Our recent Cygnus Aviation Expo in Las Vegas was my first trip to the trade show so from my perspective, most every product I saw at our more than 200 exhibitors was “new.”
I hear this scuttlebutt about the GSE industry all the time – there’s nothing new. But how about “relatively new?” I had a list of almost 20 exhibitors that had something new to see – regardless of whether it was brand-new product or a new twist on the tried-and-true.
I also saw plenty of decals placed in front of exhibitors that announced they were “new” to the show. I’m counting that in my tally, too.
And while this was something else that wasn’t entirely new, our Demos-on-Demand had more exhibitors taking part this year and certainly offered a new and better way to see lines of equipment in action.
The best part of any trade show is meeting plenty of new people as well. While I didn’t spend much time at our booth, when I was there I learned about a recent MBA grad who was testing prototypes of a new collision avoidance system and a former investment banker planning a new career to market LED lights to the aviation industry.
During lunch, I just ended up sitting next to an attendee who was developing a solar-powered baggage cart that would be easier to push and pull on the ramp.
I’ll cover more about the products I saw in our upcoming April issue.
In the meantime, keep a close eye on our AviationPros website media center for video clips of various educational sessions and other news we filmed at the Expo: http://www.aviationpros.com/media-center.
As it turns out my first trip to our Expo was my last trip to our Expo. Here’s another new product announced at the show: Next year’s trade show will be called AviationPros LIVE. I’m excited about what I know and will keep everyone posted in future blogs. For more information on what’s in store for 2013: http://aviationproslive.com/
