Data from the 2024 CEDIA Expo in Denver, CO this past September shows a troubling trend – attendance actually declined…and declined appreciably – from the 2023 version of the event. And this decline took place even though the promoter has combined CEDIA Expo with a new event (new last year), the Commercial Integrator Expo (CIX), which was probably an effort to boost attendance numbers.
See more on the attendance at CEDIA Expo 2024
If you read my recent post-show story, I reported that Emerald Exposition (part of Emerald Holding and the owner of CEDIA Expo, Commercial Integrator Expo, and CEPro) had chosen this year to only release registration data for this event. I was immediately suspicious that this was an effort to hide the real number of attendees at this industry-important annual event, as a significant number of registrants never show up.
Last year, Emerald, chose to do the right thing and released verified attendance data on the exact number of attendees to this once-a-year trade show. The company gauges verified attendance by only counting the number of badges actually picked up to enter the event. I was delighted when the company released this data, as in the past, they have typically only given out rough “estimates” of attendance.
I Immediately Sought the Real Data
This year, when I received the press release quoting registration data, I immediately reached out – first to Emerald’s public relations person for the event, and failing a response from her, went directly to the company seeking the verified attendance data.
I have now seen the actual verified attendance data and it confirms my suspicions – attendance did decline this year. In my October article on the 2024 CEDIA Expo, I had suggested that this was probably the case. Even the number of registrations they did provide for this year’s event were over 2% lower than the number of registrations for Expo in 2023. It only stands to reason that this translated into a decline in the number of actual attendees as well.
Hundreds Fewer Attendees This Year
This year, the 2024 CEDIA Expo/Commercial Integrator Expo had a total of 12,239 attendees. This number means there were 609 or 5% fewer attendees at the event as compared to the 12,848 attendees in 2023 – a meaningful decline. Remember, that’s an all-in number – it includes both the CEDIA Expo and CIX, all attending integrators and all vendor booth personnel…everything.
This may be an indication of an industry that is in decline…or a show that is in decline. But if you look at the gold trend line in the chart above, you can see the troubling trend to which I am referring. Note that the 20,000 number of attendees in 2019 is an estimate from Emerald. I suggest you take that with a grain of salt; however, in the more distant past years, attendance was around this number.
In any event, Emerald claims to not have a meaningful breakdown between the number of attendees at CEDIA Expo vs. Commercial Integrator. I find that difficult to believe as a modern company like Emerald generally has lots of data on its events.
Almost a Third of All Attendees Were First-Timers
As a final note, Emerald says that 30% of all attendees were at the first CEDIA Expo they’ve ever attended. Taking these first-timers out of the numbers, we find that only 8,567 attendees were returning pros to the annual event.
Learn more about Emerald by visiting emeraldx.com.
See what CEDIA Expo has to offer at cediaexpo.com.
I expect economic concerns are lowing the numbers at such shows. The return for the bucks in attending is not as attractive In online world. With all the snakeoil claims out there, it could be skepticalism is setting in reducing the # of customers spending anything beyond a entry level Bluetooth setup.
You could be right Milton. Thanks for adding your thoughts! -Ted
As a long time attendee of CEDIA I am not surprised. The show does not seem to be attracting new vendors and market segments that are of interest to integrators. My feeling of attending is that it’s a little like Groundhog Day.
I believe it’s a combination few things.
– Few new vendors
– Few new product introductions
– CIX is a bust. The vendors they’re bringing in are not players
– As great as Denver is, the advantage to moving it around the country is it attracts different crowds.
I had a conversation with a CIX vendor and he told me he’d never return and didn’t know he was there. They didn’t want residential dealers and that was all that was present.