Comdex Alternatives Go From Adult To Enterprise

Welcome to the fall trade show frenzy.

The Comdex folks are expecting about 40,000 visitors to the show next week. That's a far cry from the peak of more than 216,000 attendees in 1997. Ouch.

Half of the attendees are expected to be small and midsize businesses. I'll put that down as good news.

The drop in attendance can be counted as good news, too. This reporter remembers back in 2000, when it actually took longer to get to the back of the taxi line outside the Las Vegas Hilton than it took to get into a taxi last year.

There are other advantages, but don't tell that to the Comdex organizers. The lack of crowds makes it easier to be on time for appointments and visit off-site vendor suites for food and drinks. Plus, there should be more of a focus on the hardcore business IT products that the show was known for and less on the consumer products that have abandoned Comdex for January's Consumer Electronics Show.

And if you haven't noticed it, there's no AdultDex this year. Let's hear that collective sigh. AdultDex, for those who say they don't know of such things, was the adult entertainment industry's annual show held the same week as Comdex. It used to be held as part of Comdex until 1995, when the Comdex organizers decided the scantily clad "film stars" who manned the booths weren't the kind of attractions that one would want at an IT trade show.

But those who need that second conference won't be disappointed. They can go to the first-ever cdXpo show, held at the Mandalay Bay. cdXpo is aimed specifically at enterprise IT professionals. It has such keynote speakers as Gail Whipple, vice president of digital media at IBM Global Services; Mark Straton, senior vice president of global customer solutions at the Enterprise Networks Division of Siemens Information and Communication Networks; and Daryl McBride, president and CEO of The SCO Group.

Research firm Jupitermedia, which is putting on the cdXpo, is hoping that its show further undermines the Comdex's shaky pylons.

But then, we've heard that one before. Back in the early '90s, a group of Taiwan-based vendors supported an alternative show to Comdex, which was held in Las Vegas the same week as Comdex. It lasted only two years. Forgive me for not remembering the name of that show.

Still readin' and writin',

Joseph F. Kovar

JOSEPH F. KOVAR is the storage editor for CRN .