Online community for ornamental horticulture

Trade Shows?

Can I venture in and ask how the trade show are going? I'm hearing some positives initially. I know foot traffic has been down, but I'm hearing that people are still buying.
What are your expectations for the spring?

Thanks!
Jen

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jeff Warschauer on January 30, 2009 at 5:47pm: Hi Jen,
MANTS was my last show. Traffice was great on Wed. and Thurs. Late Thursday and all of Friday was dead. As you may know MANTS is atteneded by many in retail and the Atlanta Gift Show opens Thursday or Friday so many leave MANTS early to go to Atlanta.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Charles Annable on February 5, 2009 at 9:21am: We enjoyed CENTS. Connected with some new suppliers. It seemed smaller this year and less busy (on Monday). My question is why aren't there more tangential suppliers exhibiting. As a garden center owner I'm looking for new and different lines to carry. It seems like the IGS show is growing because they attract businesses peripherally related to the green industry; ONLA might try marketing their show outside of the box a bit to shore up their declining interest in/at CENTS.....; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Thomas Hill on February 24, 2009 at 1:56pm: I think trade shows in most industries are undergoing a big change. The next generation of growers is being raised on technology and they are learning about new products and offerings quicker. The days of going to a show to learn what's new from a company are almost extinct. The trade show investment is big and you want it to pay off somehow. The challege will be the adjustment of associations that sponsor the shows - can they provide a fresh and evolving offering to exhibitors and attendees alike - or not?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Geri Cashion on February 24, 2009 at 4:36pm: Without specifically naming them, I can report that the last two trade shows attended in Jan and Feb were way off for foot traffic at the times we attended. Exhibitors also reported low level of activity and reduced buying. It's not really possible to conclude that this is a continuing trend for our industry since the economic downturn is the major temporal factor.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Andy Seckinger on November 5, 2009 at 4:41pm: OHP has found that attendance is down, but decision makers are up. In other words, the hire hands are not coming, but the owners and Production managers (Decision Makers) are coming.
All that being said we need a strong spring in 2010 since a lot of operations both small and large are on the edge.; ▶ Reply to This