Comdex Operators File for Bankruptcy

VileScum writes "According to this article in The Australian, Los Angeles-based Key3Media Group, the company operating the giant Comdex trade show, filed for protection from its creditors yesterday in the United States Bankruptcy Court. Does this mean I have to start buying cloths again instead of getting them at trade shows?" Also see a story in The New York Times. Concerns of bankruptcy were voiced last November.

Comdex Memories

[kahei]

Long ago, before I had a Real Job(tm), I helped out at one of the very first comdexes to earn money to buy crusts of dry bread.

And there were all these people there, totally focused on building a stand that was better than the next stand, which in turn was trying to be better than the next one. Not because all the people loved stands or anything, but just because they'd all talked each other into believing it was really important.

And they totally broke their backs to get their stands ready, they seriously worked 20 hour days to make sure their glossy stand thing worked perfectly and all the brochures and things were in the right place, although none of them actually cared about brochures or stands.

It was this experience(*) that has made me cynical about capitalism in general and trade shows in particular. The sense of 'why not just stop bothering' that I acquired then has stood me good stead ever since :)

(*)Along with the Tale of the Uneaten Breakfast, but that's another story.

Too bad

[SpikeSpegiel]

This is regretable, I wonder if they will continue to run Comdex after emerging from bankrupcy. I remember reading about comdex displays (as I have been unable to get to the west coast) and a lot of the stuff was damn cool.

I guess I am just nostalgic for the supercooled 800MHz Alpha from Comdex '98. I got to play with that machine in Digital's labs in Marlboro...it was fun :-)

Re:Get your clothes at Adultdex instead

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure even they have been impacted by the
economic downturn that has affected Key3media.

Adultdex was started (inspired) by a group of
companies that had gotten kicked out of COMDEX for
selling adult-oriented products (CDs) back in the
mid nineties. At first it was just a competitive
slam back at the Interface group (IIRC), for kicking
them out in the first place.
As time passed, more of the "corporate" adult entertainment
promoters took over the convention and it has become more
of a venue for new and growing franchises looking for market
deals, and local Las Vegas entertainers. ... but it was always meant to take advantage of the presence
of the COMDEX crowds both for promotion and to get extra bodies
in the door.
Less people going to COMDEX meant less foot traffic showing up for Adultdex.

In past years it was as heavily promoted on taxi and street
signs as any of the marketed high-tech companies that were
on the COMDEX show floor. This last year, I don't recall seeing
even one sign around the LV convention center mentioning it.

I'm sure they suffered less for the cost of their hotel convention
space than Key3media did for all its venues, but that doesn't mean
they did not notice a distinct drop in the amount of horny geeks
showing up after the main show hours ended.

Of course I could be wrong, I didn't get by there last year to see
how much attention ADX was getting. For all I know the geeks may
have been so disappointed with the content at the LVCC that the
made a point to check out what else Las Vegas had to offer.

BTW: Even Adultdex had t-shirts, posters, and other chachkis,
but they usually were sold as souvenir items.

Why Not Combine the Big Shows?

[Spencerian]

COMDEX had its place, but in its commodity-based market, it couldn't pay the bills. LinuxWorld is stimulating intellectually but has problems paying for space. Macworld Expo is prosperous but has exhibit decline as well.

Why not combine them all into a single expo in San Francisco? Mac OS X and Linux are second cousins in terms of the OS and have developed a symbiosis of sorts. Many products for Mac OS X work with Linux--and a show such as this would encourage vendors to make such products work.

Every computer uses the technologies hawked at COMDEX, so it should break even, at least.

And all would benefit from the larger crowds, and less expensive space.

I picked SF since Apple has been inclined to stay closer to home for their shows and have considered backing out of other Macworlds in NY and Boston. An East Coast or Midwestern show might more fiscal sense, but I don't know which would be have more exhibitor and visitor oomph.

As a journalist

[Stanl]

I find this news unfortunate. Comdex and the Consumer Eletronics Show are my two really big opportunities to get out of my small city, meet with companies face to face, and poke and prod technology that I don't have a chance to work with because I am too low on the press lists to get loaner units. Watching Comdex shrivel and die in Chicago was sad enough -- the technology press really needs these shows...