CeBIT floor traffic is light, exhibitors say

NEW YORK – As CeBIT America winds down on the final day of its debut outing, exhibitors on the floor say the show has gone smoothly but been more sparsely attended than they’d hoped.

Organizers had already ratcheted back their attendance expectations, citing the sagging economy. Soon after announcing the show last year, they projected the first CeBIT America would draw 40,000; several weeks before the show, that estimate was down to 20,000. While no official figures are yet available on the show’s attendance tally, the final number is likely to be around 15,000, according to CeBIT America managing director Mark Dineen.

“I think everybody had high expectations because of how it’s been in Germany,” said exhibitor Allegra Tudisco, an event coordinator for Google.

She said the show has “been okay,” neither surpassing nor falling short of Google’s expectations. The search engine operator’s main target audience at CeBIT America is its fellow exhibitors, she said: Google is at the show to talk about advertising opportunities on its site. A seminar the company ran Thursday attracted 85 attendees, a turnout Tudisco deemed strong. Whether Google returns to CeBIT America next year will depend in part on how well those leads pan out, she said.

Display systems maker Eizo Nanao Technologies Chief Operating Officer (COO) Tom Waletzki said he’s pleased with the press attention CeBIT America has attracted, but less impressed with the traffic on the show floor. His company’s Japanese parent has exhibited successfully for years at CeBIT’s flagship show in Hannover, Germany. At that show, both distributors and end users swarm the floor, allowing Eizo to connect with new potential channel partners and expand its relationship with its existing resellers, Waletzki said. CeBIT America hasn’t yet succeeded in attracting that sort of focused audience, he said.

“We came to this one just to see what CeBIT can do,” he said. If Eizo returns next year, it will probably run a smaller booth, he said.

One thing Waletzki said he’d like to see at future CeBIT America shows would be a stronger presence from top-tier vendors, such as IBM, Microsoft, and Dell Computer. While several major vendors are at the show, including IBM and Microsoft, none is ushering in major announcements or maintaining a splashy exhibit space on the show floor, he noted.

“To really bring people out, you need to let them know that the key players are there,” he said.

One exhibitor said the slow floor action has been a boon to his business.

“For us, it’s been awesome,” said SD Pacific Data Media Buyer Norm Hutton. His company buys and liquidates surplus magnetic media tapes and cartridges. Its goal at CeBIT America was to find new supply sources, Hutton said.

“A lot of people have been stopping by. They’re not finding what they want to buy on the floor, but they see our booth and stop by, and say ‘You’ll take this stuff off my hands? Great!'” he said.

Several attendees on the floor said they’re happy with the show’s size and collection of vendors.

Srini Masanam, president and COO of outsourcing services provider 24 x 7 Ops, in Iselin, N.J., said he was scouting for software and services products that can help his company better manage communications with its operations center in India. Loaded down with bags and folders, he said he had had productive conversations with vendors on the floor about knowledge management, document management and telecommunication products.

Show director Dineen said he’s pleased with the show results, even if attendance was lighter than anticipated.

“We stuck to our guns. The thing we didn’t change was the quality,” he said. “Relatively all of the exhibitors said they were happy with the quality of the attendees. A good number said they would be coming back, because they saw the potential.”

CeBIT America’s organizers will start working next week on their reports on the show, he said. Dineen is already planning changes for next year based on vendor and attendee feedback. For instance, the show’s content will likely be reined in a bit, with fewer and more focused sessions, he said.

CeBIT America remains a work in progress, he emphasized. But Dineen said he’s confident the organizers’ vision of a multi-industry show that will operate as a business-to-business marketplace remains a viable one.

“I think [this year’s show] was a very good start to us growing and staying in this market,” Dineen said.