11/2/2015 1:26:00 AM
NEWS BRIEFS
The total number of booths set a record, but overall registration slipped 2.3% and the number of distributors were down 7.4% for the 35th anniversary of the National Industrial Fastener & Mill Supply Expo.
• The total number of booths hit another record at 829. The record set in 2007 at 821 was broken last year with 822.
• Total registration was 4,499 – down 2.3% from 4,606 in 2014 and 4,577 in 2013. The registration record stands at 5,629 set at NIFMSE’s 2007 show in Las Vegas.
• The number of fastener and other product distributors registered totaled 1,248 – down 7.4% from 1,347 in 2014.
• Exhibit staff edged down 18 from 2,477 in 2014 to 2,459 this year. There again were more exhibit staff than all other categories combined.
• Of the 634 exhibiting companies, there were 49 in the machinery and tooling section. A total of 110 exhibiting companies were new to the trade show.
• There were exhibitors from 38 countries totaling 38.2% of the booths listed in the show directory. That is slightly above the 2014 figure of 37.3% and below the 40.1% of 2013.
• Of the 2,020 attendee registrations, there were 538 first timers.
• The number of independent sales reps dropped from 204 in 2014 to 176 this year.
“Services” registrants totaled 126 (132 last year).
Suppliers rose to 483 – compared with 446 last year. Suppliers include fastener and the manufacturers, manufacturer reps and master distributors.
The show was held October 21-22, 2015, at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas.
The 2016 trade show will move to the Las Vegas Convention Center and change to a Tu-Wed-Th format on October 25-27, 2016. Web: FastenerShows.com
Booth numbers are provided by show management. The NIFMSE numbers are total registration rather than actual attendance. The statistics are prepare by Automated Registration Systems of Frazeysburg, OH.
The trade show, co-founded and co-owned by Jim Bannister and Mike McGuire, was first held in June 1981 in Columbus, OH. The Las Vegas version was first held in 1997.
FIN asked a variety of exhibitors to grade the show and comment on excerpts:
A: “The reception outside was fantastic – everyone I talked to loved it! It was a dramatic improvement over the previous years.”
The opening reception was Wednesday evening poolside and outside at Treasure Island.
“The traffic flow at our booth, while not overwhelming, was steady. We were able to use the show as a concentrating event and a platform to stage meetings with several key customers and suppliers. Our people also had time to socialize and attend several presentations and hosted meetings. We were able to get a lot done in short period of time – seems like we were busier than ever.”
A: “This show delivers where the majority of the attendees’ are decision makers.” And he can see multiple customers stopping by the booth that would take a month of travel to meet with.
A+ / B- / C: Thursday up until 2 p.m. was an A+. The rest of Thursday a B- and Friday was a C.
“The reception held outside by the pool, was the best I’ve been to. Having it outside was SOOO much better than inside a stuffy hall. Definitely something they should consider repeating. My only suggestion for that would be to have more bars available so that the wait for a drink isn’t so long.
B+ : On opening day from 9:30 through the afternoon in our booth with very few ‘free minutes.’ But the second day “there were none. Our staff took that time to walk the show and investigate and visit. Nothing really productive.”
Friday was “time-wasting, dollar-wasting due to mis-management of how best to schedule the show.”
“More booths with fewer distributors worsened the situation.”
B+: “Long term I would like to see NIFMSE move around the country so different regions – much like STAFDA does with their show. I think it will increase attendance from the host region plus keep it fresh and exciting. There is a lot of sentiment for location change” after 18 years in Las Vegas.
B+: “I thought it was a good show. We have several customers who did not attend this year, but still had a good showing of folks we deal with. And as usual we were able to come upon a few folks we had not met before that expressed interest in our line. All in all a good show, met our expectations.”
B: “Still good foot traffic, but not great.”
B: “Attendance was down, but met with a number of decision makers so it was a good show for me,” said one machinery exhibitor.
B: “I thought the show was pretty good. It seems that the show slows down quite a bit that second day.” Extending hours “would be a mistake.”
B-: “Why not make the reception Thursday and the show Friday? The second day is totally useless.”
Despite a busy Thursday, there were “not many new opportunities.” He asked with show management will bring in
B-: Show was very busy on Thursday but not many new opportunities and even if they expand the show for more vendors, will this bring additional attendees?
C: “We found the show to be average this year. Except for the first hour, traffic seemed a little light down on our end.”
He suggested more lunch seating to keep customers in the exhibit hall.
About 15% of the time the exhibitor had problems with the lead device. “We would support a change in vendors.”
C: “The only good thing about slower traffic is we are given more time to actually converse with both current and potential customers.”
C: “Attendance seemed down,” explained one exhibitor before the official lower numbers were announced.
A & C: “The reception and the first exhibit day were fantastic. Day two was a little slow (C), but allows exhibitors a chance to walk the halls.”
D+/C-: Two days is entirely too long with the numbers this show is attracting. A one-day show is all that is needed at this point. But show management will never walk away from the extra night of rooms.”
D+/C-: “The elephant in the room are the overseas suppliers,” said one importer. “This show enables our account base to purchase direct and (show management) makes no apologies for that.”
“Two days is entirely too long with the numbers this show is attracting. A one-day show is all that is needed at this point,” but added that “show management will never walk away from the extra night of rooms. ”
The exhibitor pointed out that distributor traffic was higher when there were fewer overseas suppliers.
D: “For the expense of the show, the distributor / attendee traffic was awful. There is very little value to this show and absolutely no value to the second day.”
This exhibitor was one of several complaining about show management touting record booth numbers – thus record show profits – while distributor attendance declined.
And one noted that even with record booth revenue, show management has never written a check for any industry cause.
F: “Year after year show management fails to get distributors in the show hall on the second day. They are too busy with their only interest of depositing checks from exhibitors and not focusing on pleasing their exhibitor customers by getting distributors in the hall on the second day. ‘Flunk’ is the word.”
“Eh”: A machinery exhibitor graded the show by shrugging his shoulders and saying “Eh.” He noted “an absence of top executives” and so many foreign suppliers not interested in their machinery.
Suggestion Box:
The most frequent suggestions were dropping to a one-day show and rotating it to other sections of the country.
“The second day is embarrassing,” declared one exhibitor.
A possible solution is “show management focusing on getting distributors in the hall on the second day. But each year show management fails at that.”
“Why not make the bash longer Thursday evening and the show just on Friday? The second day is totally useless.’
• “Change the venue. Las Vegas is getting very old and is too expensive. Rotate the show from Vegas to Orlando.”
“I think it would actually be a good idea to change the destination city every two shows or so. That would allow more interaction with customers that do not want to go out to Vegas and take advantage of attending a show in a different destination.”
Indeed after the first Las Vegas show in 1997, in declaring the western version of the traditional Ohio trade show a success, NIFMSE general partner Bannister acknowledged that shows in different sections of the country bring different audiences: “We noticed distributors from western states and the western provinces of Canada and even Mexico who we’ve never seen in Columbus,” Bannister wrote. “In Columbus we see a good influx of folks from Quebec, Ontario and other eastern provinces.”
Show management has already scheduled the 2016 and 2017 shows in Vegas.
• Different segments of the show should be separated: “The show floor is too big for many of the people to get around to all of the booths now. It would be nice if those that are interested in visiting with the overseas people could focus on that area and that might help to open up the rest of the traffic to getting around more of the aisles.”
One suggested the machinery section be separated near an entrance so it could open Wednesday afternoon during setup of the full hall and with only manufacturers as attendees.
“Certainly it is too expensive to ship machines to Las Vegas for a show that only lasts a day and a half, and since it started as a distributor show, we are not sure it will ever replace the ‘must see’ of the IFE Show in its popular years,” a machinery exhibitor reflected.
Making the machinery sector biennial with extended hours for only manufacturers may make it worth shipping machines to the show, he suggested.
• One exhibitor said show management should follow the Young Fastener Professional’s lead with more networking sessions: “Everyone these days is looking for more networking opportunities. To make the show better, I’d focus on that. What would be helpful is to have more space set aside to meet with customers and suppliers – like café tables in an adjacent quiet area or even some small conference rooms off the show floor that could be reserved.
“My suggestion would be that lunch is served on the floor during the show. You lose a significant amount of attendee time on the first day when people go to lunch. I have seen this done successfully at most other shows.”
Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday in 2016
NIFMSE will change to a Tu-Wed-Th format next year. Conferences and the opening reception will be October 25 and the show on October 26 and 27, 2016, at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas.
In a post-show news release, Bannister predicts NIFMSE “will experience exponential future growth with the expansion of exhibit space beginning next year, as well as aggressive marketing to a broader audience of buyers, recommenders, and specifiers of industrial fasteners, fastener production machinery & tooling, inspection/testing/packaging equipment, hand and power tools, plant maintenance and safety supplies, software, and many other items of interest in today’s marketplace.” Web: FastenerShows.com
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