So far I have not been able to find anything about the attendance at VEW. Not even Vision Monday has anything to say.
No word about Vision Expo West attendance............................
So far I have not been able to find anything about the attendance at VEW. Not even Vision Monday has anything to say.
First year I didn't go. So glad.
What happens in Vegas.....stays in Vegas!
It seems to decline every year, but with consolidation it makes sense. Some groups own 50+ doors and only send a few folks, that 50 doors would send an extra 100 folks that no longer get to go.
The show inspires us every year and we always learn something new that will help our business.
The folks who are here do seem to be buying as all the floor was busy as well as the suites early in the day. There are less vendors in the suites every year!
It looked to me that attendance was way down, mostly because of the scheduling. It was way too early this year, right after Labor Day, and back-to-school. Poor timing. They tried it early a few years ago with the same result, so I have no idea why they did it again. Maybe Angela can comment? She is here on OB. Buying was active though, so the people who did go were busy.
It was busy. Most all that came, came to buy or evaluate soon to be purchases. All of the equipment manufacturers I talked to were very happy with sales. Surprisingly, the big 3 frame vendors didn't look as busy as usual to me. ( It could have been just the time I strolled past..)
The best part of it though, was getting together with some of my friends. I'd go VEW just for that!
Attendance was low in my opinion but it might have also seen that way due to CE classes. However, I will still attend to VEW just to catch up with friends and of course the free booze :) Still trying to recover as I lost my voice.
I went.
It was good.
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
I used to go regularly, both East and West, but stopped when you could roll a bowling ball down an aisle and hit nothing but sales reps.
Originally Posted by MikeAurelius
That was the time when I stopped exhibiting.
I went and my courses were full, (250 in some courses) except for the last one on Saturday at 4:00. The show floor was well attended, as far as I could tell, and vendors were writing orders. While the exhibit hall may have been smaller than years ago, I thought it was very good. I did some purchasing, as well.
Diane
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
The fewer attendees, the better the deals!
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
Amen! They'd all be dealin' like the back booth, suite selling hustlers!
As a side note; I always feel sorry for the booths in the back. They pay all that money to say "Hey, we're at the show!" But the mob avoids them like some back ally in Calcutta full of thugs and drug deals. ( Folks are wrong...Those are at the big frame vendor's booths..)
Did any of you high rollers connect with our newbie, ultra excited, self promoting Greek Frame seller guy?
I stumbled by his booth. Chatted a bit. Nice guy.
Vision Expo was very early this year, and I think that deeply affected overall attendance. The date change was due to planned construction at the Sands. There were more reps at noon on Thursday on the floor than attendees. It was too close to Labor Day and Back-to-school. However, the people that were there were buying so the vendors still had a good weekend. The famous Revolutions mayhem was toned down, Luxottica didn't have a fashion show, so the floor seemed quieter than years past. From those who I talked to the real winner was the education, classes were packed and improved. VE has done a good job of improving the quality of classes and it showed.
As for frames, there were not many big launches, but there were good solid improvements. I did find one line that I had not seen in years, Victory Optical is back! If you don't know they produced some of the best classics from the 50s to 70's and now that those designs are popular, their look looks trendy again. Its still family owned, but the frames look great. They still have that cool V on the end point.
The Marchon Party sucked this year. I think the band was great, but they cut the party area in half because the Flamingo built Carlos and Charlies in one corner, and in the other they created a new Marchon VIP zone. That means it was 4x more cramped than normal, and then there was no dance floor because the band was over the pool. Add to that the band and DJ went back and forth: Band/DJ/band/DJ/band/DJ. So you couldn't get a groove on because they would play 5 songs then switch. The Band had 16 people in it, so I couldnt figure out why they needed to take a break so often. And the drink lines were longer than normal, so I left pretty early.
I met him. Nice guy, and very (very) enthusiastic. His product was decent, but with the FOB Greece, it wasn't thrilling enough for me to want to go through a broker and overseas shipping for a few pieces.
Styling was Ok...I guess the most unique thing about it was that it was from Greece. (There were also a TON of frames on display that were obviously not from Greece, unless ChIna is an island off the coast)
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
I did. Nice gentleman and his brother is very nice as well. I love their enthusiasm.
Diane
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
Thank you all for passing by our booth!
Johns ==> Thanx for the feedback, not all my collections are 100% handmade in Greece, but they are still assempled and finished in Greece, in our factory. But as you said the 100% handmade in Greece are something different in design and most of all in quality
Sharpstick ==> Thank you for passing by. It was a nice fast chat. Hope we could get more time next time in NY.
Diane ==> Thank you for the credit you gave us and my brother is excited about your conversation during the Show.
Generally the message was clear in 2 ways!
1. Everyone liked our collections especially the high quality models like the 100% handmade in Greece and the rest color fashionable models
2. The customers from US preferred to buy as internal sale and not international with FOB price, shipping, customs etc. (This for a test order is easy to handle as we can ship without cases via postal, so we avoid all the above. Soon we will have US office to deliver to your door directly.
Thank you all for your help.
Angel the Greek
Eyewear manufacturer
Handmade optical frames and sunglasses 100% made in Greece
www.neaoptiki.com www.elgrecoeyewear.com
That will be a game changer!
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
Loved every minute of VEW! I unfortunatly could not make the party at Margaritaville. Hope a good time was had there! It was great to meet NeaOptikSA and I look forward to recieving the order made. It will be interesting to see the final count when VEW releases it. This was only my second time, with 2 years ago being the first, and many more people in attendance than that time. My classes were full, at least almost full, except the last one on Saturday. I went to learn, and to buy, and I think I accomplished both, as well as having a great time. Looking forward to next year! Maybe I'll get the time and courage to meet a few Optiboarders next time.
It was indeed a pleasure to meet you and your brother, as well. As I mentioned, I love the enthusiasm that you have for the industry. The pride that you showed about your products and how you manufacture them should be remembered by the "big boys". I hope that you never lose the passion that you have now. If more people would have stopped by and discussed your manufacturing process, they may have been priviledged to see this passion as well. I hope to see you again soon.
Diane
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
+1
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
Sorry that I just saw this post. I'll stick to reporting facts and figures than try to argue that Vision Expo remains one of the most important trade shows in the world for the opthalmic community. Vision Expo boasts two of the largest trade shows in the USA for opthalmic.....and across every industry. It is widely regarded as an important and venerable conference in the overall trade show community (see Trade Show News Network and EXPO Magazine). It says a lot about the strength of the eyecare and eyewear community and we're proud to put on an event that has a major impact in the US.
A post show report did come out with unaudited numbers. International Vision Expo uses a third party every year to audit our attendance. This means you can only be counted once even if you go to the exhibit hall every day or you're scanned multiple times a day. International Vision Expo is the only ophthalmic show to verify attendance standards and report it publicly via a 3rd party.
Here's a link to a release we sent to all media on September 14th that did contain attendance figures. http://visionexpowest.com/en/Press/S...c-and-Vibrant/
"Opening on the heels of the Labor Day weekend, exhibit hall attendance came in at 8,209 and was on par with last year’s attendance records. The education program delivered 350 hours of education and drew and additional 3,868 eye care professionals. The Optimum Program, comprised largely of million dollar practices, Vision Monday’s Top 50 Retailers and boutique optical buyers, grew by 22 percent. Elevent new professional groups joined Vision Expo’s Partner Program, bringing the total number to 38."
In 2011 Vision Expo West welcomed 12,628 ECPs plus 68 media and 4,706 exhibit staffers. We expect our audit for 2012 to come in around the same. Here's a look at the past 5 years.
3. AUDITED ATTENDEE ANALYSIS Year which Event was Held
Event Location
Conference Attendees
Exhibit Only Attendees*
Media
Sub-Total: Attendees
Verified Exhibitors, Non- Exhibiting Sponsors and their Support Staff**
Total
2011
Las Vegas
4,070
8,490
68
12,628
4,706
17,334
2010
Las Vegas
4,192
8,952
57
13,201
4,434
17,635
2009
Las Vegas
3,900
7,998
62
11,960
4,001
15,961
2008
Las Vegas
4,303
8,395
53
12,751
4,166
16,917
2007
Pre Recession
Las Vegas
4,471
8,681
58
13,210
4,582
17,792
acar............thanks for responding
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