On The Death Of The Trade Show

 NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Dave Pryor @ CrossVegas in '13

Back in the early part of the last decade I was probably in Las Vegas, or in the surrounding environs, for this thing called "Interbike". It was THE industry trade show for cycling for many years. But as with many things in Life, there were changes creeping in back then. 

One of the major changes was the dawning of social media. The instantaneous broadcasting of - literally - anything was bringing a new threat to the stability of the trade show. It was making what was once an anticipated event irrelevant. 

Gone were the times of waiting, the 'breaking of news' on one page in a magazine, or even on a website. No, now anyone with a smart phone and a connection could Tweet, Facebook, or post onto a site immediately, often, and with impunity. There were no "embargos" or editors. No filters and no managing of story lines. People walked down show aisles and posted willy-nilly on every bobble and bit they saw until, well, you could sit on your bum at home and see everything. Why bother with soiling yourself with the unwashed masses at Interbike? There was no longer any point in any of it. 

Brands and marketers figured this pivot out very quickly and took control of the loose reins. Suddenly there were less and less 'big brands' at the shows and messages now were 'managed' through controlled releases to the press via embargos. There were the brand specific 'press junkets' where brands could fly out hand picked media and groom them on their messages. Then there was the dawn of the dealer only events for specific brands where new product was released, shown, and orders written up. The very things Interbike was founded upon were now commodities controlled by the brands and marketers themselves. Interbike, as a vehicle for these things, was bypassed and no longer necessary. 

I saw that and my partner in "Twentynine Inches", Grannygear, saw that. We decided in 2013 that it would be our last Interbike show.  By this point we were able to get what we needed in a day. Hardly worth it from the standpoint of travel, lodging, food, and transportation costs to the site. (Well, in reality- that was my expense) The show had tried a last gasp attempt at life when it moved to Reno in 2018, but that was a failure, and plans for another show were shuttered afterward. There has been no Interbike since that time. 

Some folks miss the Vegas atmosphere. Not this guy!

So there ya go. A brief summary of the death of a trade show from my perspective. I would have been there around this time back in the day. So, do I miss it? 

No.

Overall, the answer would be a definitive "no". On one hand, I miss meeting people. I miss getting to know a few folks that are in the industry. But really, most of that, probably 90% of it, was superficial interfacing with a person for what? Five minutes? Maybe, if you were lucky. Then it was time to shuffle onward to the next "Hey! How ya doin? Yeah, the show is great. Goin home tomorrow. Have a good one!", and so on and on....

What people maybe choose to forget is the insufferable McCarren International Airport experiences, the sights of the downtrodden who live in the shadows of Vegas' Strip, or maybe the constant reminders that, on the Las Vegas Strip anyway, humans and their sexuality were nothing more than a way to make a quick buck and were meaningless otherwise. Some lament the 'getting together of folks', but you cannot ignore the rest of what Vegas stands for. And sure, there were multiple loud calls to pull Interbike into places like Reno, Denver, Anaheim, or the PNW, but when nobody could commit or seemingly make up their mind, Vegas became the default option. I think this was another key to Interbike's demise.

Some aspects of trade shows popped up at cycling events. The DK200 2015 here.

But the trade show, as a vehicle for information dispersal and business transactions, is dead. There is no real good reason to resurrect that idea, and 'getting together' is not good enough anymore. Not in large masses in centralized locations, at any rate. Business cannot afford to be a vehicle for superficial social gatherings. 

But other events do offer the opportunity for the gathering aspect that trade shows were once known for. Now, it would seem, the expo at a bicycle event serves as that social opportunity which fills a vacuum which was once served by Interbike, and to lesser extents, other smaller bicycle trade shows. In a way, the vestiges of the trade show are now carted around to various cycling events and one can see the old ways practiced, like they used to be, when Interbike was king. It's kind of like going to see the pioneer farming exhibit at the county fair. Quaint, but still irrelevant to modern times.

Probably the ultimate example of this is Sea Otter. A bicycle festival first, but a trade show as well. Sea Otter came to prominence in the late 00's as the place to introduce new product and get it into people's hands for impressions. Media jumped onboard with Sea Otter and it quickly became a much more efficient place to do business than Interbike ever was. A much more wholesome atmosphere didn't hurt either, as well as the beauty of the Monterrey area in terms of nature. 

But even Sea Otter has become somewhat lackluster in terms of marketing and newsy items since marketing and brand managers have sought out 'influencers', 'stories', and You Tube edits which they can control and measure metrics on better for their clients. Pinpointed marketing to specific media is also a big thing now and Sea Otter paints a broad stroke which doesn't always work for that. Add in COVID, and now one has to wonder how things will look moving forward in regard to 'expos' at events. 

Whatever happens, indoor trade show events are dead. What the future holds is not completely clear to me, but one thing is for sure- I don't miss flying out to Vegas. Not even one little bit!

On The Death Of The Trade Show

 NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Dave Pryor @ CrossVegas in '13

Back in the early part of the last decade I was probably in Las Vegas, or in the surrounding environs, for this thing called "Interbike". It was THE industry trade show for cycling for many years. But as with many things in Life, there were changes creeping in back then. 

One of the major changes was the dawning of social media. The instantaneous broadcasting of - literally - anything was bringing a new threat to the stability of the trade show. It was making what was once an anticipated event irrelevant. 

Gone were the times of waiting, the 'breaking of news' on one page in a magazine, or even on a website. No, now anyone with a smart phone and a connection could Tweet, Facebook, or post onto a site immediately, often, and with impunity. There were no "embargos" or editors. No filters and no managing of story lines. People walked down show aisles and posted willy-nilly on every bobble and bit they saw until, well, you could sit on your bum at home and see everything. Why bother with soiling yourself with the unwashed masses at Interbike? There was no longer any point in any of it. 

Brands and marketers figured this pivot out very quickly and took control of the loose reins. Suddenly there were less and less 'big brands' at the shows and messages now were 'managed' through controlled releases to the press via embargos. There were the brand specific 'press junkets' where brands could fly out hand picked media and groom them on their messages. Then there was the dawn of the dealer only events for specific brands where new product was released, shown, and orders written up. The very things Interbike was founded upon were now commodities controlled by the brands and marketers themselves. Interbike, as a vehicle for these things, was bypassed and no longer necessary. 

I saw that and my partner in "Twentynine Inches", Grannygear, saw that. We decided in 2013 that it would be our last Interbike show.  By this point we were able to get what we needed in a day. Hardly worth it from the standpoint of travel, lodging, food, and transportation costs to the site. (Well, in reality- that was my expense) The show had tried a last gasp attempt at life when it moved to Reno in 2018, but that was a failure, and plans for another show were shuttered afterward. There has been no Interbike since that time. 

Some folks miss the Vegas atmosphere. Not this guy!

So there ya go. A brief summary of the death of a trade show from my perspective. I would have been there around this time back in the day. So, do I miss it? 

No.

Overall, the answer would be a definitive "no". On one hand, I miss meeting people. I miss getting to know a few folks that are in the industry. But really, most of that, probably 90% of it, was superficial interfacing with a person for what? Five minutes? Maybe, if you were lucky. Then it was time to shuffle onward to the next "Hey! How ya doin? Yeah, the show is great. Goin home tomorrow. Have a good one!", and so on and on....

What people maybe choose to forget is the insufferable McCarren International Airport experiences, the sights of the downtrodden who live in the shadows of Vegas' Strip, or maybe the constant reminders that, on the Las Vegas Strip anyway, humans and their sexuality were nothing more than a way to make a quick buck and were meaningless otherwise. Some lament the 'getting together of folks', but you cannot ignore the rest of what Vegas stands for. And sure, there were multiple loud calls to pull Interbike into places like Reno, Denver, Anaheim, or the PNW, but when nobody could commit or seemingly make up their mind, Vegas became the default option. I think this was another key to Interbike's demise.

Some aspects of trade shows popped up at cycling events. The DK200 2015 here.

But the trade show, as a vehicle for information dispersal and business transactions, is dead. There is no real good reason to resurrect that idea, and 'getting together' is not good enough anymore. Not in large masses in centralized locations, at any rate. Business cannot afford to be a vehicle for superficial social gatherings. 

But other events do offer the opportunity for the gathering aspect that trade shows were once known for. Now, it would seem, the expo at a bicycle event serves as that social opportunity which fills a vacuum which was once served by Interbike, and to lesser extents, other smaller bicycle trade shows. In a way, the vestiges of the trade show are now carted around to various cycling events and one can see the old ways practiced, like they used to be, when Interbike was king. It's kind of like going to see the pioneer farming exhibit at the county fair. Quaint, but still irrelevant to modern times.

Probably the ultimate example of this is Sea Otter. A bicycle festival first, but a trade show as well. Sea Otter came to prominence in the late 00's as the place to introduce new product and get it into people's hands for impressions. Media jumped onboard with Sea Otter and it quickly became a much more efficient place to do business than Interbike ever was. A much more wholesome atmosphere didn't hurt either, as well as the beauty of the Monterrey area in terms of nature. 

But even Sea Otter has become somewhat lackluster in terms of marketing and newsy items since marketing and brand managers have sought out 'influencers', 'stories', and You Tube edits which they can control and measure metrics on better for their clients. Pinpointed marketing to specific media is also a big thing now and Sea Otter paints a broad stroke which doesn't always work for that. Add in COVID, and now one has to wonder how things will look moving forward in regard to 'expos' at events. 

Whatever happens, indoor trade show events are dead. What the future holds is not completely clear to me, but one thing is for sure- I don't miss flying out to Vegas. Not even one little bit!

Friday News And Views

Salsa's Beargrease goes to 27.5"ers on the current style frame.

Saddledrive 17:

The annual Saddledrive show is going on now. It is the show where QBP shows select dealers the newest rigs that will be, maybe, on dealers showroom floors this Fall and in to 2018.

Only you don't get to see any of it until September 8th. Thus saith the Q.

Apparently QBP wants to control the message more so than in the past, where dealers were pumping out images on social media and talking up stuff that wasn't quite cooked up enough for the Q to have out there quite yet. In fact, dealers were sworn to secrecy by the Q with an embargo agreement. All the 2018 line was shown in a special room sequestered away from prying eyes. This isn't entirely new for QBP, by the way. They did something similar when they announced privately to dealers the DW Split Pivot bikes.

So, all you are going to get now is a peek at Mukluk colors for 2018 and the Beargrease with 27.5" fat bike wheels. Same frame, by the way, just different wheels. Surly has the ECR in 27.5+ wheels in size medium on down and 29+ in size medium on up. The Straggler gets a new, blue sparkly colorway. That's about it for now.

So,stay tuned until September 8th when the wraps are lifted off and Salsa (and I assume Surly as well) is free to disseminate the new 2018 stuff.

Cyclo cross is hard, so e-bike it!

 First They Said You Can't- Then They Say You Should:

Remember all that ballyhoo about the Belgian cyclo crosser that had an electric motor in her seat tube and got banned from CX for it? The UCI got real serious about all of this and they even went so far as to develop testing machines that officials could employ at future events to detect any "e-doping" that may be occurring. To date, I have not heard that anyone has been busted.

So, e-biking in UCI cyclo cross events is a no-no, yes?

Well, maybe not! 

Apparently there is going to be a cyclo cross event at the next UCI sanctioned Cross Vegas, dubbed a "fun event", where e-biking will not only be allowed, but encouraged. Check the following quote out from the press release for this event: "The event is open to men and women riding any style of e-bike. It is a "bring your own bike" event; however, 15 lucky entrants will ride a Focus e-whip for the race."

So, any e-bike? Like, even modified, no speed limited e-bikes?

Wow!

I know cyclo cross is hard, so ya know......let 'em use motors, I guess. I'm just waiting for the basketball hoops to be lowered so even I can dunk. "When everyone is special......no one will be."

Sheesh! Giving us a break, I see.

GTDRI Is Tomorrow:

At 6:00am tomorrow, the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational will head out from Reinbeck, Iowa to ride 102+ miles and 25 miles of that dirt. The ride will have four people on it, as far as I know, plus myself.

The weather is weird for this event this year. Usually it is in the 70's at the onset of riding and gets into the 90's with high humidity by the afternoon. This, combined with some of the stupid-difficult courses I have come up with, have conspired to make the ride a real "death ride", or as close to real death as you'd want to get.

This isn't a totally unprecedented situation though. I do recall the first attempt at the Egin-Elkader-Garber-Strawberry Point area course where the temperatures were mild with low humidity. That was nearly ten years ago. The second GTDRI was cut short by a thunderstorm, which we were caught out in. That one wasn't too bad either.

But typically it was almost always hot, humid, and really hard to ride. This year it seems we have caught another break as the heat and humidity have been tempered by a cold front with cooler, drier air, that blew through here yesterday. Hey, I ain't complainin', I just think it is odd.

So, I think many of you might be surprised to find out what rig I am taking on this adventure. You'll have to wait until Monday to find out what it was. I am pretty stoked to give this a whirl, that's for sure.

That's all I have. Look for a recap of the GTDRI to start on Monday. Have a great weekend and keep the rubber side down, y'all!

 

Friday News And Views

Salsa's Beargrease goes to 27.5"ers on the current style frame.

Saddledrive 17:

The annual Saddledrive show is going on now. It is the show where QBP shows select dealers the newest rigs that will be, maybe, on dealers showroom floors this Fall and in to 2018.

Only you don't get to see any of it until September 8th. Thus saith the Q.

Apparently QBP wants to control the message more so than in the past, where dealers were pumping out images on social media and talking up stuff that wasn't quite cooked up enough for the Q to have out there quite yet. In fact, dealers were sworn to secrecy by the Q with an embargo agreement. All the 2018 line was shown in a special room sequestered away from prying eyes. This isn't entirely new for QBP, by the way. They did something similar when they announced privately to dealers the DW Split Pivot bikes.

So, all you are going to get now is a peek at Mukluk colors for 2018 and the Beargrease with 27.5" fat bike wheels. Same frame, by the way, just different wheels. Surly has the ECR in 27.5+ wheels in size medium on down and 29+ in size medium on up. The Straggler gets a new, blue sparkly colorway. That's about it for now.

So,stay tuned until September 8th when the wraps are lifted off and Salsa (and I assume Surly as well) is free to disseminate the new 2018 stuff.

Cyclo cross is hard, so e-bike it!

 First They Said You Can't- Then They Say You Should:

Remember all that ballyhoo about the Belgian cyclo crosser that had an electric motor in her seat tube and got banned from CX for it? The UCI got real serious about all of this and they even went so far as to develop testing machines that officials could employ at future events to detect any "e-doping" that may be occurring. To date, I have not heard that anyone has been busted.

So, e-biking in UCI cyclo cross events is a no-no, yes?

Well, maybe not! 

Apparently there is going to be a cyclo cross event at the next UCI sanctioned Cross Vegas, dubbed a "fun event", where e-biking will not only be allowed, but encouraged. Check the following quote out from the press release for this event: "The event is open to men and women riding any style of e-bike. It is a "bring your own bike" event; however, 15 lucky entrants will ride a Focus e-whip for the race."

So, any e-bike? Like, even modified, no speed limited e-bikes?

Wow!

I know cyclo cross is hard, so ya know......let 'em use motors, I guess. I'm just waiting for the basketball hoops to be lowered so even I can dunk. "When everyone is special......no one will be."

Sheesh! Giving us a break, I see.

GTDRI Is Tomorrow:

At 6:00am tomorrow, the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational will head out from Reinbeck, Iowa to ride 102+ miles and 25 miles of that dirt. The ride will have four people on it, as far as I know, plus myself.

The weather is weird for this event this year. Usually it is in the 70's at the onset of riding and gets into the 90's with high humidity by the afternoon. This, combined with some of the stupid-difficult courses I have come up with, have conspired to make the ride a real "death ride", or as close to real death as you'd want to get.

This isn't a totally unprecedented situation though. I do recall the first attempt at the Egin-Elkader-Garber-Strawberry Point area course where the temperatures were mild with low humidity. That was nearly ten years ago. The second GTDRI was cut short by a thunderstorm, which we were caught out in. That one wasn't too bad either.

But typically it was almost always hot, humid, and really hard to ride. This year it seems we have caught another break as the heat and humidity have been tempered by a cold front with cooler, drier air, that blew through here yesterday. Hey, I ain't complainin', I just think it is odd.

So, I think many of you might be surprised to find out what rig I am taking on this adventure. You'll have to wait until Monday to find out what it was. I am pretty stoked to give this a whirl, that's for sure.

That's all I have. Look for a recap of the GTDRI to start on Monday. Have a great weekend and keep the rubber side down, y'all!

 

Cross Vegas & The Squirrel Cage

Straggler post....

Well, I took a vacation from a regular post here because, well.....I decided to have some fun for once. Namely, going to my very first cyclo cross race- Cross Vegas.

Yep, I had not ever seen the spectacle of cyclo cross in person before. It isn't that big of a deal around where I live unless I travel a couple of hours somewhere to witness it where it is a big deal. I just never had the inclination to make that effort. Cross Vegas just may have made me change my mind on that note.

My chance came when an industry contact offered me two tickets to get in the venue. I had already discussed going with my friend and co-conspirator, Grannygear, and he was amenable to the idea. Once I stated that I had the tickets, he was all in.

There was a lot to tell, but here are my impressions of the event in bullet point form....

• The venue was HUGE. I had no idea cross courses were that long and covered that much ground. The undertaking to put on an event of this magnitude can not be underestimated. 
• The amount of participants in the field was impressive. Over 150 riders alone in the Industry Class. 
• The Pro Women's field was FAST!!
• The Pro Men's field was BLAZING FAST!!
• Sven Nys is World Champion for a good reason. He simply outclassed the entire field. 

There is a lot more to it. The VIP area, the noise making, the heckling, and the spectacle of rider skill and fortitude is a lot of fun to be a part of. Due to my positive experience, I am seriously considering going to see another big event if I can.

On Interbike's New Venue: Interbike moved to the Mandalay and the convention hall located there, in specific. I liked a lot of things about this. The Mandalay is located almost at the very end of The Strip, so you can really avoid most of that nonsense further north up Las Vegas Boulevard. The "in and out" of driving there and walking in was streamlined, shorter, and with less cigarette smoke and casino exposure. Almost none, in fact.

I didn't like the layout of the show. There were no real easy routes through the booths and by the look of the map, it could have been made a lot easier to navigate. (The Interbike phone ap was a Godsend for me, but some folks had trouble with the functionality of that as as well.) If it hadn't been for my phone, I would have continually spent my time running in circles inside a bewildering puzzle of booths and befuddled conventioneers. My friend Brent, of Twin Six said, "It's like a corn maze without the corn and whiskey!" I would have to concur on that point!

As it was, the Squirrel Cage that was Interbike did not defeat me, but it was mildly frustrating. The show floor plan was obviously far more compact than when we were in the Sands Convention Center, so it seemed busy, but I think it was a trick of the venue. No matter. Interbike will say more folks were there and more vendors were there, yada,yada,yada.... Why wouldn't they say that? 

Okay, I am on my way back to the MidWest, but I will have far more to share about Interbike, so stay tuned.....

Cross Vegas & The Squirrel Cage

Straggler post....

Well, I took a vacation from a regular post here because, well.....I decided to have some fun for once. Namely, going to my very first cyclo cross race- Cross Vegas.

Yep, I had not ever seen the spectacle of cyclo cross in person before. It isn't that big of a deal around where I live unless I travel a couple of hours somewhere to witness it where it is a big deal. I just never had the inclination to make that effort. Cross Vegas just may have made me change my mind on that note.

My chance came when an industry contact offered me two tickets to get in the venue. I had already discussed going with my friend and co-conspirator, Grannygear, and he was amenable to the idea. Once I stated that I had the tickets, he was all in.

There was a lot to tell, but here are my impressions of the event in bullet point form....

• The venue was HUGE. I had no idea cross courses were that long and covered that much ground. The undertaking to put on an event of this magnitude can not be underestimated. 
• The amount of participants in the field was impressive. Over 150 riders alone in the Industry Class. 
• The Pro Women's field was FAST!!
• The Pro Men's field was BLAZING FAST!!
• Sven Nys is World Champion for a good reason. He simply outclassed the entire field. 

There is a lot more to it. The VIP area, the noise making, the heckling, and the spectacle of rider skill and fortitude is a lot of fun to be a part of. Due to my positive experience, I am seriously considering going to see another big event if I can.

On Interbike's New Venue: Interbike moved to the Mandalay and the convention hall located there, in specific. I liked a lot of things about this. The Mandalay is located almost at the very end of The Strip, so you can really avoid most of that nonsense further north up Las Vegas Boulevard. The "in and out" of driving there and walking in was streamlined, shorter, and with less cigarette smoke and casino exposure. Almost none, in fact.

I didn't like the layout of the show. There were no real easy routes through the booths and by the look of the map, it could have been made a lot easier to navigate. (The Interbike phone ap was a Godsend for me, but some folks had trouble with the functionality of that as as well.) If it hadn't been for my phone, I would have continually spent my time running in circles inside a bewildering puzzle of booths and befuddled conventioneers. My friend Brent, of Twin Six said, "It's like a corn maze without the corn and whiskey!" I would have to concur on that point!

As it was, the Squirrel Cage that was Interbike did not defeat me, but it was mildly frustrating. The show floor plan was obviously far more compact than when we were in the Sands Convention Center, so it seemed busy, but I think it was a trick of the venue. No matter. Interbike will say more folks were there and more vendors were there, yada,yada,yada.... Why wouldn't they say that? 

Okay, I am on my way back to the MidWest, but I will have far more to share about Interbike, so stay tuned.....