Deconstructing PCS

Last October, I used this column to publicly observe the inadequacies of PCIA's Personal Communications Showcase. After attending a fairly lackluster event in New Orleans, I proposed six pointers for creating a more competitive trade show. Recently, Jay Kitchen, PCIA president, and Ellen Mullally, PCIA director of communications, visited the Wireless Review offices to introduce a new and improved autumnal event, and to remind me of my analysis of the event. The new PCIA event is now GlobalXChange. It will be held at Chicago's McCormick Place Sept. 26 to 29.

In my 20 years in publishing, I have witnessed all forms of trade events: large vs. small; wildly successful vs. night of the living dead; creative vs. stale; and arrogant vs. we try harder. Inevitably, two basic tenets of trade show economics prevail: Be responsive and always deliver. PCIA is trying to reassure the industry that it can and will do both.

After our meeting, I got out my Oct. 15th View, "Third & Long." I wanted to evaluate what I said and see how the association's plans stack up. Below are my October pointers updated with the association's current response:

1. Never hold the trade show in the same city following CTIA's Wireless event in the first quarter. Kitchen dismissed this as an issue. He said the association books events many years in advance, and it never compares schedules with the other association. Given that there are only a few cities large enough to host the trade show, there inevitably will be duplicated cities. Oh well.

2. Avoid expensive cities such as Chicago. According to Kitchen, the association established a committee composed of industry vendor and service-provider representatives. He said the committee voted for Chicago. If it had been up to him, he never would have picked Chicago. The committee is a great idea. However, the association should tell the industry who these folks are and use them as eyes and ears to share the reactions of other constituents.

3. Don't be complicit in breaking the vendors' banks by holding a trade show in union cities. The committee wasn't opposed to a union city. Again, as an exhibitor, I would like to know someone on the committee so if my "union dues" are too exorbitant to change a light bulb in my booth, I can rail against future union-city sites.

4. Get an audience. Kitchen claimed that 88% of the attendees at last year's show were decision-makers. He said there may not have been many of the service-provider head honchos in New Orleans, but the people who make purchasing decisions were there. He claims they will be in Chicago this year. If 88% of the attendees are decision-makers and are making decisions, there should be about 100% happy exhibitors.

5. Make sure the educational tracks are thought-provoking, timely and revolutionary. The new show will feature eight tracks, which will form the backbone of the informational portion of the show. The tracks are: Wireless Web, Content, Wireless Voice, Advanced Messaging, 3G, Emerging Technologies, Fixed Broadband and International. All of these tracks are potentially strong possibilities. What remains to be seen is the actual content within those tracks.

6. Maybe the best idea doesn't have to be the biggest show on Earth. Promising 600 exhibitors, PCIA isn't going for a smaller, focused show. The "niche" it's targeting is a next-generation trade show integrating global, the Internet and wireless data. The association plans to offer opportunities for companies from Britain, Canada, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan to exhibit within international pavilions if they so choose.

With notable absences planned by powerhouses Lucent, Nokia and Qualcomm, PCIA does seem to be operating from a bit of a deficit. However, unlike some trade-show skeletons, PCIA realized there were problems with last year's event and has taken steps to remedy some of them. All eyes will be critically evaluating this year's show to see if the association can breathe new life into it like it did with Telocator in 1997. With the preponderance of new Internet and wireless data companies throwing their doors open to service providers, it's critical to have a major fall event. However, the proof will be in the performance. The need alone will not drive the show to success.