The convention was scheduled to have exhibit suites in the Venetian where suppliers, distributors and retailers could convene to do business, along with a less formal “adult lounge.” Both have been scrapped.
The VSDA show is a business-oriented tradeshow for the home entertainment industry. Home Entertainment Events and the VSDA jointly run the convention, which is celebrating its 25th year.
“I think some companies decided that three shows were too many,” Carrie Dieterich, VSDA’s vice president of marketing and industry relations, told XBIZ, referring to the upcoming AVN Industry Summit in September in Palm Springs, Calif., and the Adult Entertainment Expo in January. “They set out to attend only a certain number of shows per year.”
Another show that made its debut earlier this year, Expomark USA, also may have drawn exhibitors away from VSDA. A number of manufacturers reported favorable reviews of Expomark to XBIZ. The company will run a second show Sept. 10-15 at Pointe South Mountain Resort in Phoenix, the same month as AVN’s new show.
“ExpoMark gave me the greatest opportunity in my 27 years of experience to sit down and privately meet with my vendors and potential vendors to strategize and plan so both of us can prosper,” Amazing Supersource’s Bob Wolff said.
Dieterich said the mainstream portion of the show will go on as planned and she still expects upwards of 3,000 attendees despite the cancellations.
Established in 1981, the not-for-profit VSDA represents more than 1,000 companies in the U.S. and Canada. Its members operate more than 11,500 retail outlets in the U.S. that sell and/or rent DVDs, VHS cassettes and video games, as well as several hundred video distributors and film studios, both mainstream and adult.
