As I’ve said many times over the years, I’m a
creature of habit. I like things in order and
am methodical in my approach to life and business.
Now, I’m being thrown for a loop.
It’s the end of February, 2007 and my thoughts
are already turning to May, 2009. It’s more than
two years away, and I’m utterly confused about
what I’m going to do the first Sunday through
Tuesday of that month. You see, the FMI Show
will not be taking place at that time. It is going
to an every-other-year format. I am not dealing
well with this change.
For more than twenty years I have booked my
flight to Midway in Chicago, reserved a room at
the Holiday Inn City Centre, and headed to the
McCormick Center to be dazzled by the latest
and greatest endeavors the finest packaged goods
marketers have to offer. FMI has always been a
feast for the eyes and palates of the attendees.
I’ve always marked the conference as the start of
the serious business cycle for beverages, as the
summer sell-in began.
It is hard to disguise how important FMI has
been for me. I would cover my corner of the
show’s universe, beverages, over the course of
the three days. I used to visit with more than 60
companies vying for the retailers’ and distributors’
attention. I caught up with old friends,
sampled until I dropped, and enjoyed the heck
out of the event. Now, May 2009 will signal a
void in my life. But I could see it coming.
For the past few years, the number of beverage
exhibitors at FMI dwindled dramatically.
The dynamics were changing. With consolidation,
cost constraints and the distribution paradigm
evolving, many marketers were faced with
tough choices, and it appears that the FMI Show
drew the short straw. The continued strength of
NACS and NBWA, the emergence of Expo East
and Expo West, and the power of the Fancy
Food Shows and regional events that dot the
landscape demonstrates that trade shows are still
important, but not FMI, which has even had
to co-market with Fancy Foods in the past few
years. What was it, I wonder, that caused beverage
marketers to desert FMI?
I strongly believe in the importance of these
meetings. I also believe that marketing has drastically
changed and it is imperative to keep up
with these changes. There is no such thing as
business as usual anymore. What is it about the
other shows, that they have retained their relevance
while FMI’s has faded?
While I cannot give an answer for the desertion
of FMI, it is a prime example of the
evolution and revolution of business. I’ve always
enjoyed the event and took much away from
it. Hopefully, in its every other year format,
the marketers will return, and I’ll be dazzled
once again. Meanwhile, I am inviting you all to
submit suggestions as to what I should do
with myself in May, 2009. Please email me at
bnathanson@bevnet.com with your ideas, suggestions,
or sarcastic remarks. We’ll print the
best ones next month.