IDG Moves Macworld Back To Boston, Apple Says "No Thanks"

by , 4:15 PM EDT, August 29th, 2003

Remember the nonsense earlier this year heading into Macworld New York? IDG World Expos announced the show was moving back to Boston in 2004, and Apple then announced it would not be going. In fact, said Apple at the time, we may not even go to the 2003 New York show. IDG responded with a corporate "Oh yeah? Well then you can forget about coming to San Francisco, too." Then everyone kissed and made up, Apple attended the San Francisco show, Macworld New York was redubbed Macworld CreativePro, and everyone was more or less satisfied for the time being.

During Macworld CreativePro, TMO began hearing that the show might be staying in New York in 2004 after all. Sure enough, the Boston Herald reported earlier this month that this may well be the case.

Not so fast.

IDG World Expos announced today that the show would absolutely, positively, for sure be moving back to Boston from whence it came. From a press release issued by IDG World Expos today:

IDG World Expo, the leading producer of world-class tradeshows, conferences and events for technology markets, today confirmed plans for Macworld Conference & Expo to take place at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC) July 12-15, 2004.

Macworld Conference & Expo spent 13 of its 19 years in Boston before relocating to New York City in 1998. On October 17, 2002, IDG World Expo announced plans for the event's 2004 return to Boston to be held in the new BCEC.

"After research and discussions with key stakeholders, including vendors, consultants and attendees, it is clear that Macworld Conference & Expo in Boston will provide great value to the Mac community," said David Korse, president of IDG World Expo. "We are excited to move ahead with our plans to present a Macworld event in Boston that will provide valuable education and networking opportunities for Mac enthusiasts."

Korse continued, "While there was some uncertainty about the event coming to Boston after the successful launch of Macworld CreativePro in New York this summer, we have decided to continue the Macworld tradition on the East Coast as originally planned. We look forward to the Macintosh community gathering in Boston."

The only thing is that Apple won't be there. According to a statement from the company received by TMO, Apple says the move to Boston is a bad idea:

When IDG initially announced its plans to move summer Macworld to Boston in 2004, we were very clear that we didn't think it was a good move. Our position stands and Apple will not be participating in Macworld Boston. We are 100 percent committed to Macworld San Francisco in January every year.

So, as of now, Macworld Boston will be missing the main company around whom the show revolves.

The Mac Observer Spin:

A Macworld without Apple is kind of like having an apple pie with no filling. Mmmmm....

It is absolutely befuddling how two companies can let something like this go on publicly, but that's probably because there are many, many issues that aren't public. The fact is, however, that a Macworld without Apple is just silly, and will be a dismal flop. In fact, we are confident in predicting that without Apple, there will be very few vendors, which will result in no show at all.

The downsized CreativePro show was a huge success for those in attendance this past summer despite a downsized Apple presence, but it is important to note that Apple was still there. More importantly, we feel that many people came to see the new Power Mac G5 and the iSight, both of which were only there because Apple was there.

The bottom line is this whole brouhaha is not over yet, but don't tell anyone we told you.