Convention Insider (Conventions.net)

I have been meaning to write this post for a while but I thought that it was interesting to note that Las Vegas convention attendance in the month of July showed an increase of 28%.  Trade Show News Network reports:

The month of July, though, saw a huge uptick, with 320,724 attendees coming to the city, compared with 249,692 during the same time period last year, according to the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority’s Executive Summary.

They say that the upswing was due to some new shows that are in town and that makes sense as Las Vegas has a better draw for those going and attending conventions.  The economy is driving shows to where they can have the best attendance and where the professional convention planners and the capital of conventions occurs.  This is actually good news as we see some solid numbers increase in Las Vegas the good news will only begin to spread.

Other indicators like room rates that have increased slightly may point to further indicators of economic recovery in the world of conventions and trade shows.  We will continue to take a look a the numbers as they are released.  Are we looking at a recovery?  Or perhaps a short blip in the screen?  My gut tells me not to start throwing a party.

I am not sure if that is the case for all of you, but when my kids head back to school, it means I need to gear up for my own convention season.  Many of my conventions in the social media world begin in the fall and run through to the beginning of summer again.  I am not sure if this is a trend in all of the convention world, but it seems to make sense that while we parents are freed from our kids being under foot during summer we get back into the swing of conventions.  My kids finally go back to school today and I for one am looking forward to freedom of herding them, keeping them entertained, and trying to make sure they are not playing in traffic.

My first convention I will be attending this year is in Vegas and in fact I will be an exhibitor and a speaker, and I am actually helping run a track about non-profits and causes in the social media world.  Stay tuned as I get ready for that to kick off and you will be hearing more about what I have in store for that show in Las Vegas in October.  I have some smaller events that I am going to be attending and some I will be speaking at and will report my progress as we get back into the swing of convention season.  In the meantime, parents be happy those kids are headed back to school!

Photo via Avolore

I was just thinking that I am getting into the busy part of my “season” with the trade shows and conventions I attend, and then I realized that I have been busy since this time last year.  That mens that I really did not have a down time or a slow time.  It began with a trip to Las Vegas last year in November, and now I am planning the same trip in October and not a month went by that I didn’t attend an event or convention, conference or trade show.

Is your industry seasonal?  I have friends that have a convention they work on that is scheduled every other year.  They work 18 months for one show and then the net show is not for another 2 years.  That is a long a drawn out process for a convention, but when it is as big as these are it makes sense.  I on the other hand am covering more than one industry and my industry is multiple industry events.  I will be in Los Angeles coming up shortly to speak at an event, followed quickly by Houston, and then back to Las Vegas. The good part is I get to see a number of facilities.  The bad news is, I get to see a number of facilities. Let me know about your industry.  Does it have a season?

[photo via peasap]

We have been working feverishly here to get the new blog design up and running and getting all of the widgets working and the bells and whistles working and i think we have finally reached the part where we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully the light that we are seeing is not a freight train. We will soon be back to our normal operation here providing information commentary and all things conventions and trade shows.

I myself was very busy in January attending the CES convention in Las Vegas and speaking at a conference during that show and finally attending the Affiliate Summit West in the Rio at Las Vegas. I have some stories to tell and some other things to fill in but for now let’s just say I won’t bite off more than I can chew until we get the remaining parts to the puzzle.

As you can see we also have added a feature that will allow you to advertise here on our site and I can certainly help get you on the site, or you can refer to our media kit if you are interested in being a part of this site or the mother site over at Conventions.net. In today’s uncertain economic times we offer a very affordable way to get some exposure for your company or your event, trade show conference, meeting or convention. In the meantime, Happy New Year! I am assured that we can say that for 30 days following the actual new year coming to pass according to Miss Manners.