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ISC East draws steady traffic and hits its target attendance number

ISC East draws steady traffic and hits its target attendance number

NEW YORK - The ISC East Show, which returned to New York for the first time in three years, faired better than expected in terms of attendee traffic. The two-day trade show and conference, held Nov. 3 and 4, drew 6,697 attendees. Including exhibitors, 8,578 people went to the event. “The event turned out as we had planned,” said Dean Russo, Reed Exhibitions, security industry vice president. “The move to New York was probably the centerpiece of what helped us become successful.” For the past two years, the trade show was held at different venues. In 2002, Reed Exhibitions took the event to Orlando, followed by Washington. But in both locations, fewer people went to the show than expected. Reed Exhibitions had hoped to draw government attendees in Washington last year, but trade show exhibitors saw few of those attendees and experienced slow floor traffic over the three-day event. Reed Exhibitions announced last year plans to return the show to New York and began marketing ISC East as a regional event, compared with its counterpart, ISC West in Las Vegas, which is touted as a national trade show. This year, show management also trimmed ISC East from three days to two. Doug Cram, vice president of sales and marketing for AWID in Atlanta, was one of the 350 exhibitors at this year’s ISC East. Cram said he didn’t expect much going into the show, but walked away pleased. “The show went well,” he said. “I was expecting that we were all there to put the last nail in the coffin for that show. The traffic caught me by surprise, especially on the first day.” Prior to the show, Reed Exhibitions reported more than 14,000 pre-registered attendees. The goal, according to Russo, was to bring in 6,500 attendees. Next year, Russo expects ISC East to grow from 71,000 square feet of exhibit space to 80,000 square feet. So far, he said, 60 percent of this year’s exhibitors have signed up to exhibit at next year’s event. Though Cram saw steady business during this year’s tradeshow, he is still unsure of his exhibiting plans for next year’s event, scheduled for Aug. 24 and 25, 2005 in New York. “I think they need to adjust the pricing to recognize it’s a regional show,” Cram said. “It’s not a national show anymore.”

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