Like Mark Twain and, more recently Steve Jobs, predictions of the death of the trade show have proved to be exaggerated. We have just come back from two in the technology sector, electronicIndia in Bangalore and the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, both of which looked busy. 

The theory goes like this; travel is expensive and people are busy so we can all meet by email. Of course, the flaw in this argument is that humans like to meet and talk about their common interests whether it’s at an industry event, around the office water cooler or in a sports field. But, there has been pressure on numbers at many events in recent years and some pretty spectacular flops, perhaps because organisers have lost the plot or the audience has simply moved on.

So what happened at IBC and electronicIndia? Well, there’s lots of coverage for electronicIndia on the site so you can judge for yourself. The organisers have put the numbers at just under 17,000, wandering around 446 booths across 16,000square metres. The usual guess that 1 visitor per square metre of trade show place leads to contented exhibitors seems to fit here. Amazing that the show successfully ran across an important festival day in the area with businesses across the four closest Indian states closed for the day. Now that just wouldn’t happen in Europe. Different solutions for different markets.

And what of IBC? It was busy and, by the way, runs across a weekend. The organisers have posted 49,250 for the visitor number, an impressive increase on previous years. Why is that? The broadcasting industry is changing. Software now dominates, high definition has become widely available and the barriers to entry in the TV world have been dropping dramatically with the changes. Delivery to mobile platforms and over different media is becoming easier and more people want to see what’s going on than ever before.

So the bottom line is that folks still travel, still attend, if there are compelling reasons, whether a changing industry landscape or a rapidly growing market. However, for every two successful shows, growing attendance with the right market proposition we could probably name a dozen or more that are heading South. We won't mention them just yet, to be sure that we avoid any more exaggeration. Click here to listen and watch.