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Another IT Trade Show Logs Off

August 5, 2004

While World Expo 2004 is poised to become the most-attended trade show in the history of the remanufacturing industry, certain information technology events within the United States continue to struggle.

Trade show organizer Hannover Fairs USA announced earlier this week that it has removed CeBIT America, an information and communications technology event, from its 2005 event schedule after only a two-year run. CeBit America’s cancellation comes a few months after another once-prominent IT event, COMDEX, announced the postponement of its 2004 event.

Despite a reported 350 exhibitors at CeBIT America 2004, held May 25-27 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, event organizers cited a lack of revenue generated as the main reason behind their decision to cancel next year’s show.

“Though regrettable this is the correct business decision,” Joachim Schafer, president of Hannover Fairs USA, said in a statement. “CeBIT America is a terrific event but it has not generated enough revenue to justify a third year. It really is a reflection of a changing high-tech industry as well as the overall U.S. economy.”

CeBIT America debuted in 2002 and attendance for the show in the first year was 15,000. Critics of the recent failures of IT events such CeBIT America and COMDEX point to the broad scope of and lack of qualified attendees at the events. Schafer said he was still optimistic about the U.S. market for high-tech events.

“We will continue to look for opportunities that focus on well-defined vertical markets and user groups,” he said.

In June 2004, MediaLive International, the organizer of COMDEX, decided to cancel the 2004 show. COMDEX 2005 is currently scheduled to still be held Nov. 13-17 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Meanwhile, another giant IT event, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), has succeeded in recent years by focusing more on tech gadgets rather than IT and office equipment.

Each of the remaining international CeBIT events — CeBIT Asia; CeBIT Australia; CeBIT Bilisim Eurasia and CeBIT Broadcast, Cable & Satellite in Turkey; and ISCe Satellite & Communications in Long Beach, Calif. — will not be affected by the CeBIT America decision, according to the company. The original CeBIT in Hannover, Germany, is one the world's largest business technology trade fairs. In 2004, the show reported 510,000 attendees, 6,411 exhibiting companies, 10,000 journalists, and 3.6 million square feet of net display space.

For more information visit www.cebit-america.com.