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Last week, thousands of
people are descending upon
the Georgia World
Congress Center to gather
for the shows mentioned
above. Arguably, this is the
most important art and
framing tradeshow in the
world.
On Thursday night before
the show opened, some
exhibitors were still
working to put booths
together. Most are done and
trying to relax or are
socializing with industry
friends or buyers. All are
eager for the outcome of
the next three days to meet
their expectations. For
many companies, the
difference between having
a good year and a bad one
rides on the results from
this show. And, that is not
Decor Expo and ArtExpo Atlanta 2005
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an overstatement of the
importance of the show to
the industry.
In 2001, the relatively new
owners of the show,
Pfingsten Publishing LLC,
were forced to make a
hugely painful decision.
The show was slated to
open on Friday, September
14. In the wake of the
terrorist attacks on New
York and Washington D.C.,
they had no choice but to
cancel the show. The result
was a disaster for nearly
everyone involved.
Here you had the nation
horror struck by this
vicious attack on our soil
and at the same time, you
had an entire industry
knocked on its backside by
losing the most important
show in the business.
For many companies, the
losses were never recouped
and the economy didn’t
pick up enough to get them
back to where they were
before the show. Finally,
this year companies began
to show results that made
them able to forget about
what might have been in
2001.
Of course, compared to the
losses suffered by those in
the cities attacked, these
exhibitors could not
complain. This year, the
New York shows were off
quite a bit from
expectations and have
made many looking hard at
the cost benefit ratio of
continuing to show in New
York.
According to a few early
reports, Katrina and
Ophelia failed to negatively
influence the show. The
industry needed a break,
and perhaps this was it.
If you are new in the print
business and are seriously
considering self-publishing
or seeking a publisher, you
need to get to this show.
At the least, you should
walk the show in order to
begin to understand the
scope and nature of the art
and framing industry.
The Atlanta show is huge
in size. And, although
down from its peak years,
which is probably a good
Decor Expo and ArtExpo Atlanta 2005 (continued from above)
thing for exhibitors (too few
buyers to exhibitors makes for
weak shows) it is still one of
the largest tradeshows in the
U.S. I’m talking all industries
here, not just art and framing.
Some may be inclined to jump
in and start exhibiting. Others
will test the waters by walking
the show and taking it in and
trying to learn before they
jump in. Either way is fine,
but you need to get there if
you can. It’s just that
important to your future as a
marketer of art prints.
Being there allows you to gain
perspective on prices, sizes,
shapes, subject matter, color
trends, and framing trends and
to see the best of the best
artists and art publishers in
the business.
If you are looking for a
publisher, this is one place
where you will see more of
them than anywhere. New
York may have more high-
end publishers, but Atlanta
will more publishers
overall exhibiting.
The business and
distribution models are
changing. You will learn
more at a show like this
than anywhere else.
Put this show on your
calendar for next year. You
will see ads in the trade
magazines, or sign up for
Ponderable Quotes
"One of the symptoms
of an approaching
nervous breakdown is
the belief that one’s
work is terribly
important."
- Bertrand Russell
"To sit alone with my
conscience will be
judgment enough for
me."
- Charles William
Stubbs
"Give me a museum
and I’ll fill it."
- Pablo Picasso
"I love Mickey Mouse
more than any woman I
have ever known."
- Walt Disney
This puts enormous
pressure on the Atlanta
show to deliver. To deliver
buyers in the halls who are
open to buy. While Atlanta
has become a national
show, its strength has
always been on the strong
participation from buyers in
the Southeast.
Now this year, Hurricane
Katrina wiped out the entire
Gulf Coast and Hurricane
Ophelia pounded the nearb
North Carolina coast.
Our industry and the
exhibitors who support this
show are due a break.
Attendance at the show has
to be down due to the
nation’s worst natural
disaster coming nearly four
years to the day after 9/11.
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