Do You Remember The Good Old Days Before The Ghost Town?
Well that didn’t take long. BCA Expo co-chair Ivan Lee said the following about the 2009 BCA Expo: “I was excited to see how well the show turned out and I am very pleased with all of the positive comments that I have received from both exhibitors and buyers”.
Now lets get to the real information. Show attendance increased from 1,111 to 1,120. That’s right, an increase of 9 people. The number of exhibitors dropped from 178 last year to 116 this year. The number of booths dropped from 628 to 412. Spin it however you want, but these numbers have found a way to simultaniously suck and blow.
Here’s the reality of the situation. The industry has spoken and what they’ve said is that the BCA Expo in its current form is no longer relevant. Two years ago, there were 1,003 booths and 2,156 buyers at the Expo. This year, half of that.
So how do you turn it around?
1. Stop blowing smoke up our collective asses. Come on BCA, you’re better than that. When a show has flat attendance, that is not a success, especially when you pay out the ass to have the show in Vegas. If you find a way to shine a turd, all you’ve done is create a shiny turd.
2. Stop being such snobs. You want people in the industry to get excited about the show and the industry? Stop making it so damn exclusive. For at least one day, open it up to the public. Let the people who actually use the equipment see the new stuff. Its called word of mouth. Get the end users excited about your product and they’ll talk about it. They’ll tell their friends about it. When the time comes, they’ll throw down cash and BUY it.
3. Give buyers a reason to attend. This one’s on you, billiards manufacturing industry. When was the last time there was something revolutionary (or even evolutionary) at the show? Stop counting on Predator to come up with the next big thing and do it yourselves. Copycating isn’t good enough.
4. Know your role and have some fun already. We’re not selling fashion, glitz and glamour. Our industry is about shooting pool, drinking beer, listening to tunes and hanging out with friends. With the exception of a couple of booths (you know who you are, you irreverent rowdies!), the BCA Expo floor is stiff, boring and completely unrepresentative of the industry we work in. It may as well be a show selling medical devices. Pump some music (not Muzak) in, get the booze flowing (come on manufacturers, nothing gets people to your booth like a cold keg of free beer) and have some freaking fun already!
Ok, that rant went on quite a bit longer than planned. Naturally, the BCA won’t take any of this advice and next year will be exactly the same as this year. Dwindling booths, flat attendance and a proclimation from the chair of the expo committe that the show was a success. By the way, shouldn’t the CEO of the BCA be making these absurd proclimations instead of the head of the board? Is there still a CEO of the BCA?
Bah, who am I kidding. Everyone stopped reading 300 words ago.
By the way, gold star if you know where the title came from (without looking it up in Google). I’ll give you a hint. The song was in a movie with Brad Pitt, Jason Statham and Benicio Del Toro.
Snatch?
Ah Freckles, I can always count on you. Yes, the song is Ghost Town which was featured in the movie Snatch, although any child of the 80’s will likely know if more from the brief ska movement that included Madness, The English Beat and of course The Specials and Fun Boy Three.