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For many exhibitors and buyers attending the ASD/AMD Trade Show last month, the stand-in status of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center represented an out-of-show-hall experience.

In addition to unfamiliar territory faced by exhibitors in the Military Tactical Outdoor Show section of Mandalay Bay, the pre-show prognostications of a faltering economy weighed heavily on the minds of many.

Perhaps going into the show with lowered expectations improved the outlook of exhibitors who enjoyed more success than they anticipated. It was, it seemed, a good show for some, adequate for others and unsatisfactory for but a few.

What seemed to be a universal pattern of opinion about the show was that traffic was subpar, especially for a winter show but that the quality of buyer and quantity of sales volume was average to above.

Danny Fox of Fox Outdoor noted that the show was just alright with him.

“The show was not a barnburner, not typical of the robust nature of winter ASD shows but on balance we did okay. The show was softly attended and there was some caution applied towards purchase commitments due probably to uncertainty over the economy,” Fox said.

Steve Nettles of Mitchell Proffitt found himself pleasantly surprised by the results of the show.

“We had a very good show, outstanding in some ways. We were surprised at how good it was since we weren’t expecting much,” according to Nettles.

Nettles was satisfied with the mix of new and old business at and after the show.

“We wrote a lot of new business and wrote orders with existing customers. We also picked up a few new accounts from the show after the show,” he said.

Rick Tarashinsky of Tarashinsky Merchandise observed (as did Danny Fox) that some of his customers apparently couldn’t find his booth at Mandalay Bay. But Tarashinsky was still comfortable with the sales figures at the end of the show.

“Our results were okay. But we’re still waiting to see how the economy will affect business going forward,” cautioned Tarashinsky.

Sue Atwood of Atwood Rope decided to exhibit at the show at the last minute. The composition of their customer base is changing, and the ASD/AMD Military Tactical Outdoor show may not be as on target for them as it once was.

But Atwood was still happy with the outcome of the show.

“It panned out to be okay. The orders were good, down a little bit but we cut spending in show advertising so that made up the difference,” she stated.

She also detected a less than heavy volume of show floor traffic.

“We thought the show was a little light in buyer attendence. But we did see all of our regular customers,” Atwood concluded.

Alpha Industries returned to the Military Tactical Outdoor show after a tryout at the Army Navy Military Expo in August, 2007. Hy Slavin of Alpha felt that they made the right move returning to the legacy trade show.

“Best show we ever had. We came back with half the accounts but with bigger orders,” Slavin observed.

When asked what drove the larger dollar volume of their orders, Slavin noted that due to lighter floor traffic, buyers and exhibitors had more time to sit together and talk, and therefore to build bigger orders.

“Since we actually spoke to fewer people and had fewer booth visitors, we were able to spend more time with our most loyal buyers. We also are enjoying great success with our fashion lines and that led to larger orders, too,” said Slavin.

Steve Adkisson of Major Surplus concurred with other exhibitors when he opined that attendance was substandard, but that business was good.

“Yes, traffic was lacking, maybe the new venue and its layout confused some attendees and kept them away. But the people who visited us were buying very well and we even picked up a few new customers,” Adkisson said.

The ASD/AMD Military Tactical Outdoor Show returns to the Las Vegas Convention Center in August (10-13) 2008. It will remain there for the foreseeable future.