It happens every year around this time. The notices start arriving for a myriad of trade shows, from those directly related to the LF industry to those only peripherally related to my professional interests.

Even before the season starts, I know I’ll be "trade-showed-out" by the end of the season. But every year I go through it anyway. Why? Mainly because it’s fun, although it’s sometimes hard to remember that when you’ve been plodding up one aisle and down the next in an enormous convention center for hours on end.

The difficult part is deciding which shows to go to: which are marginally useful and which are a waste of time. Differentiating among them is often impossible.

With the digital revolution in full swing, more shows are technology related. It was not so long ago that SMPTE, NAB, CES, Comdex, Siggraph, and a couple of others covered the gamut. Now we have Computer Telephony, ICE, DCC, Post LA, MacWorld, IBC, BKSTS, E3, GDC, ITS, TiLE, Animation Expo, Infocomm, ITEA, and more. (Maybe I should offer a prize to anyone who could identify all the players in this alphabet soup.)

That does not count others that are not so technocentric, such as NATPE, IAAPA, AFM, Midem, Cannes, Urban Land Institute, Urban Entertainment Development, American Association of Museums, etc.

Still others are duplicated in multiple locations, such as ShoWest, ShowEast, Show Biz Expo West, Show Biz Expo New York, etc. Then there are the seasonal ones with Summer, Winter, Fall, or Spring after their names.

Continuing education is an important component of the season. Many organizations run some very interesting seminars with high-profile guest speakers that are outside of the formal trade show atmosphere. Variety, Red Herring, Upside, and other magazines come to mind. But how many can one person attend?

It can be tricky when the show is in your home town (as so many of them are for me, here in L.A.). On the one hand, it’s great to be able to stay at home, save on airfare, and drop in for a quick look while doing other business in the area. On the other hand, it’s easy to succumb to the temptation of spending too much time at a show just "because it’s there" when you should be doing more important work.

I often wonder how they all stay in business. Who really attends them? The majority of people seem to be like me, going with free exhibit passes to check out the new technology and network. Who besides exhibitors pays to attend? How many shows will still be around next year or the year after?

Several years ago, while I was with Cinesite, the business head of a trade publication asked me if I would take a meeting with a representative of his parent company’s trade show division. They were thinking about creating a new digital entertainment show in L.A. and wanted my opinion (and probably a commitment to purchase floor space) on its potential. I warned him that I thought the industry was saturated with conferences and that most people felt trade-showed-out. (It was perhaps the first time I used that term.) If they were going to start a new show, I suggested, it had better be different, not another cookie-cutter show.

I asked if he still wanted the meeting. He said yes, and I repeated those opinions in the meeting. They scheduled the show and appeared surprised when response was less than lukewarm. There was no second show.

Some people feel that two shows dedicated to LF – ISTC/GSTA and LFCA – may be one show too many for the size of our industry. Many also believe that if the former had been open to non-15/70 LF formats, the latter might not exist. However, attendance at both has been growing and will almost certainly continue as the rest of the LF industry grows.

Here are a few tips I have picked up over the years to make trade shows more enjoyable and less stressful. If you have some of your own, send them to me and I’ll share them with readers in a future column.

When you respond to a trade show invitation, spell your name wrong or put in a slightly different title. Then watch how often that spelling or title resurfaces in the following years. You’ll be amazed as you see how often your name is sold by one show to another.

Tired of lugging bags full of promotional literature around the show, then bringing them back to the office, never again to see the light of day? I’m looking at a bag right now that should probably just be dumped in the recycle bin. My advice? Don’t pick up this stuff to begin with!

I’ve decided that when I really want an exhibitor’s material I will either give the trade show rep my card, and ask him/her to mail me their current literature (letting them pay the freight, and saving my weary arms) or I’ll just visit their web site after the show. Arriving in the mail, it probably stands a better chance of being read than being in a pile of other stuff brought back from the show. In fact, I often discourage clients and others from giving out too much information at the show for that very reason.

While at the show, make time to check your e-mail and phone messages, and return the important telephone calls.

And when you return, try to avoid giving your co-workers the impression that you were partying the whole time (even if you were).

If you had not already thought about being trade-showed-out, you probably are now. And the season is just beginning. Maybe I should write the definitive guide for the trade-showed-out. Or better yet, I’ll start a conference and trade show on the subject!