In a press release dated 9/16 the American International Motorcycle Expo (AIMExpo) announced plans to relocate the show and change the date in 2017, moving from October to September and Orlando to Columbus Ohio. The 2017 show will take place at the Greater Columbus Convention Center (GCCC) September 21-24, 2017.
You can read the release complete release on their website. (HERE)
Vice President and General Manager of the show outlined a couple of reasons for the move, but there a couple that I find critical to the continued success of the show. Moving the show to the mid-west now puts it within driving, or short flying distance from a vast majority of the franchised and independent dealers in the country. The show claims 41% of the dealers in the United States are within 500 miles of the new Columbus location.
New York City to Columbus is a 9 hour drive, 7 hours from Baltimore, 6 hours from Chicago, and 7 hours from Charlotte all easily in the realm of a weekend trip for the savvy dealer. But the other outcome of the move is something that I feel is far more beneficial. With the show in a “small” city the bars, restaurants, and hotels will all be full of industry members offering unprecedented networking capabilities. This was something that was always present when the original Dealernews show was in Cincinnati and then Indianapolis. In my opinion this was one of the biggest things missing from the show in it’s current location. Orlando had too many distractions, yes the dealer manager or principle bringing their family down for a vacation while he/she attended the expo seemed like a good idea, in practice it was less than ideal. Moving the show to a city without distractions is a home run in my book.
So it looks like I’ll be visiting Columbus next September, anyone have a recommendation for a steak house?
As always the ideas expressed above are my own and I make no claims to the success or failure of implementing them. They are suggestions to make you think. Please vet all ideas against your business plan before implementing them.
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