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By Claire
Hara
Trade shows can be tough. Every
fiscal year, potential exhibitors
and vendors alike have tough calls
to make: what shows to attend, how
much to spend on each event, how
to promote their presence at the
show, and many others.
One thing that makes these decisions
harder is the fact that there are
so many events from which to choose.
Especially around this time of year,
we are all barraged with a thousand
trade show invitations. This issue
of Pipeline, alone, has three separate
trade show features.
Relief from this over-saturation,
however, may be on the horizon.
There is one fewer supershow out
there.
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[USTA and TIA] have forgiven and forgotten,
reuniting to form a show aimed to be far
superior to its predecessors…a three-day
testament to maintaining a successful relationship
without the aid of expensive therapy. |
the TIA named their show Globalcomm
while the USTA began work on TelecomNext.
What took place after the separation
was grim. TelecomNext, held in Las
Vegas, met with an unimpressive attendance
record and a generally unfavorable
response from vendors and exhibitors
alike. Though Globalcomm fared better
than its rival by retaining several
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Two major trade associations have
reconciled after a bitter divorce.
The upcoming NXTcomm event on June
18 marks a new beginning for the
Telecommunications Industry Association
(TIA) and the United States Telecom
Association (USTA). After a short
breach, the two organizations have
come full circle. They have forgiven
and forgotten, reuniting to form
a show aimed to be superior to its
predecessors. A short while ago,
however, the situation was anything
but amicable.
After a solid relationship of over
25 years and a joint sponsorship
of the groundbreaking Supercomm trademark
dating back to 1988, the TIA and
the USTA made the surprising decision
not to renew their five-year sponsorship
contracts in 2004, each deciding
instead to become resolute competitors
and battle for service provider and
carrier attention.
Executive Director of NXTcomm, Wayne
Crawford simply cites contradicting
viewpoints for the split. “They
had different philosophies on what
direction to go in.”
Their breakup following the Supercomm
2005 show left the two organizations
to initiate independent efforts.
Neither being legally allowed to
take on the Supercomm name,
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aspects of Supercomm in its layout, as
well as its location at McCormick Place
in Chicago, neither carriers nor attendees
were very pleased with either of the contending
tradeshows. They were resentful of the
added expense of having to attend both
shows in a year. Many vendors who had gone
to both venues that first year even claimed
to plan only on traveling to one or the
other in the future. What began as a split
between two trade associations became a
possible divide in the telecom industry
entirely. The seemingly unnecessary financial
upkeep was too much to ignore.
Regardless, both the TIA and the USTA
had set to plan their individual shows
again for the 2007 season. Eventually,
however, they appealed to the masses. As
exhibitors and vendors sighed a giant breath
of relief, the two associations made the
decision to come back together to plan
one large industry venue once again. Conveniently,
the change in plans proved seemingly effortless
as NXTcomm made for an easy substitute
for would-be Globalcomm 2007. It will be
held during Globalcomm’s planned
dates of June 18 to 21 and in its established
McCormick Place location.
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