Photo by Brian Taylor.
With COVID-19 coronavirus restrictions being announced and looming, the Milwaukee-based Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) decided to close the ConExpo-Con/Agg event in Las Vegas one day early in March 2020. ConExpo is held concurrently with the IFPE (International Fluid Power Expo) show once every three years.
Despite the early closing, the AEM’s summary of the show states that “multiple construction and construction materials industry segments converged on the Las Vegas Convention Center and Festival Grounds [for the event] to unveil new technologies and products, share knowledge, network with industry peers and buy equipment.”
According to the AEM, registrations for the show totaled more than 130,000. “At the conclusion of the show, cancellations from attendees totaled less than 1 percent,” states the organization.
“This has been one of the best editions of ConExpo-Con/Agg – ever,” says Mary Erholtz, vice president of marketing at Superior Industries and ConExpo 2020’s chairperson.
Several exhibitors at the show said the event represented a chance to engage with contractors and others responsible for purchasing equipment.
Mike Ballweber, president of Doosan Bobcat comments, “Tuesday for us was record breaking in terms of leads and attendance at our booth, which is how we measure how successful the show is for us. We had more people to our booth on the first day than all of the 2017 show. This is a one-every-three-years show, and our dealers and customers were really excited to be here.”
Remarks Ingo Schiller, president and CEO of Tadano America Corp., “We have been pleased with the success of the overall show and attendance in our booth.” He says the organizers “made a very difficult decision to close the show a day early,” but “we appreciate their leadership and we look forward to ConExpo-Con/Agg 2023.”
Another exhibitor, contacted by the Recycling Today Media Group, indicated the show yielded about 150 sales leads for his company. While happy to have made those connections, the exhibitor also indicated that without the COVID-19 concerns winding the expo down early, he would have anticipated “some multiple” of that 150 figure.
The event’s organizers say they worked closely with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and the Southern Nevada Health District “to make sure exhibitors, vendors and attendees were provided with heightened cleaning services and hand sanitizers to help reduce the spread of germs and enable show participation to stay healthy onsite at the show.”
Key metrics for the 2020 ConExpo and IFPE show, according to the organizers, include:
- the United States attendee figure increased 8 percent from the 2017 show, and total attendance rose by almost 5 percent.
- attendees describing themselves as contractors or aggregates producers grew by 14 percent compared to 2017;
- six out of seven attendees described themselves as being in a decision making role;
- total registered attendance reached over 130,000 for the week; and
- attendees purchased a record-breaking 75,600 tickets for education sessions at the show, a 46 percent increase from the 2017 show.
ConExpo-Con/Agg features equipment, products, services, technologies and educational sessions for the construction industry. The next ConExpo-Con/Agg will be March 14-18, 2023, in Las Vegas.
