Interbike deemed a success by exhibitors

Preliminary attendance figures for Interbike 2003 indicate that over 21 000 industry personnel converged on Las Vegas’ Sands Expo and Convention Center, representing over 1000 exhibiting companies and 9500 buyers from over 5500 unique retail storefronts, including over 900 international buyers.

Attendance reached a record high for the OutDoor Demo, Interbike’s pre-show testing event, which attracted over 6000 attendees.

"Clearly, the newly extended two-day schedule and enhanced venue for the OutDoor Demo appealed to a larger crowd than before," said Lance Camisasca, Interbike’s show director.

"With better infrastructure at the Boulder City venue, it allowed us to create an event that encompasses more aspects of the industry and its products. With these enhancements, the OutDoor Demo has become a vital step in the buying process."

"This year’s OutDoor Demo reached a new level," said exhibitor Steve Elmes of Maverick USA.

"Overall, the whole concept of the two-day format is better and gives retailers more time to focus on new products before they buy them. This allows everyone to interact on a more informed level when its time to

make purchasing decisions."

"It was a great decision by Interbike to expand the demo to two days," said Christina Orlandella of Crank Brothers.

"The hands on aspect of the demo allowed us to reach retailers on an entirely different level and helped increase the awareness of the brand."

When it comes to new product launches, several companies chose this year’s OutDoor Demo as the place to introduce their latest offerings to the industry.

"The response at the demo far exceeded our expectations and the event provided a great platform for us to launch our BMX product to the US market," said Brian Wilson of Felt BMX.

"The action on the BMX track was great and the overall vibe was super energetic – so much that we ran out of

bikes a few times."

Stephanie Brendel of PowerBar said: "For our new product, the OutDoor Demo has been the best event we could have ever hoped for. It’s given us the chance to introduce our new sports drink in an ideal environment and the

resulting retail response has been overwhelming."

Mike Porter, from Pinkbike.com said the rider-run website, which carried Interbike stories had visitor spikes on show days:

"We had over four million hits on Monday ­ which is proof that people on the outside are excited about what’s

going on inside the show.