Monday, August 15, 2011

Washington DC pen show

We are back from Washington (Tysons Corner, to be precise) and will be working away to catch up over the next several days. Buying was good, as was overall turnout.

This is one of the few American metropolitan shows that has managed to find the sweet spot as far as location: for many big cities, holding the show right in the middle of town both drives up costs and makes access difficult for those driving in (and especially for exhibitors), yet putting the show too far from the center makes it less accessible for local urbanites and drastically reduces the appeal for those wanting to partake of the city's amenities, whether for dining or for tourism or shopping. All this is less critical in less densely built-up areas, but for venues such as Boston, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco, location is going to be key.