The Photo Marketing Association has tapped Anaheim for an expanded annual tradeshow that for the first time includes a day for the general public.
The Michigan-based trade group, which represents photo retailers and those that print, scan, archive and frame photos, expects 15,000 to 20,000 people at its industry show scheduled for Feb. 21 to 23.
The group expects another 8,000 to 10,000 for its first consumer show, called the Southern California Photo Expo, on Feb. 20. The show is open to the general public and has a ticket price of $10.
“Southern California is an ideal market to do something like this in,” said Ted Fox, executive director and chief executive of the association. “We have been looking at doing a consumer show for a number of years. It was a good marriage between the right time and the right market.”
Fox said the group picked Anaheim for its first consumer show because of the demographics of Southern California consumers, who are interested in photography and technology.
“We don’t see this as a money-making thing, but an opportunity to go to one of the largest consumer markets in the U.S. and show what we can offer them,” Fox said.
For more than eight decades, the association has held an industry show every year in various cities.
Convention Center
Renovations at the Anaheim Convention Center lured the group here this year, according to Fox.
“We’ve done smaller shows in Orange County before, but this is the first time we’ve brought the big show,” he said. “A lot has to do with the renovations to the convention center. Our show was too large before.”
The Anaheim Convention Center has been through three major expansions since it opened in the 1960s, each adding another exhibition hall. The convention center now has 815,000 square feet of exhibit space, with 130,000 square feet of new meeting and ballroom space, according to its Web site.
Fox said his exhibitors—which include big companies such as Walgreen Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp., as well as smaller independent stores from around the world—often take rooms at local hotels to host their annual sales meetings in conjunction with the show.
The show also could boost business for local photograph-related companies, such as Fullerton Photographics Inc., a photo boutique about 10 miles from the convention center.
“I think (Anaheim) will be fun; it’ll be different,” said Gabrielle Mullinax, president of Fullerton Photographics. “Because I am so close, it will really benefit me.”
Mullinax has served on the photo association’s board and has been attending the trade show since she started her photo boutique 10 years ago.
“The first year was scary because I didn’t know what I was doing,” Mullinax said. “But if you really work hard to see what the vendors are offering—what the smaller companies are offering—you are going to be able to innovate from that show.”
The group’s industry show moves around the country every few years, having set up shop in Las Vegas, New Orleans, Chicago and Orlando, Fla., among others, according to Fox.
Fox has seen a drop in attendance at recent shows, driven by economic pressures, but expects to see renewed interest from exhibitors and consumers as the show focuses on the latest in digital printing and photo gifts, as well as the capabilities of camera phones.
The group has been doing a consumer show in Australia for 15 years and is hoping to be as well-received in Orange County, according to Fox.
“Right now we are just here for 2010, but we are excited about Southern California and obviously if we are successful there is no reason why we wouldn’t be back,” he said.
