A n article in the Boston Herald today takes a look at the slimmed down Macworld CreativePro Conference and Expo in New York. According to the article, IDG does not expect to attract as many people as the previous year, when 58,000 people attended the show. The article goes on to look at how changes in the last New York show may determine what next yearis Boston show will look like.
The move back to Boston for the East Coast Macworld show has been a big deal to Boston politicians and business people. Macworld New York has been the biggest technology trade show on the East Coast for the last few years, and it brings many millions of dollars to the local economy. When Boston wooed IDG World Expo to bring the show back to its original home, Boston, the city was wooing last yearis full Macworld Expo and Conference. What they will get instead is the refocused Macworld CreativePro, which will have much less of an impact on the local economy, and not be worth as much money to Bostonis new state-of-the-art convention center. From the Boston Herald:
Macworldis much-touted return to the Hub next year may feature a dramatically downsized show that has tens of thousands of fewer attendees than first planned, recent events in New York indicate.
The Framingham company in charge has dramatically scaled back the powerhouse technology event, slated to return to Boston next year for the opening of the stateis $800 million convention hall.
While the New York show, now renamed Macworld CreativePro Conference and Expo, will feature some Apple executives, there will be no keynote speech, as in years past, by the companyis high-profile CEO, Steve Jobs.
Moreover, IDG World Expo says it does not expect to draw anywhere near last yearis 58,000 attendees as it focuses on a narrower niche of creative professionals.
The revamped New York show may become a model for Boston when Macworld returns next year, according to one industry executive familiar with the talks.
You can read the full article at the Boston Heraldis Web site.