Attendance at the fall CompTel show was ’slightly down’ from prev...
Attendance at the fall CompTel show was “slightly down” from previous shows, CEO Jerry James said in an interview. The show had about 1,500 pre-registrations, like last year, but didn’t get as many on-site registrations as at previous conferences,…
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he said. About 2,100 people attended the show in the spring. Exhibitors this fall rented nearly 115 booths, James said. That’s down from 142 in the spring and 150 last fall. CompTel’s numbers have been dropping since spring 2005, when 2,715 visited the show, with its 220 booths. But the CompTel show’s decline hasn’t been nearly as dramatic as that of Supercomm, a far bigger show centered on wireline that opens next week. That show’s attendance dropped by more than half from 2005 to 2008 (CD Sept 29 p1). Travel costs may have been a deterrent in the rough economy, but many companies came to CompTel anyway for the chance to meet several new customers in one place, James said. He added that he has heard that many deals were made at the conference. To keep members informed when they can’t make it to CompTel events, the association has started using new communications platforms, including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, James said. “Any way we can communicate with our members what’s going on, we think that has value.”