Interbike
The Interbike International Bicycle Expo is the largest bicycle industry trade show in North America and is held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada. Exhibitors consist of companies interested in selling their products and services to bicycle retailers, wholesale distributors and manufacturers. Because of the many new cycling products and technologies that are launched each year to much fanfare at Interbike, the show is also an important media event for the bicycle industry.
Interbike was founded by Steve Ready and Herb Wettenkamp and was first held in Las Vegas in 1982. It has since been held in various years in Reno, Anaheim and Philadelphia. Outgrowing the other locations, Interbike moved to Las Vegas in the mid 1990s. Since its founding, Interbike was sold to Miller-Freeman which was then purchased by its current owner, VNU, which was renamed The Nielsen Company in January 2007. Interbike is produced by the Nielsen Expositions division of the company and has its office in San Juan Capistrano, California. This office of Nielsen Expositions also produces the OutDoor Retailer and Health+Fitness Business Expo trade shows.
When it was created, Interbike's timing was unique among the multiple industry trade shows in existence at the time. The Fall, as opposed to the typical late winter/early Spring, timing allowed manufacturers to better forecast and plan manufacturing for Spring shipping in time for the seasonal business of most retailers.
Interbike is currently a five-day event with the first two days being the Interbike OutDoor Demo at Bootleg Canyon Mountain Bike Park in Boulder City, Nevada, and the final three days indoors at the Sands Convention Center. The OutDoor Demo is unique among the industry's trade shows in that it provides an opportunity for retailers and members of the media to ride and demo the products that they will be seeing and talking about on the show floor. Due to the success of the OutDoor Demo concept, Interbike launched OutDoor Demo East in Providence, Rhode Island in October 2008 to better serve the needs of the northeastern United States bicycle market.
According to Interbike, the show has averaged about 700 exhibiting companies and between 18,000 - 24,000 total attendees, depending on the year. The show covers a total of over 300,000 net square feet (28,800 Sq. meters) of exhibit space in the Sands Expo & Convention Center's 660,000 square feet (61,316 Sq. meters) of floor space.
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[edit] 2010 Interbike attendance statistics
Total Attendance: 24,698
Unique Buyers: 12,191
Unique Buying businesses: 4,227
International (non_US) Buyers: 1,873
Nations Represented: 69
[edit] 2011 Interbike attendance statistics
Total Attendance: 23,000
Unique Buyers: 11,000
International (non_US) Buyers: 1,300
[1]
[edit] Concerns
There have been some concerns voiced in the industry about whether it is appropriate for the industry's main annual gathering to be held in Las Vegas, a city commonly believed to be unfriendly to the values of an industry centered around such a healthy and fitness-oriented activity. There have also been questions as to the friendliness of the city towards cyclists - especially given the show's proximity to the Las Vegas Strip. Interbike show management have insisted that, given the current size of the show, the convention-friendly infrastructure of Las Vegas and a variety of other logistical factors, there are few alternatives that would serve the industry as well. However on Sept 17th 2010, it was announced that the 2011, 2012 and 2013 shows would be held in Anaheim, California, in early August to better coincide with the industry's current earlier buy-sell cycle. Due to overwhelming feedback and support for the Las Vegas venue and the traditional September dates from retailers and many exhibitors following the announcement, the organizers reversed their decision and Interbike will be returning to Las Vegas in September for 2011.
In 2005, Trek decided that they had outgrown the industry show and could better connect with their retailers at their own exclusive in-house event [2] In various years since then, Trek and other notable companies have left, returned, downscaled and even upscaled their exhibits at Interbike depending on a variety reasons related to factors such as budget or marketing strategy. While some believe that these moves indicate the diminished relevance of the show, the growth of the Outdoor Demo, continued loyalty and record attendance of retailers to the Interbike Expo and the vibrant growing media focus on Interbike have resulted in a show larger than it was pre-2005, with all major manufacturers exhibiting in some way in 2010. The very vocal response to the previously announced plan to move the show to August highlighted the continued importance of the show to retailers.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ http://www.bicycleretailer.com/news/newsDetail/5986.html
- ^ [1] Competitive Cyclist: 2005 Interbike Confidential
