Having attended many a trade show around the world, it's safe to say they all sort of blur together after a while – and not a longwhile, at that. There's the usual registration process, followed by waves ofnew products as well as cocktail receptions on the show floor, as well asendless seminars and generally too much to do and too little time to sleep.
That said, the Sands Convention Center, which serves asInterbike’s current home, looks very different in January. The crowd isdifferent – older, dressed in suits and a tad more jaded about the future.The show is loud, big and frankly a bit too much. Anyone who can’t believe thecost of high-end bikes should check out the high-end home audio, where justspeaker cables can set you back a few thousand dollars.
While the crowd is different, the name of the game isthe same. Size may matter when it comes to buying a bike, but it matters too whenbuying a TV. And in yet another parallel to our industry, they also becomesurprisingly thinner and lighter. According to the show’s producers, innovationis what will save the American economy. Isn’t technology grand?
While CES will continue on at full speed in the evenlarger Las Vegas Convention Center (now I really wish I had a bike as thebuildings are two miles apart and the bus line can be an hour long), the Sandsis taken over by another show that helps Vegas sell out yearly (of hotel rooms;the city sold out long ago). This is AVN, as in Adult Video News.
That’s right, thesame halls that will be filled in September with the latest and greatest bikegear are now filled with porn stars and “adult” focused products. AVN is – atleast in this reporter’s humble opinion – the least sexy thing you’re everlikely to see. Let’s hope they bring in a truckload of bleach after thesilicone-enhanced products leave town – and we’re talking about AVN, not CES.
It's hard not to think about Interbike while at some ofthese other shows. While the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), whichis the biggest video game trade event in North America, happily remains in LosAngeles not Vegas, it has a Vegas feel. The attendees are similar as well. Lots of tattoos,everyone is wearing shorts and there's a constant smell in the air – at least at Interbike I know it's because people rode a bike in thedesert heat, not just because they haven’t showered in days.
All that said, am I thinking too fondly of Interbikebecause I’m writing as I attend other shows? Perhaps, but it's also because Iwear the aforementioned shorts and ride a bike at Interbike – whereas at CESI’m usually wearing a suit and riding buses. Maybe the other thing is that Interbike comes at the endof the trade show season, which means I’ve made it through another year.
January is filled with CES, the Detroit Auto Show andSHOT Show (Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show) – yes I get to shoot guns -before February’s North American International Toy Fair in New York (talk aboutcold, and yes I get to play with the new toys). I’m not really complaining; it's fun to see thenewest stuff, first, but I just wish I'd brought my bike to ride.
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