StonExpo ’08 Draws Almost 6,000

The Oct. 15-18 event at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center drew “nearly 6,000 industry professionals,” according to a news release from Hanley Wood Exhibitions, the show’s owner and producer.
This year’s attendance declined from the 7,399 total from 2007. However, some audience segments had modest growth, including a three-percent increase in international attendance and a two-percent increase in the architecture and design segments
StonExpo 2008 faced one of the biggest challenges in the history of the event, with two major business-cooling trends — a recession-bound economy and a lack of credit availability — combining forces just weeks before the show. However, most exhibitors found that those conditions may have actually helped improve the attendee mix.
A survey of StonExpo exhibitors , according to Hanley Wood, indicated that 80 percent of those in attendance influenced buying decisions, and approximately 90 percent of exhibitors reported attendee quality either met or exceeded their expectations.
“We were expecting StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas to be a ghost town, so I was quite shocked to find a large line of fabricators waiting outside of the show on opening day,” said Mike Saraylian of Blick Industries. “We were quite pleased with the attendees, especially considering the current state of the economy.”
“The yearly event always offers our industry a great opportunity to gather as a community,” said Jim Eckberg of Park Industries. “This turned out to be especially important during the challenging times. The ability to share practices, learn new techniques and discuss profitable strategies in an open, educational environment really made this year’s show the best ever.”
“We were extremely gratified by the number of Marble Institute of America (MIA) members who did come to Las Vegas,” said Gary Distelhorst, MIA executive vice president. “Our experience was that they were there for serious business reasons.”
As could be expected with the current U.S. and world economies, StonExpo 2008 saw some reduction in the event’s physical size. The 276 exhibiting companies in 113,000 ft² in 2008 came in as less than last year’s 333 exhibitors in 124,000 ft².
The next StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas will be held Oct. 21-24, 2009 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.