me with a lot of fun memories. I hope it continues just so we have a place to go poke buttons and admire large screens in person. But it helps when the owners of the show (no longer Shelley Adelson) are focused on the show, not soley on the bottom line and growth for growth's sake.

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