CeBIT prepares for US debut

With budgets drying up and trade show attendance shrinking, this seems a quixotic time to launch a new IT conference. But this week, ubershow CeBIT makes its U.S. debut, with an enterprise focus and a European format organizers hope will set it apart from its troubled kin.

The show has already suffered from the continuing economic slump and the unexpected problem of travel cutbacks related to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). A year ago, organizers forecast 40,000 attendees for their debut CeBIT America. Now, they hope to attract 20,000. Exhibitor numbers are also slightly lower than forecast, with 361 signed on.

Still, show executives say they’re confident CeBIT America will prove its worth to visitors and vendors — confident enough to sign a five-year reservation contract with the Javits Convention Center in New York.

“We’re trying to give it a much more genteel feel than other trade shows,” said Kathy Wilson, the show’s vice president of sales.

Unlike the parent CeBIT, a weeklong extravaganza that has drawn hundreds of thousands of attendees and covers a range of technologies, CeBIT America will be a tightly focused business-to-business show. Instead of aisles of booths lining the show floors, organizers say they’re arranging exhibitors into clusters of related technologies, with lounge areas liberally available. The goal is to get vendors and potential customers talking and keep them on the floor for those conversations, executives said.

Networking and wireless products are popular with show exhibitors. Hewlett-Packard (HP) will be showing off its mobility wares, previewing upcoming handhelds and notebooks. HP will also join Adaptec and Seagate Technology to demo new storage devices. Sony Electronics will be focusing on storage as well, bringing to the show new libraries and tape drives that will start shipping soon.

Microsoft plans to team with partners including Toshiba and Intel to push its Tablet PC software. 3Com will be showing firewall products and network management technology. PalmSource, whose chief executive will be delivering one of the show’s keynote addresses, says it will have several announcements about new products for corporate mobility, security and systems management needs.

CeBIT America displaces TechXNY from its usual Javits time slot. TechXNY is a consumer-focused show that now moves to September. It also falls in the same half of the calendar as Comdex. But persuading vendors to spread their trade-show dollars around and take a chance on CeBIT America’s debut has gone fairly smoothly, according to organizers.

“Most of the significant players have said yes to us,” said CeBIT America managing director Mark Dineen. “That’s a huge vote of confidence.”

One vendor said CeBIT’s brand name was a key factor in its decision to exhibit.

“They have a great track record, and we hope they’ll be bringing that to the U.S.,” said PalmSource vice president of business development Albert Chu.

The IT show market has been a harsh one lately: Event cancelations are prevalent, and Comdex parent Key3Media Group is in bankruptcy. Comdex’s former general manager defected to the CeBIT America camp, and is heading brand and customer development for the rival show.

CeBIT America organizers avoid the question of whether this year’s show is turning a profit.

“It’s a long-term investment, shall we say,” Dineen responded, noting his optimism that it will pay off.

“This is a completely different model, and people are responding to that,” he said. “We just have to remember the focus of the event: Quality, quality, quality, enterprise, enterprise, enterprise.”