Quality not quantity at this year's CTS
This year's Computer Trade Show was about quality over quantity, and the overwhelming message from those that exhibited and attended was that this was a place to get business done. Sara Driscoll reports from the Birmingham NEC
Hotpants featured prominently again at this year’s Computer Trade Show (CTS) at the NEC in Birmingham. However, despite that, exhibitors and attendees told CRN that the main message from the show was that this is a place where the channel can get real business done.
With almost 6,500 visitors coming through the doors of the combined four shows – CTS, Comms Channel Expo, Office Technology Expo and Technology Retailer Show – the opportunities to meet up with clients, customers and find potential new business was greater than ever for many channel players.
Keith Warburton, executive director at the Professional Computing Association (PCA), said: “Our theme [at the show] was about what the PCA is doing in its community, and how it can benefit its members. We were promoting a special offer on membership. We’re still counting, but it looks as if we gained about 45 new members, increasing our base by 10 per cent, which is very successful.”
VIP Computers was a platinum sponsor at the show, and had two stands. One was dedicated to the gaming market, the other to technology, such as high-definition TV (HDTV), according to Sally Carron, marketing manager at the distributor.
“Our dedicated gaming stand was busy,” she said. “We were showcasing our exclusive distribution agreement with vendor Thermaltake, which does very high-performance gaming technology. Although gaming is seen as an end-user pursuit, many VARs are now selling it on to their customers as interest in the sector grows.”
Carron said that between its gaming stand and its main stand, the distributor showcased over 230 products. “We had more than 30 brands on show,” she said. “On our main stand the focus was on HDTV and notebooks. We have an exclusive deal with Mirai, which means that our resellers can make more margin on this.”
One vendor hoping the show will have paid dividends is Acorn Computers. The company relaunched at CTS and hoped to attract a number of resellers to its partner programme (CRN, 15 May).
“We are looking for the right number of partners, and we are using the CTS to launch our partner programme,” said Shahid Sultan, UK operations director at Acorn.
Acorn launched four laptops at the show: its 12.1in Solo Note, its 14.1in Solo Book, its 15.4in Desk Note and its 17in Desk Book.
“We have made sure our laptops are simple to use because we are looking to target the education and SME sectors,” Sultan said.
Sultan said the vendor had received a strong reaction at the show. “It has all been positive, and we have a number of resellers who are already interested in coming on board.”
The firm is also in discussions to sign one or two distributors. Sultan said this should happen in a number of weeks.
Avnet’s Computing Components division was also exhibiting. It took space on its vendor partner AMD’s stand. The firm showcased the AMD Validated Server Platform, as well as servers from Supermicro and Uniwide.
An Avnet representative told CRN: “The event was busy, and we were able to meet a lot of contacts. Some people made comments that the show was smaller than in past years, and I would agree with that.
“But I have certainly come away from the show with a lot of work to do in terms of following up leads and projects. The attendees we saw the most of were resellers, ISVs and web-hosting companies.”
Warburton agreed that the show seemed more compact this year. “It seems to me that the show isn’t growing, but both exhibitors and visitors seemed to have a better focus,” he said.
“I heard this from several other exhibitors. Visitors tended to encompass just about all aspects of the VAR community. And as a channel organisation, we were almost as busy talking to other exhibitors and vendors as we were with resellers.”
David Pye, manager of Centerprise’s distribution arm, said the attendees were of a high quality this year. However, he added: “This year we had more real business people coming through the doors and fewer time-wasters just here for the freebies.”
Carron agreed: “The show was noticeably smaller, but we still managed to get the biggest number of leads we have ever had. We did do lots of communication around the show, and also gave away retail kits on our stand.”
Lead generation and VAR recruitment were certainly central themes at CTS. As well as the various component technology, HDTV was also a firm favourite with the visitors. While the show may be becoming more about quality and less about quantity, let’s hope next year there are fewer hotpants and more business deals.
Contacts:
Acorn Computers
Avnet (01628) 606 060
http://acc.avnet.com/europe/home
Centerprise (01256) 378 222
PCA
VIP Computers (08701) 648 501