- Interbike
The Interbike International Bicycle Expo is the largest bicycle industry trade show in North America and is held annually in Las Vegas,
Nevada . Exhibitors consist of companies interested in selling their products and services to bicycle retailers and manufacturers. Because of the many new cycling products and technologies that are launched each year to much fanfare at Interbike, the show is also an important media event for the bicycle industry.Interbike was founded by Steve Ready and Herb Wettenkamp in 1982 and was first held in Las Vegas. It has since been held in various years in Reno,
Anaheim andPhiladelphia . Outgrowing the other locations, Interbike moved to Las Vegas in the mid 1990s. Since its founding, Interbike was sold to Miller-Freeman which was then purchased by its current owner,VNU , which was renamed The Nielsen Company in January 2007. Interbike is a part of Nielsen Business Media's Sports Group, based inSan Juan Capistrano ,California , which also produces the OutDoor Retailer, Action Sports Retailer, Health+Fitness Business Expo, and Fly Fishing Retailer trade shows.When it was created, Interbike's timing was unique among the multiple industry trade shows in existence at the time. The Fall, as opposed to the typical late winter/early Spring, timing allowed manufacturers to better forecast and plan manufacturing for Spring shipping in time for the seasonal business of most retailers.
Interbike is currently a five-day event with the first two days being the Interbike OutDoor Demo at
Bootleg Canyon inBoulder City , Nevada, and the final three days indoors at the Sands Convention Center. The OutDoor Demo is unique among the industry's trade shows in that it provides an opportunity for retailers and members of the media to ride and demo the products that they will be seeing and talking about on the show floor.There have been some concerns voiced in the industry about whether it is appropriate for the industry's main annual gathering to be held in Las Vegas, a city commonly believed to be unfriendly to the values of an industry centered around such a healthy and fitness-oriented activity. There have also been questions as to the friendliness of the city towards cyclists - especially given the show's proximity to the
Las Vegas Strip . Interbike show management have insisted that, given the current size of the show, the convention-friendly infrastructure of Las Vegas and a variety of other logistical factors, there are few alternatives that would serve the industry as well.According to the official Interbike website, in 2006 there were 735 exhibiting companies and 21,682 total attendees covering a total of 310,000 net square feet (28,800 Sq. meters) of exhibit space in the Sands Convention Center's 660,000 square feet (61,316 Sq. meters) of floor space.
In 2007, Interbike will be held from September 26-28 and the OutDoor Demo from September 24-25.
External links
* [http://www.interbike.com the official Interbike web site]
* [http://www.interbiketimes.com the official Interbike blog]
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