It’s show time. That time of year when people with products to sell and people looking for products to buy hit the trade show trail. For quality pros and test and measurement folks, the lineup is daunting: Quality Expo, ASQ World Conference, CMSC, and of course IMTS, among many others. But are they worth it?

If you’re an exhibitor, you have airfare, hotel, shipping, meals, booth space expenses, contractor expenses, union labor expenses, lost manpower. For attendees, at a minimum, it’s lost manpower as companies send their people to walk the show—and more expense if they put them up in hotels, and pay airfare and per diems. Does anybody really get anything out of trade shows anymore? Do exhibitors get new leads at a reasonable cost per lead? Do attendees get anything they couldn’t get simply by doing a Google search, visiting their favorite vendors’ websites, downloading PDF spec sheets, or watching video product demos from the comfort of their cubicles? Are trade shows on the road to extinction?

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