SAN FRANCISCO-More than 230,000 square feet of exhibit space already has been leased for next year’s Wireless ’98 industry trade show-hosted by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association in Atlanta-almost as much space as was used in this year’s event.
Wireless ’97 attracted 20,000 to 21,000 registered participants. The event was held in the Moscone Center in San Francisco, March 3-5.
Wireless ’96 was attended by more than 18,000 people. That exhibition was in Dallas.
Exhibitors in San Francisco filled 276,500 square feet of space with a variety of industry attractions including new cellular and personal communications services telephones, pagers, demonstrations of enhanced operation capabilities, software-driven monitoring devices, base stations, fixed wireless antennas on light poles and more.
About 340 journalists covered the show, representing a variety of publications and media.
CTIA said it knew last year the event was outgrowing Moscone.
“We started trying to move the show a year ago,” said CTIA spokesman Jeffrey Nelson, the organization’s new director for news media relations.
But where else can a show of this size be held? New York City and Chicago have the space, but the logistics of shuttle busing can be troublesome.
Other options are Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas and Las Vegas. Exhibition space in Vegas is reportedly booked up for the next few years.
CTIA’s Wireless ’98 will be held Feb. 23-25 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. The amount of exhibit space already leased for the Georgia show is larger than the entire exposition area used in Dallas, CTIA said.
“The prediction is that we will fill Atlanta,” Nelson said.
CTIA’s next convention is Wireless Apps, Oct. 27-29 at Seattle’s Washington State Convention Center.
