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The very first Army Navy Military Expo (ANME) took place in Las Vegas at Caesar's Palace on August 12-14, 2007.

These show dates coincided with the first three days of the ASD/AMD Trade Show across town at the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Sands Expo Center.

The concurrent dates were not an accident. The Army Navy Military Expo was designed to make it easy for buyers attending the ASD/AMD show to amortize the expense of their trip to Las Vegas by also visiting the new show at Caesar's.

Exhibitors were drawn to the new show primarily by a lower booth cost, shorter show length (also a money-saver) and by the strictly army/navy emphasis.

With no history to draw on, the show opened with much speculation as to whether the effort would turn out to be rewarding or abysmal.

The general consensus during and post-show was that the Army Navy Military Expo was reasonably successful. In fact, the phrase most often heard was "pleasant surprise." Perhaps going in with low expectations helped support the generally positive response, but many exhibitors believed that they got their money's worth.

The Broner Company decided to forego the ASD/AMD show completely, opting for booth space at the ANME instead.

Company spokesperson Bob Broner reported that the show was viable enough for them to commit to the next show, which will take place again at Caesar's Palace, again concurrently with the ASD/AMD show. Show dates for the ANME will be March 2-4, 2008.

"The first ANME show wasn't great, but we were satisfied with it and we'll give it another shot in March," said Broner.

Ted Abma of Abma Sales was one of the early adopters of the ANME, and he was very pleased with his show experience.

"Without a shadow of a doubt, better than the last ASD/AMD summer show that we attended a couple of years ago. Plus we got to go home a couple of days earlier than usual," enthused Abma.