A Glimpse at Tradeshow History (June)

Events and interesting facts that have shaped the industry

1929 – Historic Boardwalk Convention Hall hosts first tradeshow
In June 1929, the Historic Convention Hall, located in Atlantic City, NJ, held its first tradeshow. The building, which was built in 1926, did not open officially until the show in 1929.

The Convention Hall houses the world’s largest pipe organ, which was installed when the building was constructed. The pipe organ has approximately 33,000 pipes and 600 horsepower worth of blowers.


Since its opening, the convention hall has been host to a variety of events, ranging from the 1964 Democratic National Convention to the Holyfield and Foreman fight in 1991.
The Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall has since been renamed the Boardwalk Hall.
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boardwalk_Hall

1967 – First CES held in New York
CES, or Consumer Electronics Show, began in June 1967 as a spinoff of the Chicago Music Show, which, at the time, was the only place to debut consumer electronics. The first CES drew in 17,500 attendees and over 100 exhibitors.

The main speaker for the event was Bob Galvin, who was the chairman of Motorola at the time.

From 1978 to 1994, the show was held twice a year: once in January in Las Vegas and once in June in Chicago, until it traveled to Philadelphia in 1995, where it failed and was brought back to Las Vegas.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Electronics_Show

1976 –Innovator debuts word processor at tradeshow
An Wang, an electronics engineer, was working diligently on word processors geared toward women and secretaries throughout the 1970s. In November 1971, Wang introduced the Wang 1200, his first innovation to enter the market.

By 1976, Wang was well experienced in the field and debut the WCS at the June New York Synoptic tradeshow.

The WCS was able to not only copy documents, but adjust text and size based on limitations set by the user. Attendees lined up to see the machine edit text on screen.

The base price for the copier was $30,000.
Source: Google books

Tradeshow history as reported by Exhibit City News

1999 – HCEA themes annual meeting New Orleans-style
From June 13 – 15, 1999, at the Morial Convention Center and Marriot in New Orleans, La., the HCEA hosted its annual meeting, featuring sessions on creativity, graphics, marketing programs and more.

The meeting also featured fundamental roundtable sessions, a “Talk Gumbo” industry issues panel and the annual gala. Among the events was a New Orleans-themed scavenger hunt and networking event.

More than 110 exhibitors and 640 healthcare professionals attended the event.

2004 – Supercomm moves to McCormick Place
Supercomm, an annual communications and information technology tradeshow, officially moved to Chicago’s McCormick Place in June 2004. The exhibition, which drew in 70,000 industry professionals, also generated $120 million in revenue.

At the time, McCormick Place offered 2.2 million square feet of exhibit space and the Chicagoland area offered 80,000 hotel rooms within the vicinity.

Before moving to Chicago, the show was held in Atlanta and previously rotated cities like Dallas and New Orleans.

2006 – Exhibit Works brings historic Chinese exhibit to US
In 2006, Exhibit Works brought a historic Chinese exhibit to the United States for the first time. The Bible Ministry Exhibition, which originally began its tour in May, wrapped up its last stop in the states on June 12 at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City.

The exhibit was made possible after the connection was formed between Exhibit Works and Geely, a Chinese automaker.

The Bible Ministry Exhibition included never before seen photographs, artifacts and presentations about the development of the Christian faith in China over the last 1500 years.

2009 – Exhibittrader.com receives patent for Estimation tool
In June 2009, EXHIBITTRADER.com announced the reward of a U.S. Patent for “Estimating the Value of a Pre-Owned Tradeshow Exhibit,” which was an electronic interface that allowed exhibitors and manufacturers the ability to receive a value for exhibits and inventories.

The tool, which was designed to be user-friendly, would immediately calculate the resale values via a series of complicated metrics, algorithms and percentages.

By the time EXHIBITTRADER.com received the patent, the calculator was already online and available for use by clients.

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