News
NEW YORK 08: The reaction
Samantha Loveday Jun 24 2008, 9:02am
Comments (1)
Industry execs tell us their highs and lows from Licensing International 2008.
After a full week back in the office for many after Licensing International 2008, Licensing.biz decided to canvas opinion on the last ever show to be held in New York.
Big talking points were, of course, next year's move to Las Vegas - and the 100+ degree heat in the city. But what else impressed on the show floor?
Did the next big thing emerge? What were the major trends? And how much business was actually done?
To find out what key industry execs thought, click here.
If you would like to have your say on Licensing International 2008, simply post a comment in the box below this story or email Samantha Loveday.
Comments
“Licensing 2008”
Posted by: Lance Klass, President, Porterfield's Fine Art Licensing - Jun 24, 1:35pm
Licensing 2008 was an extraordinarily busy and productive show for us, and for many in the field of art licensing. Traffic was well up from last year, as others have noted. Despite a heat wave that brought extreme heat and humidity, the show was packed on Tuesday, the worst weather day when temperatures reached and probably exceeded 100 degrees.
Even though we had three staff and three artists in our 20-foot booth, we were going nonstop from opening until shortly before closing. Wednesday had perhaps 75% of the traffic on Tuesday, and Thursday, usually spotty, was up slightly.
We have done this show for years because it allows us to meet and discuss licensing the work of our artists with a large number of new prospects whom we never would have met otherwise. With the huge amount of traffic this once-a-year show generates, we just can't miss.
I went into the show with no sense of commitment to sign up for next year's show, which will be in Las Vegas June 2-4, 2009. What convinced me to sign up for Vegas was the enormous amount of qualified traffic on Tuesday. And attitudes toward the move were very positive. In our scattered polling of clients and prospects, we discovered that most of them will attend the Vegas show because Licensing is so important to them and because (I hate to say this as a born-and-bred New Yorker) Las Vegas is a better, stronger, more pleasant venue for convention exhibitors and visitors than the Javits Convention Center in New York.