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The annual summer convening of exhibitor and buyer at ASD Las Vegas took place August 9-12, 2009 at the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Sands Expo Center.

A difficult economy and the usual “conventional” wisdom that the summer ASD show is less lucrative than the winter edition conspired to provide exhibitors with lowered expectations prior to the show.

However, despite the appearance of flagging buyer traffic and a smaller than usual army/navy exhibitor contingent, the show exceeded expectations for many exhibitors.

While aisle traffic may have been sparse in general, booths were themselves busy and much penpoint was put to paper on clipboards show-wide.

The ASD Show in general and the summer show in particular have become “quality, not quantity (of orders)” shows. This remained the trend, with a limited number of new accounts and limited order volume.

Exhibitors whose products and services filled some specialty needs seemed to do better than some of the bread-and-butter “commodity” product lines.

Longtime exhibitor Danny Fox of Fox Outdoor Products reported satisfactory sales results that exceeded admittedly low expectations. But it’s always more than just sales numbers that decide the viability of a given show, according to Fox.

“Trade shows in general, in every industry aren’t as important for sales as they used to be, but it’s still important to meet and talk with current and potential customers face to face,” said Fox.

Fox did confirm that business was somewhat better than the August 2008 show, and that some new accounts were established.

Rothco used the ASD Show to debut many new products and to distribute a new catalog. From that standpoint, the show was a success for the company.

“Our new products sold very well. It’s important that customers can see new products in person at the show,” said Rothco’s John Ottaviano.