You right Andrew J,
In the 70's the company I worked for would spending 100K+ for space, exhibits, hospitality suites (mainly dealers & a few customers, etc. for shows in Chicago & Detroit. Once you got inside building the unions did there best to milk you dry & when the show was over and you were dismanteling they did it again.

The Big Forklift people pulled out years ago.To exhibit at ProMat is a hideous expense.Just a booth say 20' x 20' will run you $20,000 by the time you have you exhibit in,staffed it and put lit etc.For the whole show with all the travel etc you would be looking at more like $50,000+ It's not justified, you don't get new business from it, instead it's meet and greet for your dealers.The people who make out are the shows organizers.A better way to go would be to rent a large industrial space and have a cheap show with lots of space in the suburbs.If people are coming to see the products they will come, if they want to party they can stay downtown. Personally I'm tired of going to shows where the exhibitors and attendees think it's a frat party, and the organizers want my last dollar for a lousy hot dog.

Understood, and thank you for the discussion.

Maybe you should send a communication to Pro Mat. But remember 80% of the US population is living ~200-300 miles west of the Mississippi River & eastward to the Atlantic coast.
Again in the past the MHI shows were held in places like New Orleans, San Francisco & met with low attendance - travel costs the primary issue. And they were also held in Detroit, Cobo Hall, but the unions messed that up.

And costs are always a consideration the lift ruck industry is not like the auto shows one it is relatively low volume, in a great year 200K unit sales in five ITA classes in the US - 40K which are low priced units Class III low lift electrics, a very competitive market with new "low" priced off shore products from emerging entering the market all the time. Current market conditions says there is an excess production capacity, reductions in staff, etc. When an economic downturn starts the first two things that are taken out of the budget are advertising & new capital expenditures and these are the last items added back after the recovery period - in between those two points - it is "guerilla warfare"

Thanks for the input, I to have almost 40 years in the industry and still working with three quarters of those years as a material handling supplier (Yale, Hyster, Crown, Komatsu, Cat, Mitsubishi, Taylor, Grove, Genie, JLG, Cat heavy etc...). I to have attended these shows in the past; ProMat has always made it perfectly clear which venders would be attending including this year so I knew what I was in for before attending. I'm not disappointed with Chicago or with this years show but I am disappointed with the Mfg's not in attendance. All the Mfg's that choose not to attend are major players in the industry which makes it easier for their completion to show case their products. There were an estimated 30,000 people in attendance this year from all over the world which is substantial in anyone's eyes. The Mfg's that did attend had a wealth of information which I fully intend to take advantage of with further purchases this year. So speaking as an end user and as a customer it's my belief those that choose not to show case their products this year could possibly hurt them down the road. As far as Chicago, it's a great place to visit but in my opinion Phoenix has more to offer for conference goers such as, conference facilities (tons of 5 star resorts), more golf courses than just about anywhere, and warm winter weather. Maybe ProMat would consider changing locations in the future?

Crownd,
Hey, I only worked in the forklift industry for 41+ years - '67 - '07. Well aware of the industry changes. Worked for manufacturers, A-C, MCFA (Mitsubishi - Cat), Komatsu in sales & marketing (yep, was involved in trade shows).
At one time (thru ~1982), most lift truck companies did exhibit at this national show when it was called the MHI show but over time it evolved into an exhibit with an increasing emphasis the material handling systems and a name change to ProMat

Sorry, you were disappointed, but you had a great opportunity to visit a great city Chicago with lots to do, see and the best food - lived there for 14 years.
Hint - most trade shows publish, well in advance, a listing of exhibitors.
By the way, Arizona is included in the 20% of the visitors outside the 300 mile radius.

That's disappointing, Arizona is a little beyond the "300 mile radius" you mentioned and "years ago" too now things have changed a lot in this industry which makes your statement a little weak. As an end user it's nice to have all Mfg's in one place to compare equipment and if they are no shows to a major conference like ProMat it just doesn't show well for them. It makes me think possibly they are having problems which is a turn off for any end user.

They all have their individual reasons but I'm certain some of the rationale would include:
1. Slow capital equipment sales and with the sales that are realized the pricing is at a level that affects the bottom line.
2. Many lift trucks companies have not exhibited due to costs vs. benefit. Quite often most visitors to your both are from your competitors. Some lift trucks manufacturers tend to lean towards supporting regional shows thru their dealer network vs national.
3. Years ago a study was done it found that 80% of the attendees came from within a 300 mile radius of the show location. And in Chicago a significant part of that radius includes Lake Michigan.