DIESELPROGRESS®
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DIESEL PROGRESS® NORTH AMERICAN EDITION
(ISSN 1091-370X) Volume 77 No. 3 — Published monthly by
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TOP DEAD CENTER
When The Tribes Gather
I like trade shows. Which, given that this is a ConExpo-Con/Agg, IFPE month,
is probably a good thing.
There is a lot to like about industry exhibitions. The annual or semi-annual
gathering of the tribes in a given market has value. It is a chance, in a neutral
setting, to take the pulse of the market, see how morale is shaping up and gather
all kinds of anecdotal evidence (as well as real information) that we’re told is
increasingly less valuable in a metrics-driven time.
Take Intermat 2009. At that point in the cycle, everyone in the industry was
wondering what form diesel engine aftertreatment would take.
Yet if an enterprising engineer had spent two days going booth to booth at the
Parc des Expositions outside Paris, he/she would have come away with prob-
ably 99% of the information needed to feed into the decision process. And in the
bargain, talk to a real live human being and see, feel and touch the actual, or at
least prototype, iron. And compare apples to apples.
But given the show was being held at the exact point in time that the world was
going down the toilet economically, going into the boss’ office and saying, “I need
to go to Paris for three or four days,” was career suicide. C’est la vie.
But trade shows are now feeling the economic pressure every part of every
business has encountered. And granted, there were probably too many trade
shows — an exhibition bubble, if you will.
With accountants at the helm in many spots, the value of shows is thus being ques-
tioned. “Umm, excuse me, exactly why do you need to go to Las Vegas for a week?”
Medium-sized trade shows are the most stressed. The ConExpos, Bauma and
whatever show in China is currently hot, are probably safe. The smaller, more
focused (less expensive) technical conferences are also safe.
A lot of thought is being given to taking trade show money and using it for
private customer events. Which always struck me like going to a family reunion
to meet new women.
We’re also told all of these types of things are moving online. Yet the Con-
sumer Electronics Show (read computers) is the largest annual show in Vegas.
Geeks on the streets.
Maybe it’s just me. I like talking to people. I even like the people that come by
our booth and say, “What’s the deal with all this emissions stuff?” Or, “Where can
I get parts for a Cat C15?”
I like seeing what’s new in the engine and hydraulics booths. I like seeing how
someone’s Tier 4 interim engine was wedged into the allotted space. I like hearing the
engineers say, “Well that was a real pain, but lemme tell you what we did there …”
Yeah, I know what all that means is hard to quantify into Lotus Notes or an
Excel spreadsheet.
But this month, 125,000 people are gonna walk around the Las Vegas Con-
vention Center. They are going to buy stuff. They are going to ask questions.
They are going to want answers.
And they have chosen to do that in person. Not from behind a desk. Not staring
at a screen. Not by following an e-mail trail.
In person.
At least at this time and in this place, they want to look, to see and to talk. And
in that there is value. dp
Mike Osenga
mosenga@dieselpub.com
