With temperatures hovering just above 1000 F., Dallas was heated up for another Metrocon. Maybe it’s a ploy to keep attendees in the nice cool Dallas Market Hall, or maybe it’s just Dallas in August, but either way it was hot outside and the exhibitors didn’t seem to mind, as things kicked off with an outdoor block party the night before the show’s official opening bell.
For those of you not familiar with Dallas, the Dallas Design District consists of several blocks of single story buildings, formed into hubs that often share space for parking. For the block party, one of those hubs was dressed up with food trucks and festive decorations, the food and drink entirely underwritten by the showrooms. Attendees were encouraged to visit all of the participating showrooms by collecting a sticker at each one for the chance to win a prize. Dauphin capitalized on the occasion by tying the grand opening of its new Dallas showroom to the event.
The next morning at 7:00 a.m. Metrocon officially opened its doors to those who apparently either missed the block party or went home early!
While most trade shows are run by full-time professionals whose business is trade shows, Metrocon is run by the local members of ASID and IIDA, including a lot of participation by local “industry partner” members. If for no other reason than this high level of cooperation among members of the greater “design communities” involved, Metrocon would be a worthwhile event. But, I see a cloud on the horizon if something isn’t done to change the current trajectory.
The founding idea for Metrocon was to give designers from the Texas-Oklahoma-Arkansas region that hadn’t been able to travel to Chicago in June an opportunity to see what was new at NeoCon, hence the name Metrocon; (“Metro-,“ derived from the Dallas Fort Worth “Metroplex” and “-con,” cadged from “NeoCon”). The intended emphasis was new products from NeoCon.
Over time, and given the realities of what it takes to produce a show of this magnitude, the original purpose has eroded; whether intended or not, the tacit purpose now is the accumulation of CEU credits. The idea of arranging an array of CEU credit courses became a part of the program from very early on as a way to encourage designers to attend. That’s all well and good, but as of this year’s show, a designer, if so inclined (and it seemed to me that most were so inclined) could attain all but two CEU credits required for the full year.
From the standpoint of the overall health of the exposition, it’s a case of too much of a good thing. Should CEU courses be offered? Of course! A gathering of this type is a perfect opportunity to blend the attainment of both product and general professional knowledge. But when the balance is tipped too heavily in one direction, the stakeholders on the other side, in this case the manufacturing/supplier side, feel that the costs in both time and money outweigh the rewards and start reconsidering their investment.
Coming from that side of the “aisle,” I freely admit my bias, but perhaps expressing my bias will help the organizers make a correcting adjustment that will keep Metrocon strong and healthy. At this year’s show, there were vast stretches of time when the manufacturers and their representatives were sitting around talking to each other while waiting for the CEU sessions to end so that anybody from the audience they hoped to attract might happen to drift by; that can’t be a good thing.
It should be acceptable to offer a cornucopia of CEU courses, perhaps up to half the annual requirement; this would allow more time for designers to explore the product exhibits, thus providing a more equal division of time between classes and time on the exhibition floor.
A trend that is completely outside the control of the Metrocon organizers is the disappearance of the biggest furniture companies from the show. Steelcase, Herman Miller, Knoll, and Haworth have all participated in the past, albeit at varying levels. This year, they were all noticeably absent – well, Haworth Healthcare had a tiny space and Nemschoff had an impressive one. So, perhaps the biggest companies with large permanent showrooms in the neighborhood don’t need the trade show type exposure; that opens an opportunity for the smaller aspiring companies to strut their stuff.
In that spirit, companies like KI, Dauphin, Senator/Allermuir, DeskMakers, ERG International, SixInch, Versteel, Gunlocke, Martin Brattrud and Nucraft all had nice stands in good locations.
While the bigger companies with permanent showrooms were absent from the show, they weren’t entirely absent from the event with Steelcase and The Mohawk Group hosting cocktail parties the evening after the Block Party. In the case of the Mohawk Group it inaugurated its gorgeous new Gensler designed showroom adjacent to its Daltile Brand.
Metrocon still represents a stellar example of how a trade show can bring the disparate communities that comprise the workplace design and furnishings industry together for a common cause. I hope the organizers will tweak the schedule in the future to allow the suppliers to have a better experience.