Attendee traffic may have been thin, but fewer exhibitors may have helped the 40th International Fastener Expo in Las Vegas feel less empty.

An exhibitor who declared opening day successful added that it was in part a good day for his company because expectations were so low.  “It was a very low bar,” he said of the September 21-23 trade show in Las Vegas.

Several exhibitors said the good news was that what traffic there was in the aisles were “true buyers rather than attendees looking for free pens.”

The trade show which normally draws 650+ exhibiting companies listed 261 companies in the Show Directory.  An addendum listed 31 company cancellations since the directory went to print.

There were multiple vacant booths, which might have been last minute “no shows.”

For 2020, the in-person IFE was replaced by a virtual show due to Covid-19.

One exhibit totaling six booths near the entrance had no signage and only one table in the center.  No one from the company was there.  The person sitting at the table has his own business translating at Las Vegas trade shows and was hired by the exhibitor to scan badges of attendees approaching.

Several vacant multiple booths were furnished with round tables to look like lounges instead of vacancies.

“After the first day, I would say that the expo was ‘poor,’ but in total it was ‘fair’,” an exhibitor reflected. “Fair” because on the second day, this exhibitor walked to talk to other exhibitors who were customers or potential customers, which he said what “increased the overall value of the show.”

“Day 2 was very slow,” said another exhibitor who reported talking with multiple customers on the opening day. Day 2 was not just the traditionally slow final afternoon, but Thursday “was slow all day.”

At least one exhibitor declared 2021 IFE as “good for us,” adding that the company had a specific announcement “to get out there and spread the news.”

A past multiple-booth exhibitor who did not travel to Las Vegas for the 2021 IFE explained, “We pulled out about a month ago, there are just too many things that can or could go wrong,” he said in reference to the pandemic.

One distributor who regularly attends fastener trade shows told FIN neither he nor employees would attend any autumn fastener event.

Face masks were required throughout the hotel.  There was mixed use of masks inside the IFE trade show and a small percentage wore masks at the poolside, outdoor opening reception.

The IFE aisles were not carpeted, which led to speculation that IFE was cutting costs due to heavy losses for trade show owner Emerald for more than a year due to the pandemic.  But IFE show manager Morgan Wilson said it was an “environmental” decision for Emerald’s industrial trade shows as aisle carpet is not used much before being trashed.

IFE has emailed participants surveying reaction to the 2021 trade show.

2022?
No one knows what the pandemic situation will be next year, but one exhibitor said he will not participate next year unless indications are that it will be much better.  “I would not attend again if the show was not better than 2021,” the fastener veteran of many trade shows said. “Although the show management is offering (2021 exhibitors) a 30% discount for 2022, I think the appropriate discount should be 50%.”

The next IFE is slated for October 17-19, 2022 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.  Web: FastenerShows.com