SURFACES/StonExpo Tops Coverings in 2011 Show Rankings

In the battle of U.S. trade-show rankings last year, SURFACES/StonExpo Marmomacc Americas managed to beat Coverings in a fight where size is, well, everything.

The Trade Show News Network (TSNN) released its list of 2011 Top 250 Trade Shows in the United States last week, with SURFACES (as the show is identified) ranking 66th, and Coverings following at 69th. The finish is a switch from 2010, where Coverings snagged the 64th spot and SURFACES finished 72nd.

The TSNN rating goes by show net square footage; in January 2011, SURFACES booked 304,660 ft² at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, while Coverings reported 298,720 ft² at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas in mid-March.

In 2010, SURFACES used 282,675 ft² at the Sands, while Coverings set up on 308,946 ft² at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.

TSNN’s rankings for 2011 included some new data, where some shows opted to split exhibitor attendance from the overall total. National Trade Productions, Coverings’ producer, reported last year’s attendance at 18,742, with 6,877 of that overall total listed as exhibit personnel. SURFACES offered a total of 25,342, although show owner Hanley Wood Exhibitions didn’t offer a breakdown of exhibitor registration.
 
Neither show, however, came in as the highest-ranked U.S. show with a stone component. That honor goes to GIE+EXPO 2011 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky., last October; the show, which includes Hardscape North America, ranked 13th with 773,850 ft² that includes a large outdoor display area.

The top show on the TSNN list is the Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ triennial CONEXPO-CON/AGG, with a total of 2.4 million ft² at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Culled from show management and data supplied to TSNN, the list represents the top 250 trade shows held last year in the U.S,. ranked by net square footage.  The full list can be found here.

Get all the latest in the industry with The EDGE, the e-newsletter from Stone Update. Free subscriptions are available here.