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Especially when you keep getting reminders of just how right you are.

In an earlier post, I took Sven, of SvenOnTech to task for some rather inane articles he had written on how CES was supposedly going to hurt Macworld Expo's attendance figures for the January 2007 show. (By "took him to task", I mean, "Beat him like a dirty rug") Well, as we all know, not only didn't this happen, but attendance figures for the 2007 show were up by 19% according to the audited attendance figures.

Considering how hard Sven spun his "data", he'd have had better luck with crow gizzards.

But what about CES's attendance for this year? I mean surely, with everything going on there, including the appearance of Le Scoble, it must have had a rocking year too, right?

Well, as it turns out, not so much. In 2006, CES attendance was 152,203, for a gain of 4.3 percent over 2005. A small gain percentage - wise, but still, those are some great numbers. For 2007? According to the audited numbers, total attendance was 143,695, a drop of 8,508, or a drop of 6.7%.

Now, this is not a tragedy, it's not even a major problem. Well, if that downward trend continues or accelerates, it will be, but a single-digit drop in a single year? Meh. Nor will I apply Svenian Logic and state that Macworld drained those attendees away. For one, each show has a different target market for their audience. For another, there's no proof at all that Macworld had any effect on CES or vice-versa, so to pull a Sven and say Macworld Expo hurt CES would be...what's the word...oh yes, stupid. That's right, it would be stupid to say, without proof, that Macworld Expo caused a decline in CES's numbers.

From everything I heard about CES by the people who went, it was a fantastic show. That's what matters really. The people at CES had a good time. Ergo, CES 2007 was a successful show. Keynote whining aside, the people at Macworld had a good time, ergo Macworld Expo 2007 as a successful show. It just happened to gain almost 20% in attendance too, which is a bonus. There are tons of dead simple ways to pack people in to jack attendance numbers, but putting on a successful show year after year is much harder. However, it is the quality of the show, not door count that makes it successful.

The staff of both expos did a solid job, and I know they'll do a solid job next year.

Sven? Well, hopefully he'll learn not to confuse what he wants to be true with what is true. No, I don't really think so, but hey, we can hope.

Technorati Tags: CES, Fact - Checking, Macworld Expo, SvenOnTech's - Dingus

Comments

Mind if I email this to him?

Posted by: Tom | June 21, 2007 1:52 PM

If you want. i don't really care either way. Sven was just so full of shit on his "analysis" that when I saw the CES numbers, I felt it was only fair to whack that particular mole again.

I've tried to read his site, and while I'm glad he has an audience and some ad sales, I find his writing and "analysis" too inane to deal with.

Posted by: John C. Welch | June 21, 2007 1:56 PM

There comes a point in many people's lives that the purpose of their existence may simply be to supply others with blog fodder.

Posted by: pmbuko | June 21, 2007 2:00 PM

Yeah...I do think you are correct with that.

Posted by: John C. Welch | June 21, 2007 6:31 PM