Below is the second installment of our trade show roundup with thoughts and recommendations for some of the key conferences for online marketers.
Internet Retailer – Internet Retailer currently hosts two key shows each year – the Web Design & Usability Conference which was just held last week in Orlando, and the larger Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in June. This year’s main conference will be in Chicago from June 8-11. If you are actively involved in web design, the February show would be valuable to attend. For more general retail info, I am a big fan of the June show. It draws a huge crowd (great for networking and exhibiting), and there is a ton of great content. Our clients also rate this show highly for value and time well invested.
Shop.org – Shop.org hosts several conferences throughout the year. The best known and largest of all the online retail shows is the Shop.org Annual Summit in the fall. This show has frequently been held in Las Vegas , but it’s moving to Dallas for 2010. The change is unfortunate as I predict they are going to take a hit on attendance. The Mandalay Bay venue in Las Vegas was much loved and Dallas pales by comparison. The Shop.org shows have the reputation of being extremely retailer-focused, as opposed to eTail which is more vendor-focused. Shop.org has retailer-only days and retailer-only events. But despite their somewhat heavy-handed non-vendor stance, there are many sponsorships available to vendors, although some (like the vendor-hosted tables on retailer-only day) come with a pretty hefty price tag.