Scary trade show quote   "When the economy is down, the first
thing to go is trade shows," says Richard Doherty, an
independent analyst for the Envisioneering Group (Electronics
trade shows change with the times, NYT).  I guess that's an
answer of sorts to my question of last week: What really is the
future of trade shows? It sounds like a lot of people at CES
anyway are cutting back on the number of people they send to the
show, and/or holding hospitality suites instead of buying
booths. And it's not just electronics shows feeling the pinch,
of course. This from an NYT article about the book business:
But the economic downturn is forcing publishers to scrutinize
some of the industry’s hoariest traditions. One ripe target: the
international book fairs in London and Frankfurt at which
publishers and agents gather, ostensibly to make deals. But in
reality they spend much of their time making the rounds of
parties and dinners.      Many houses that previously have spent
hundreds of thousands of dollars on f