SHOW NEWS: Las Vegas Distributor Registration Down 11.3%

John Wolz

The number of distributors registered for the National Industrial Fastener Show/West fell 11.3% to 976 and overall registration fell 9.1% to 4,055.
Distributors came from 44 states in the U.S. plus 17 other countries.\
There were 187 registered distributors from California, 71 from Illinois and 50 from Texas. Canada totaled 67 and Mexico 31.
Exhibitor staff registration outnumbered distributors 1,846 to 976. Combined with 151 manufacturer�s reps and 97 independent sales reps who frequently staff booths or solicit lines from the aisles, fastener buyers may have been outnumbered more than 2 to 1 by sellers.
Including the distributors, attendee registration totaled 1,854. There were 257 manufacturers, 151 manufacturers reps, 69 importers, 32 forming/cold header, 97 independent sales reps, 109 other, 2 media, 161 no response and 355 spouse/guests.
The spouse/guest category dropped 37.5%.
The numbers include advance and onsite registration so actual attendance is not known. Show management does not use a verified attendance system, and the show is not audited by an independent trade show quality assurance system. Trade show experts have estimated that frequently 50% of advance registrants do not actually attend the event. Show management does provide a list of registrants to exhibitors.
In its report to exhibitors show management emphasized that the number of distributors may have been higher. �We are certain that distributor registration exceeded 1,000 with 976 clearly identified, plus a substantial number more embedded in the 161 persons listed under the �No Response� category.�
Distributor registration was 1,100 in 2002. The West show peaked at 1,386 distributor registrations in 2000.
The next NIFS/West will be November 10-12, 2004, again at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. For information contact show manager Gloria Crase. Tel: 614 895-8348. Fax 614 895-3466 E-mail: nifsco@fastenershows.com Web: fastenershows.com �2003 FastenerNews.com