Why a Smaller ICSC RECon Show is Better

In a recent article from Globe St.com, Ian Ritter wrote that the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) annual RECon trade show and conference's attendance would "come in around 30,000 as opposed to upwards of (the) 50,000 in 2007."

That's a huge reduction in the number of attendees to a show that has suffered through the last couple of years' recession.  But that's okay.

From our perspective as designers and builders, the more deals that can be done, the better.  What's that? More deals with fewer attendees?  Yes, really.

The truth is, if a company is sending someone to a show, they have a good business reason to send them.  If they don't they are wasting money. That's also true of the people staffing the exhibits, the suppliers.  If they can only be there if they have a deal closing, then it makes more sense that the ROI of the whole event will go up.  More deals between fewer people equals more qualified business.

"It's called the dealmaking show for a reason," Dave Sykes said.  Dave is president of Sykes Construction, a design/build firm based in North Texas.  "It's more important for us to meet the person who has a closed deal than it is for us to watch the deal being made," Dave continued. "Otherwise, we would attend the show. But that doesn't make the show any less important."

While Dave and his team didn't attend the national event in Las Vegas last week, they do plan to connect with those makers of deals at the regional shows.

"We will be in San Antonio later this year," Dave said. "At the local level, we can be more visible and be more active in the process."

Sykes Construction is a full-service design and build general contractor, specializing in the build out and fitting of retail space.  Sykes takes tenants to an open store.


The Sykes Team