Why doesn't MOTU exhibit at AES?

[TinenTech]

The Audio Engineering Society convention is coming up, and MOTU isn't on the list of exhibitors (and hasn't been for a few years; even Avid skipped it for a year or two). It's expensive to have a booth there, especially on the scale MOTU used to do with a place for an audience to sit down and watch demonstrations. But I wish they would have a presence of some kind, even if only a 10' x 10' display with a few clinicians and reps. The exhibit hall is a place to gain and maintain mind-share even if you don't have a blockbuster new product. How come a lot of little companies can afford to come, and MOTU can't? There is something useful for both sides when users can to talk face-to-face with manufacturers, with the hardware hooked up and software being demonstrated live in real time.

MOTU, send Magic Dave to New York for a few days!

[bayswater]

It's the same reason no one advertises in newspapers any more. There are so many alternatives where you get better access to the specific people you want for a lot less.

[Gravity Jim]

It's the same reason no one advertises in newspapers any more. There are so many alternatives where you get better access to the specific people you want for a lot less.

Roger that. I would guess that AES is not very helpful for MOTU.

[mhschmieder]

We used to sponsor AES and no longer have a booth, and we're in the core business that it's about. It's very expensive. We find it's better to be present and use the show to give presentations, participate in workshops etc. and not so much think of it as a trade show or exhibition. Everyone in my company is a member of AES so we pay our dues.

I asked MOTU about AES (maybe Magic Dave; I forget) and it just didn't seem to be beneficial to them given the core audience and intent of the show. I don't know whether any of them come for the seminars or not. I've never run into any of them in alternate years when it's in SF. I don't go when it's in NY and few from here do anymore. We used to go to every show.

AES is an amazing place to learn from others in the industry. The floor show is necessary because it helps subsidize the educational aspect. But like most trade shows, the focus starts to diverge a bit over time, and other trade shows come along that sometimes start getting more attention than older ones. It's the nature of the technology business.