COMDEX
Encyclopedia
COMDEX was a computer expo
held in Las Vegas, Nevada
, each November from 1979 to 2003. It was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world, usually second only to the German CeBIT
, and by many accounts one of the largest trade shows in any industry sector. The first COMDEX was held in 1979 at the MGM Grand (now Bally's
), with 167 exhibitors and 3904 attendees. In 1981, the first COMDEX/Spring was held in New York City
.
s, software, components and accessories came in direct contact with retailers, consultants and their competitors.
Colloquially known as "Geek
Week", COMDEX evolved into a major technical convention
, with the industry making major product announcements and releases there. Numerous small companies from around the world rose to prominence following appearance at COMDEX, and industry leaders sought opportunities to make keynote addresses. Most discussed the computer industry, history, trends and future potential. Commercial acceptance of the Linux
family of operating system
s got a major boost following a 1999 appearance by its creator, Linus Torvalds
.
In the late 1980s, COMDEX was opened to the public, causing an explosion in attendance, but also a dilution of COMDEX's impact on the industry and a loss of the focus which had made the show a "must-attend" event. Retailers and consultant
s complained that "leading edge" customers, upon whom they relied for early adoption of new technology, were buying products at "show specials" and then expecting the dealers to support those products.
At the same time, costs of attendance ballooned with the number of attendees. Hotels as far away as Primm
, 45 miles (72.4 km) towards the California
state line, were packed even when charging several times their regular rates. However Reservations at "strip hotels" were often available on the day of the start of the show, and at reasonable (for Las Vegas) prices)
Hotel
s justified the higher prices by noting that, while COMDEX attendees saturated lodging facilities, on average they spent less money in the casino
s which were the resorts' major income.
After the Spring 1981 show in New York City
and 1982 in Atlantic City, COMDEX began regular spring shows in Atlanta, Georgia from 1983 through 1988. Then alternated sites between Atlanta
and Chicago. The final Atlanta Spring COMDEX was held in 1997; the last Spring COMDEX was held in Chicago in April 2003.
, rejecting nearly all but those who were on editorial assignment from a handful of "acknowledged" trade papers. Though it offered regular "public" attendance, this left hundreds of regular, long-standing press attendees from magazines and newspapers around the world with bad feelings toward the show. As press credentials were necessary to gain the level of access necessary to make the expensive trip worthwhile, most refused to go and many told vendors that they would disregard product announcements made at or in relation to COMDEX.
When other computer hardware exhibitions such as CeBIT
in Germany
and COMPUTEX in Taiwan
continued to expand, the runaway costs and decline in quality of COMDEX had negative impacts. In addition, the annual Consumer Electronics Show
(CES) in the US had gained importance, and many exhibitors determined that CES was the more cost-effective show. In 2000, major companies such as IBM
, Apple, and Compaq
(now merged with Hewlett-Packard
) decided to discontinue their involvement with COMDEX to allocate the resources more efficiently. To reduce costs, many would-be exhibitors stopped renting out or scaled back official COMDEX booths on the convention center floors, and set up invitation-only suites in various Las Vegas hotels. This also allowed exhibitors to concentrate their efforts on industry attendees rather than the general public.
COMDEX/Fall 2001 organizers at Los Angeles-based Key3Media Group Inc. said they expected attendance to fall from the previous year's 200,000 to 150,000. They also expected the number of exhibitors to decline from 2,350 to 2,000 and the square footage of exhibitor space to slide from just over 1 million to 750,000.
In June 2004, COMDEX cancelled the 2004 exhibition in Las Vegas.
COMDEX was started by The Interface Group, whose organizers included Sheldon Adelson
, who later sold it to Japanese technology conglomerate
Softbank Corp. in 1995. Softbank sold the show to Key3Media, a spin-off of Ziff Davis
, in 2001. Key3Media was dropped from the NYSE board in July 2002, when its shares dropped to pennies. It went into chapter 11 in February 2003. It resurfaced as Medialive International with a cash infusion from Thomas Weisel Capital Partners, which had previously invested in the company. In November 2006, Forbes Magazine reported that United Business Media
plc had purchased the events assets of MediaLive International Inc.
The COMDEX website (www.comdex.com) is currently operated by TechWeb, a United Business Media
company.
Everything Channel and sister company UBM studios (both United Business Media Companies) partnered to deliver COMDEXvirtual (www.comdexvirtual.com) to the global IT channel community in November 2010. Nearly 5,000 attended the event over the course of the two days, making COMDEXvirtual the largest independent virtual tradeshow in the IT industry. The agenda featured more than 100 expert speakers and nearly 50 sessions on topics ranging from cloud to mobility and virtualization, to address the event's theme -- New Business Solutions: Embracing Disruptive Technologies & Changing Delivery Models. In addition to educational sessions, there was also an Expo Hall with nearly 30 exhibitors including IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Symantec, Panasonic, and D&H. The event platform created a dynamic environment for attendees and exhibitors to engage in meaningful exchanges about challenges, solutions, and best practices. COMDEXvirtual (www.comdexvirtual.com) 2010 is available on-demand through May 17, 2011. The event will return on November 15 & 16, 2011.
Computer expo
A computer expo or computer show is a trade fair or exposition for computers and electronics. Expos usually include company or organization booths where products and technologies are demonstrated; talks and lectures; and general mixing of people with common interests.- Notable Computer...
held in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, each November from 1979 to 2003. It was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world, usually second only to the German CeBIT
CeBIT
CeBIT is the world's largest and most international computer expo. CeBIT is held each year on the world's largest fairground in Hanover, Germany, and is a barometer of the state of the art in information technology...
, and by many accounts one of the largest trade shows in any industry sector. The first COMDEX was held in 1979 at the MGM Grand (now Bally's
Bally's Las Vegas
Bally's Las Vegas, formerly the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip. The Las Vegas resort is located within the unincorporated locale of Paradise, Nevada and is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp.. The hotel features 2,814 extra-sized...
), with 167 exhibitors and 3904 attendees. In 1981, the first COMDEX/Spring was held in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Rise
Originally open only to those directly involved in the computer industry, COMDEX was the one show where all levels of manufacturers and developers of computers, peripheralPeripheral
A peripheral is a device attached to a host computer, but not part of it, and is more or less dependent on the host. It expands the host's capabilities, but does not form part of the core computer architecture....
s, software, components and accessories came in direct contact with retailers, consultants and their competitors.
Colloquially known as "Geek
Geek
The word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to...
Week", COMDEX evolved into a major technical convention
Convention (meeting)
A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom...
, with the industry making major product announcements and releases there. Numerous small companies from around the world rose to prominence following appearance at COMDEX, and industry leaders sought opportunities to make keynote addresses. Most discussed the computer industry, history, trends and future potential. Commercial acceptance of the Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
family of operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s got a major boost following a 1999 appearance by its creator, Linus Torvalds
Linus Torvalds
Linus Benedict Torvalds is a Finnish software engineer and hacker, best known for having initiated the development of the open source Linux kernel. He later became the chief architect of the Linux kernel, and now acts as the project's coordinator...
.
In the late 1980s, COMDEX was opened to the public, causing an explosion in attendance, but also a dilution of COMDEX's impact on the industry and a loss of the focus which had made the show a "must-attend" event. Retailers and consultant
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
s complained that "leading edge" customers, upon whom they relied for early adoption of new technology, were buying products at "show specials" and then expecting the dealers to support those products.
At the same time, costs of attendance ballooned with the number of attendees. Hotels as far away as Primm
Primm, Nevada
Primm is a tiny community in Clark County, Nevada, United States, primarily notable for its position straddling Interstate 15 where it crosses the border between California and Nevada...
, 45 miles (72.4 km) towards the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
state line, were packed even when charging several times their regular rates. However Reservations at "strip hotels" were often available on the day of the start of the show, and at reasonable (for Las Vegas) prices)
Hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s justified the higher prices by noting that, while COMDEX attendees saturated lodging facilities, on average they spent less money in the casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
s which were the resorts' major income.
After the Spring 1981 show in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and 1982 in Atlantic City, COMDEX began regular spring shows in Atlanta, Georgia from 1983 through 1988. Then alternated sites between Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
and Chicago. The final Atlanta Spring COMDEX was held in 1997; the last Spring COMDEX was held in Chicago in April 2003.
Decline
Following COMDEX Fall 1999 (in Las Vegas), organizers made major changes to their criteria for admission of mediaNews media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
, rejecting nearly all but those who were on editorial assignment from a handful of "acknowledged" trade papers. Though it offered regular "public" attendance, this left hundreds of regular, long-standing press attendees from magazines and newspapers around the world with bad feelings toward the show. As press credentials were necessary to gain the level of access necessary to make the expensive trip worthwhile, most refused to go and many told vendors that they would disregard product announcements made at or in relation to COMDEX.
When other computer hardware exhibitions such as CeBIT
CeBIT
CeBIT is the world's largest and most international computer expo. CeBIT is held each year on the world's largest fairground in Hanover, Germany, and is a barometer of the state of the art in information technology...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and COMPUTEX in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
continued to expand, the runaway costs and decline in quality of COMDEX had negative impacts. In addition, the annual Consumer Electronics Show
Consumer Electronics Show
The International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
(CES) in the US had gained importance, and many exhibitors determined that CES was the more cost-effective show. In 2000, major companies such as IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, Apple, and Compaq
Compaq
Compaq Computer Corporation is a personal computer company founded in 1982. Once the largest supplier of personal computing systems in the world, Compaq existed as an independent corporation until 2002, when it was acquired for US$25 billion by Hewlett-Packard....
(now merged with Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
) decided to discontinue their involvement with COMDEX to allocate the resources more efficiently. To reduce costs, many would-be exhibitors stopped renting out or scaled back official COMDEX booths on the convention center floors, and set up invitation-only suites in various Las Vegas hotels. This also allowed exhibitors to concentrate their efforts on industry attendees rather than the general public.
COMDEX/Fall 2001 organizers at Los Angeles-based Key3Media Group Inc. said they expected attendance to fall from the previous year's 200,000 to 150,000. They also expected the number of exhibitors to decline from 2,350 to 2,000 and the square footage of exhibitor space to slide from just over 1 million to 750,000.
In June 2004, COMDEX cancelled the 2004 exhibition in Las Vegas.
COMDEX was started by The Interface Group, whose organizers included Sheldon Adelson
Sheldon Adelson
Sheldon Gary Adelson is an American casino magnate. Adelson is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., the parent company of Venetian Macao Limited which operates The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center...
, who later sold it to Japanese technology conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
Softbank Corp. in 1995. Softbank sold the show to Key3Media, a spin-off of Ziff Davis
Ziff Davis
Ziff Davis Inc. is an American publisher and Internet company. It was founded in 1927 in Chicago by William B. Ziff, Sr. and Bernard G. Davis. Throughout most of its history, it was a publisher of hobbyist magazines, often ones devoted to expensive, advertiser-rich hobbies such as cars,...
, in 2001. Key3Media was dropped from the NYSE board in July 2002, when its shares dropped to pennies. It went into chapter 11 in February 2003. It resurfaced as Medialive International with a cash infusion from Thomas Weisel Capital Partners, which had previously invested in the company. In November 2006, Forbes Magazine reported that United Business Media
United Business Media
UBM plc is a magazine publisher, news distributor and events organiser providing business information services principally to the technology, healthcare, media, automotive and financial services industries...
plc had purchased the events assets of MediaLive International Inc.
Present and Future
A new COMDEX event that exists only on the internet without a physical meeting has been announced for November 16–17, 2010. Presently, COMDEX is just a website.The COMDEX website (www.comdex.com) is currently operated by TechWeb, a United Business Media
United Business Media
UBM plc is a magazine publisher, news distributor and events organiser providing business information services principally to the technology, healthcare, media, automotive and financial services industries...
company.
Everything Channel and sister company UBM studios (both United Business Media Companies) partnered to deliver COMDEXvirtual (www.comdexvirtual.com) to the global IT channel community in November 2010. Nearly 5,000 attended the event over the course of the two days, making COMDEXvirtual the largest independent virtual tradeshow in the IT industry. The agenda featured more than 100 expert speakers and nearly 50 sessions on topics ranging from cloud to mobility and virtualization, to address the event's theme -- New Business Solutions: Embracing Disruptive Technologies & Changing Delivery Models. In addition to educational sessions, there was also an Expo Hall with nearly 30 exhibitors including IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Symantec, Panasonic, and D&H. The event platform created a dynamic environment for attendees and exhibitors to engage in meaningful exchanges about challenges, solutions, and best practices. COMDEXvirtual (www.comdexvirtual.com) 2010 is available on-demand through May 17, 2011. The event will return on November 15 & 16, 2011.