Masonry Magazine April 2003 Page. 6
From the Editor
Touchy Feely
Tom Inglesby, editor
tom@editor7.com
I'm one of those people attracted to machines. From my earliest days of building model airplanes to later years flying real airplanes, I have had an interest in machinery.
So it should come as no surprise that I enjoy attending trade shows where a lot of equipment is on display. In the past year, that has included the big concrete/masonry show CONEXPO, the aftermarket automotive equipment show SEMA, the Home Builders Show and, of course, Masonry Showcase. One other show that has brought me out of hiding isn't famous for heavy equipment but rather for heavy hitters in high-tech. That would be COMDEX, the computer dealer's show in Las Vegas each November.
A bit of history: 20 years ago, I was a writer/editor for a computer magazine aimed at business usage of these digital marvels. In my job, attending COMDEX was the fun part. Or it was supposed to be. In those days, COMDEX was billed as the largest trade show in North America and, having to stand in line with seemingly millions of people, I could believe it.
But lines weren't the only problem. Getting a hotel in Las Vegas during COMDEX was an exercise in long range planning very long range. The better hotels, especially close to the convention center, were booked a year or more in advance. Second tier properties required six months notice. One year I slept in a rental car, another year on the floor of the Hilton ballroom when my "confirmed reservation" proved to be, like 30-40 others, a problem in overbooking.
That was then. Last year, with Las Vegas solidly over built instead of over booked, I got a room at the Luxor pyramid on one week's notice for $35 a night. Besides the fact that there are literally thousands of new hotel rooms in Las Vegas since the mid-1990s, the COMDEX show has gone down in both attendance and exhibit space. No longer taking up all the convention center halls and many a hospitality suite, the show has downsized to three halls and not much else.
Why? Why has the image show of the digital revolution become a quiet time for dealers to spend away from the store? If they go at all, that is. One stated reason-stated so often it became a mantra-is that the computer industry doesn't need a trade show; it can do quite nicely with a "virtual show" on the Internet. After all, what were people going there to see? Computer screens showing the latest software? You can do that in your office, online. New hardware? A picture is worth a thousand steps walking around a hall. In the digital world, there is very little to touch and feel.
Contrast that with the construction shows held in the same venue. Tens of thousands of earnest shoppers, looking at equipment so large much of it had to be displayed outdoors in the parking lots. You can't get the sense of a massive piece of equipment through a photo, online or off. If you are going to plunk down enough money to buy a house so you can have a new truck-mounted pump, you don't want to see it online. This is a real touchy feely industry.
Everywhere you looked, people were climbing over or picking things up, turning them around, getting a feel for what made the machine or tool tick. As much as I would like to say the information could be conveyed in a magazine ad, there are many things that people buy that need to be handled before purchased. Even in "commodity" products like scaffolding or table saws, there are intangible and tangible differences between brands that can best be determined by getting up close and personal.
So the next time you have a chance, make a trip to your industry's trade show. Make it a family outing; bring the kids. Looking up at that huge piece of equipment might be the catalyst for a future career in construction.
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