A week ago, JD Events, the team that brings to Chicago the excellent AXPONA high-end audio trade show every year, decided to move their epic beast to late October from April. This move made a lot of sense — three weeks after AXPONA closes, the High End Show in Munich Germany usually opens. Moving AXPONA to the opposite end of the calendar meant, then, that vendors could attend both shows without having to scramble or — worse — have to choose between them.
Of course, that didn’t really take into account the four other shows happening at that time of year: RMAF in early October, Toronto in late October, and both New York and CAF in early November. AXPONA coming in would, at best, canibalize all five (!) shows, and at worst, cause the time-space continuum to warp and tear, causing Michael Fremer to grow to 1,000 feet in height like some kind of Vinyl Godzilla, whereupon he’d promptly begin a devastating march on Washington, DC, Hell-bent on voting rights and great sound, all while bellowing in excess of 250 decibels and strategically spewing atomic fire in the general direction of Congressional hypocrites.
And no one wants that.
Besides, it turns out that late October has a little holiday in there that parents of young kids — the demographic we’re trying to grow in high-end audio — tend to cherish, and therefore, they would simply not come.
Today, we have happier news to report.
From the JD Events team, I bring an announcement:
A letter to the audio industry;
First, please know AXPONA will not be moving to the fall dates as stated last week but will remain in April for 2020 and beyond.
As stated in our announcement last week, we have been encouraged by many exhibitors in recent years to move far away from Munich, to add a trade day and to make it easier for international vendors to exhibit. When dates became available at The Renaissance in Schaumburg that accommodated all of those elements, we jumped at the opportunity to secure them. We announced the new dates immediately and more than two years in advance. Much positive feedback was received in support of the date change. However, we also received negative feedback regarding the disruption of fall schedules and questions were raised as to the intentions behind the move. We certainly did not intend to cause harm to any other events. Our goal has always been to serve the domestic and the international market, and the initial decision was made to accommodate that goal.
We have not, and will not lose sight of our valued exhibitors, attendees and friends in the audio community, so to best serve the entire industry, we are going to take a step back and hold the show April 17-19, 2020. The AXPONA team is greatly appreciative that so many manufacturers, dealers, distributors, audiophiles and press feel passionately enough to have expressed their opinions to us directly and on social media. AXPONA’s vision remains to be the premier North American event for the audio industry. Going forward, AXPONA will be sure to gather more comprehensive input from the entire audio community before making any significant date changes. We also now appreciate how many people like our April timeframe within the audio show calendar.
Please know that we are listening, we hear you and we want to continue receiving your feedback. The most important goal for AXPONA is to serve the audio community and to provide the best possible venue and timing every year for the industry to gather and experience great systems, great products, great music and great comradery. We look forward to seeing you April 12-14, 2019.
Thank you from Mark, Liz and the AXPONA team.
While this, no doubt, disappoints many who were secretly taking bets as to the size and scope of the devastation that Vinyl Godzilla would have created, there are, I’m sure, many that are today breathing sighs of relief.
The White House could not be reached for comment.
For the team at Part-Time Audiophile, I (and my Hallowe’en loving children) respectfully and gratefully wish AXPONA the very best and we look forward to seeing them (and everyone else) in April in both 2019, 2020, and beyond.
Remember “New Coke?”
I would have welcomed the move to a Fall date for AXPONA. Fall is when our business really starts to pick up and head into the busiest season, while April is just the opposite – heading into the summer slow-down. Fall puts AXPONA ‘opposite’ of Munich on the calendar, and positions the show to be a bigger International player. AXPONA is the biggest show in the U.S. now, and it is so because of the management team making it that way. It’s only going to get bigger. With a move to the Fall, the other shows would just have to adjust. Some people think there are too many U.S. shows anyway. But nobody asked me! Greg Roberts, Volti Audio