Strategy in TECH...
On Tuesday, Emerald Holding, Inc. [NYSE: EEX], aka Emerald Expositions, a national B2B tradeshow company, reported its financial results for the First Quarter of Fiscal 2024. Emerald, as most Strata-gee readers know, is the owner of the CEDIA Expo show, the Total Tech Summit show, and various publishing entities like CE Pro, Custom Integrator and more.
The consolidated results looked pretty good, but one business unit was a decided under-performer. Can you guess which one? Read on…
Noting solid gains in their trade show segment, Emerald Holding, Inc. (NYSE: EEX) management proclaimed satisfaction with their fiscal 2023 third-quarter results. However, while the tradeshow business – the segment containing its CEDIA Expo show – saw a post-COVID increase in attendance and revenues, all was not rosy, as the company reported a dramatic drop in profits. Not only that but continued trouble in its content business – the segment with its CE Pro and Commercial Integrator (and other media brands) properties – saw revenues decline and even forced the company to revise its overall annual financial guidance downward.
Attendance at this year’s CEDIA Expo, held in Denver at the Colorado Convention Center from September 7-9, was a bit of an illusion. The Expo, which is owned and operated by Emerald Expositions, announced final attendance figures nearly two weeks after the event closed. At the event, many exhibitors expressed satisfaction with the number of attendees they saw – yet the final announced attendance numbers turned out to be not quite as significant as some had thought. How did that happen?
Well, another CEDIA Expo is in the books and we return to our daily duties and launch into a new Fall season full of promise…and concerns. What were the big stories of this year’s edition of Emerald’s (a public, for-profit company that owns the show) CEDIA Expo? Well, I’ve scanned several summations from others in the media and it almost seems like we attended different Expos. Here’s what I think they are…
The crowds on Day 2 of CEDIA Expo 23 were equally as impressive, if not more so, as they were on Day 1. I had a mid-day meeting at the Snap One booth and as you can see in the image above, I couldn’t even get into the booth! Of course, I can only give you my impressions as there is no official count as I write this, but to my eyes it sure looks like attendance is going to be a pleasant surprise when Emerald announces the final count.
Well, the question I posed yesterday as to whether we’d see CEDIA Expo 2023 attendance up or down as compared to the show last year appears to have been answered. Aisles and booths were filled on Day 1 of the event, suggesting that CEDIA Expo 2023 attendance is not only ahead of last year’s numbers…but perhaps well ahead. So it seems we are all on a Rocky Mountain High.
But was there anything interesting to look at on the show floor? See some of the items I found interesting…
It’s September again and that means the approach of Fall, kids are back in school, and it’s time for CEDIA Expo. So like many of you, I packed my bags and headed to Denver, which almost feels like coming home again. But will the show this year be [musical reference] a Rocky Mountain High? Or will it be a Low Rider?
Emerald Expositions, owner of the CEDIA Expo taking place this year in Denver from September 6-9, 2023, announced it is bringing back the Launchpad (formerly known as Innovation Alley) to the Expo floor. The Launchpad highlights several new and emerging companies that take advantage of the event to launch new technologies to the industry.
Emerald Holding, Inc. (NYSE: EEX) (Emerald), also known as Emerald Expositions (Emerald Expo), reported their fiscal 2022 fourth quarter and full-year results on Tuesday. Their results, with strong revenue and income growth, clearly establish that the organization is rebounding from the years of COVID with exhibitors and attendees coming back to their events in force.
About five seconds into our phone call, before I even had a chance to explain myself, AVIXA CEO David Labuskes suddenly burst out: “Oh! I know why you called me!” This reaction caught me off-guard as we’d never spoken before. But when he went on to tell me why he thought I had called him, he was right on the money. It was a clue that he is a deeper thinker than many executives I reach out to, and as we spoke further, that impression only got stronger.
Another surprise was that Labuskes knew me (and Strata-gee) better than I realized…
