FLOP No. 30 – The Great Trade Show Fadeout (2000s–2010s)

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The Promise: COMDEX, Macworld, and World’s Fair–style expos defined industries for decades. They were where deals were made and futures unveiled.

What Happened: Attendance dropped. Anchor brands pulled out. The formats didn’t evolve. Big booths stopped making sense. Audiences moved online.

What Failed: The model outlasted its relevance. Scale became burden. Innovation moved elsewhere.

What We Learned: When the floor stops changing, your trade show becomes a reunion.

What an Event Pro Would’ve Advised: Refresh content formats. Redesign for ROI. Exit with dignity before irrelevance becomes the story.