By silicon.com, 22 March 2004 17:15
NEWS 22.03.99: Next month's UK Technology Week '99 show has been officially canned - but its organisers say it's not because of a lack of exhibitors.
The trade show aimed to attract exhibitors from the IT and telecoms sectors, exploiting the trend towards a converged voice and data market.
The event's organiser, EJ Krause blamed the delay on continuing discussions with a "strategic partner" in the US. Event manager, Godwin Joseph said: "We are in talks with a US company about a worldwide venture: that's why we've postponed the event."
22.03.04: Call it "continuing discussions with a strategic partner" or call it "lack of interest", whatever the reason for this cancellation it wasn't to be the last.
Trade shows and major conferences began to decline in size and popularity from this point on. The hubbub and excitement that had surrounded events such as Comdex began to feel slightly more funereal as the dot-com crash took hold - huge conference centres started gathering dust as the crowds could be squeezed into smaller and smaller venues - and all in all the events business found itself on shaky ground.
If it needed an event to push things over the edge then the well-documented events of 11 September 2001did that and more. The subsequent fall in international travel and a 'safer to stay at home' attitude also had a huge impact on the staging of international trade shows.
Perhaps the biggest victim of the decline in exhibition attendance was the Macworld Expo Tokyo, which was cancelled in 2002 by organisers IDG.
Now, however, there is an air of cautious optimism. Attendances - albeit at fewer shows - appear to be on the rise and the stands at major shows are returning to their grandiose best, in terms of scale and high-tech installation.
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