The exhibit industry is trying many things to transform itself and, in many ways, survive. The latest example I’ve seen is the 2012 FMI Show.
While this show has been around a good many years, it has undergone a number of changes: change of venue, co-marketing and branding with other shows, an apparent focus to a broader retail market.
While I can’t speak in great detail on that last point, the fact that what we used to call “the supermarket show” is now referred to as “The Food Retail Show.” Historically, you could “graze” on fare ranging from breakfast food to cocktails over the course of the three-day show. Now, samples are fewer and limited in variety.
Packaged with three other shows (American Meat Institute, United Fresh, and the US Food Showcase), FMI’s mix of exhibitors has changed, too. Gone is the depth of diversity of technology, food processing equipment and actual food in great numbers. While some would argue, it is “more focused,” I saw a show that was struggling to find and serve its audience. Kudos to the organizers on moving this show from Chicago (at least when it is paired with Marketechnics) and it’s expense and limited regional appeal and taking it “on the road” (though I know that it has made appearances in Vegas and Orlando as well as Chi-Town).
The tone of show was subdued. Fewer exhibitors, including some notable absences, and those that were there had less elaborate and downsized exhibits. Lots of fabric, careful choice of hardware and equipment, smaller booth footprints prevailed. However, there certainly was not a lack of hanging signs.
While the show is still on the calendar, it appears to be shrinking. Many exhibitors I spoke with are rethinking whether to return. One technology provider told me she thought that the show “didn’t deliver the right audience” for the expense they had to incur.
But because it is more than an exhibition, this conference will undoubtedly survive in some form. The organizers have been at this for some time and know how to change with the times. As industries change, so do the exhibitions that represent them change. This just proves that everything does indeed have a shelf life.
TTSG
