I’ve never attended ITEX until this year. It used to be a conference my peers told me about with varying amounts of enthusiasm, some going so far as to describe it as a show gasping for its last breaths of air. I can’t tell you what it was like then, but I can tell you what it was like this year. With all the hype, and there was plenty of it leading up to the show, I brought along a healthy dose of journalistic cynicism something I’m good at, which is a good thing particularly for a long-time member of the trade press.
The educational sessions featured plenty of the usual and unusual suspects one would expect to see at these things. I don’t mean that in a negative way because there’s a reason many of these folks are front and center at industry events beyond the inability to say “no” when asked to participate. Most wouldn’t be there if they didn’t have something worthwhile to share even if they’ve said it hundreds of times before. I can relate as someone who has written on topics using angles I’ve tapped again and again like a beer keg at a college mixer. The logic being reinforcement is good. If someone hears something enough times maybe it will sink in. “Oh, MPS, what a brilliant concept! How come I never thought of that before?”
You know what I’m talking about. Personally, I thought ITEX was terrific. The sessions, at least the ones I checked out, were well worth my time. Some were extremely well attended while others should have been. The exhibit area was networking nirvana, especially since there weren’t many dealers and resellers you had to elbow your way through to get to the main event. I wish I could say that whoever told me this show was on life support was as dead wrong as a cadaver in the frozen food section of the Stop & Shop, but following the credo that honesty is the best policy, it could use a few more dealers and resellers. A conference cannot survive on exhibitors alone.
This brings me back to a column I wrote last year about there being too many events vying for a dealer’s precious time. The week before ITEX was the Ricoh dealer meeting, this week the CDA meeting, next week, BTA/IBPI. Next month there’s the Kyocera dealer meeting. It’s crazy. With so many events time is on nobody’s side. I’m not even counting some of the other events on the calendar for this year. If things continue the way they are, I can’t imagine there will be a jump in attendance at next year’s ITEX no matter how many great sessions and speakers are on the program and how many exhibitors, many of whom you can’t see anywhere else, are in the exhibit hall. If you missed this year’s ITEX, which you probably did, don’t miss my recap in this issue. It’s not the same as being there, but it offers an overview of some of what you missed.
Thanks for reading.
