WASHINGTON-For the second time in 13 months, the Personal Communications Industry Association is reinventing its trade show.
“This redefined strategy is designed to fully incorporate PCIA’s role as a global m-convergence organization providing marketing, technical and regulatory leadership within the emerging m-convergence industry,” said PCIA President Jay Kitchen.
In March 2000, PCIA announced it was changing the name of its trade show to Global Xchange.
Last week, the association said it was keeping that name, but changing the direction to focus on the “m-user.” In an interview with RCR Wireless News, Kitchen said the m-user is not just the individual customer but business users as well. It could include corporate information technology departments, he said.
Kitchen said he would not reveal how many exhibitors were signed up for the show scheduled for Sept. 11-13 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
“It is too early in the game,” said Kitchen. When pressed about whether companies probably would have already budgeted for a show scheduled in less than five months, he said PCIA is finding that companies are “stretching the decision-making” about what if any trade shows-including PCIA’s Global Xchange-they are planning to attend, exhibit at or participate in. He blamed this situation on the economy and said he believes the surprise interest-rate cut last week will spur companies’ bottom lines.
While Kitchen said it would be nice if his show space was rented two years in advance, “that is just not reality,” he said.
PCIA’s show has been morphing for several years, with many traditional wireless manufacturers dropping out of the show. Last year PCIA changed its show name to Global Xchange from PCS.
This year’s show will be the same week as Wireless I.T. sponsored by PCIA’s chief trade association rival, the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association.
In addition to changing the focus to the m-user, PCIA says Global X-change will offer its exhibitors and participants a new experience, including a personal assistant to be available to each exhibitor.
PCIA plans to use staff and outsourced help to provide the personal assistance. It also said that it is possible that not all exhibitors will take advantage of the personal assistant.
The trade show will offer many other services to its exhibitors that it agrees are offered by other trade shows, but it believes the Global Xchange experience will be unique. Some of these services include free advanced mailing lists and a president’s reception to help with networking.
Last year’s show included 660 exhibitors and 18,000 participants. Kitchen said it was impossible to compare PCIA’s show with the recently concluded Wireless 2001 show sponsored by CTIA because CTIA does not release exhibitor or participant numbers.
CTIA said last week that it had 910 exhibitors and tens of thousands of attendees at Wireless 2001. “We do not provide exact numbers,” said CTIA spokesman Travis Larson.
However, CTIA’s Wireless I.T. show traditionally has been a much smaller show than its spring show.
CTIA’s decision to move Wireless I.T. to the same week as Global Xchange and change its name from the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association to include the word Internet shortly after PCIA indicated it was going after this market was seen by many in the industry as an attempt to stamp out PCIA.
But Kitchen and his group carry on.
In the same release announcing Global Xchange’s new direction, PCIA said it will change its logo to include the tagline, “Where the market rules.”
“The change symbolizes the powerful role the market will play in this new industry and represents the next step in PCIA’s evolution as an organization providing market-driven business solutions to the m-convergence industry. PCIA’s evolution into an organization that is leading the way for this next era of the wireless industry began a few years ago when we recognized a need for leadership in this area,” said Kitchen.
