As a small custom woodworker, what if you woke up tomorrow morning and found out that every woodworking tradeshow in the world had been canceled for now and henceforth forever more?  Would this be a sign of the Apocalypse? Would you drop bittersweet tears in your cup of Morning Joe at the thought that ‘It’s come to this?’ Or would you say, ‘Oh, that’s too bad, now has anyone seen my tape measurer?’”

Over the years, I’ve talked to many small shop owners who have attended tradeshows like IWF in Atlanta or AWFS in Las Vegas. Sometimes it was at the invitation of a sales representative so that they could view a particular machine they had in mind for purchase.  Sometimes these shop owners just wanted to see the latest technology available knowing that some day they might be in a position to buy their “dream” machine. And then there were those who had not been to a tradeshow in years, if ever. They were perfectly happy with their “old school” equipment.

What category do you fall in? If you have less than 10 employees, just how important are tradeshows to you? If you live in a rural area not generally serviced by machinery sales reps, would a lack of tradeshows hinder your ability to expand and grow your company?