Signs Of A Recovering Economy!

February 5, 2010 | Posted by Roger Halligan

I just returned from two very successful expositions last week that were held on opposite coasts for completely different audiences.  The 2010 AHR Expo (world’s largest heating and air conditioning event) was held January 25-27 in Orlando, Florida and attracted more than 45,000 HVAC professionals.  At the same time, the CHA Craft & Hobby Trade Show (largest craft & hobby show in North America) was held in Anaheim, California and attracted close to 10,000 crafting professionals.

Although the participants and products on display couldn’t be more different, the events shared one thing in common – they attracted more attendees and exhibitors then they had anticipated.  Given the current economy, both the show organizers and the exhibitors expected attendance to be significantly down from previous years. They also expected fewer “power” buyers from around the country and the world due to many companies’ restrictive travel policies.

Fortunately, these fears were unfounded as thousands of qualified buyers from around the world filled the aisles and booths at all three shows.  I believe there were four major factors for this better-than-expected turn out:

1. Pent-up demand for new products is building
2. Buyers were interested in the many  ”green”/sustainable products that were being shown
3. There is a sense that the economy is finally starting to improve.
4. Show management had the foresight to continue their marketing communication campaigns uninterrupted, while many other events cut back on marketing.

There was a definite sense of optimism throughout the show floors. And as we all know, an optimistic outlook is one of the first steps to an economic recovery. What are you seeing/hearing out there?

Categories: Craft Industry Marketing, HVACR Marketing, Trade Show Marketing | Tags: Crafting, Economy, HVACR, Marketing Communications, Trade Shows | No Comments »