I didn’t have a room, but I did work at the DH Labs booth for part of the show, have been to a number of these shows, and am in contact with distributors and manufacturers across the country. Show appearance is generally about relevance building, gaining press/share of voice, and brand building. There surely are some sales to be made from a few attendees, but I’ve found most are looking for bargains from sellers at the end of the show as it may be cheaper to sell things off instead of shipping demo equipment back and trying to sell it later. I would say that most people that attend the shows are also not in the demographic to be able to afford much of the show offering, similar to attending an auto show. That said, I would say short term sales are a benefit, and they do happen, but it’s likely not the primary reason for showing.
At most of these shows, you will get a fair share of press - TAS, Stereophile, Enjoy the Music, Audiophiliac (Steve G), John Darko, etc, and getting coverage from them as well as chatter on forum threads like this one are a primary way of audio companies to gain exposure and clout on a broader basis. But it’s also not just for sales to customers, as these shows are ways for manufacturers and distributors yo forge new relationships with dealers, so there’s a huge B2B aspect to this as well
Â
