We’re not super-sure why you made the Double A (Anaheim, August) move in the first place. That no longer matters. Harmony is restored.
And yet, the talk will continue: Why did Interbike upset the industry apple cart, only to right it again?
My speculation: It was a long-term strategic move, designed to protect their position as the dominant Western hemisphere show and increase the chance of retaining current exhibitors.
The move also hoped to lure the Big Three/Four back on-board, and reduce similar losses in the second-tier bike companies.
Plus, holding the last-event hand in the bike trade-show cycle was looking more to Nielsen like remaining the caboose rather than being The Last Word.
Wish I had a quarter for every other speculation in the past month about backroom deals, free conference halls, and dastardly Disney deeds.
The simple fact is, we weren’t in the meetings when this strategy was hashed out. And we’re human, so we love conspiracy theories and sordid motives.
Interbike listened to the market and did the right thing. In the short-term, anyway. They may be keeping us all happy to their own long-term detriment.
How could they NOT have listened, you ask? The reaction could not have been much more negative. And yet, that kind of resistance has been ignored many times before in similar circumstances.
This can be a huge opportunity for Interbike. They’re turning chaos back into consensus. And yet, there remains one HUGE unanswered question:
What are we all going to talk about NOW?
