Globalcomm more global, enterprise-focused

This year’s Globalcomm show will have a different look and feel from last year’s Supercomm conference and exhibit, with more enterprise customers and a larger percentage of international representatives among the attendees, according to the show’s organizer, the Telecommunications Industry Association.

But TIA still expects a strong representation of service providers, led by AT&T, which has a booth and is also providing keynote speakers such as CTO John Stankey and Chris Rice, executive vice president, network planning and engineering.

“I think it will be different in the sense in that it will be more global and much more of an enterprise slant,” said Matt Flanigan, president of TIA. “The enterprise has become the largest segment of our buying market. Enterprises spend about twice as much as carriers do in the U.S.”

International attendance continues to grow, he added.

“Right now the big delegations are from China, India, Israel, and the European countries,” Flanigan said. “The number is approaching 15% of the pre-registered attendance. It is tracking previous years. We think our goal when all is said and done is that Globalcomm is the replacement for Supercomm.”

The show will also have a strong Midwestern feel – Flannigan said enterprise customers in the Chicago area have been particularly active in registering for Globalcomm.

The show has more than 15,000 attendees pre-registered and more than 500 exhibitors.

“We hope to have on the show floor, close to 20,000 people,” Flanigan said. “We are doing a big splash in marketing going down the stretch.”

About 85% of the hotel rooms being blocked off for the show are booked, he added, providing a good indication that people who have pre-registered do plan to attend.

Globalcomm is not getting the support of some of the larger carriers – neither Verizon nor BellSouth is participating to any great extent.

“AT&T is supporting us, we’re just not getting the support from the Verizons and the BellSouths,” Flanigan admitted. “I think it’s their loss. We have been sending information out including an awful lot of direct mail going to carriers. We are setting up carrier lounge just for them and we are trying to get them there in a bigger number.”

The real test for Globalcomm won’t be its numbers but it’s ability to “get people through the turnstile” onto the trade show floor, Flanigan acknowledged. TIA’s former Supercomm partner, USTelecom, staged its competing show in Las Vegas in March and drew enthusiastic crowds to TelecomNext’s conference sessions and keynotes, but was unable to produce much of a crowd for its large exhibit hall, leaving many exhibitors disgruntled.

“The pre-registration number we are happy with – it’s getting them through the turnstile that counts,” Flanigan said. “We made a conscious effort to have a real horizontal show that appealed to everybody. We’ve got voice over cable, powerline, and wireless technologies, all here.”

The show schedule also changed. Instead of low-key Monday with the traditional show floor opening on Tuesday, Globalcomm opens on Monday and closes Wednesday afternoon, a day earlier than usual.

“The reason for that is that we wanted more of government and regulator groups,” Flanigan said. “Government. is in session from Tuesday on. We think it is important with what’s going on in Washington that they get to see and feel the latest in available technology. So, Monday is more of a day toward the policy side.”