Kazio Networks

As you may have already heard, the ISA (International Society of Automation) announced last week that it is ending its annual ISA Expo. It will be replaced by “Automation Week”, an event centered around seminars and training rather than trade show booths; held at the Westin Galleria in downtown Houston. Vendors will still be allowed to have booths but will be limited to one 10×10 space each and maximum of 100 vendors.

We did participate in last year’s show and was disappointed with the amount of attendees and the geographics of them. It seemed that the attendees just didn’t have a good mix geographically and were too concentrated — the majority of attendees seemed to be from Texas and the nearby states. The general consensus from those I’ve talked to this year weren’t any different. The event this year drew 8000 attendees, where only 200 registered for the educations programs and there was noticeably less exhibitor booths, a significant drop from the 2008 Expo.

Vendor neutral trade trade shows like ISA Expo seem to be rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Companies are participating more in targeted technology, vendor specific/automation based trade shows (e.g. Rockwell Automation’s Automation Fair). Companies are also leveraging the power of the internet and distribution channels in getting their product announcements out. With several more cost effective ways to announce product releases on the Internet, countless social networking outlets, and limited travel restrictions due to the economy, the lure of traditional trade shows is just not the same as it was. The increasing costs of exhibitor booths, hotel accommodations and the extra costs of booth amenities like electrical outlets, internet, shipping etc. also play apart.

It remains to be seen whether this new format will be embraced (considering the fact that the educational programs this year were poorly attended). The cost/quality of this type of show would be a factor in whether people would fly in for 4 days — ISA would have to make it extremely worth their while. A suggestion has been to move it out of Houston and host it in different states every year. Having it in different states tends to create mixtures of vertical industry focus. I have found that having it in Houston every year tends to shift the focus to the Oil/Gas related industry (for obvious reasons; although not purposely done). It will be good to have a change from that (unintended) focus. Having it in different locations could also play to their advantage as allows them to create a themed approach of the event based on geographical location.

The announcement wasn’t much of a surprise to me, considering the declining participation compared to Expos of previous years and in local ISA chapters too (one in particularly has disbanded in our region). My overall impression is that this announcement was sort of a rushed decision — it seems that they are putting a sudden stop to the Expo without a clear picture/direction of what they are going to do next year.