Gary Shapiro: Trade Shows Drive Business Growth

Gary Shapiro, who led CES for over three decades, asserts that trade shows are a critical, yet often underestimated, driver of business growth, citing numerous success stories from major technology companies. Shapiro's extensive experience, spanning 35 years, has shown that while many companies achieve substantial returns on their trade show investments, others fail to capitalize due to inadequate planning or execution. He recounts how Bill Gates attributed Microsoft's rapid expansion, in part, to trade shows, and how Intel successfully marketed its "Intel Inside" component through this channel. Other prominent tech firms like Ring, AMD, and Nvidia have also leveraged trade shows to transform their businesses.

CES, held annually in Las Vegas, serves as a prime example of a successful trade show. Recent editions have drawn over 150,000 business attendees, including more than 55,000 international visitors from approximately 140 countries and territories. The event also hosts around 6,000 media representatives and 4,000 exhibitors. On average, attendees report conducting 29 meetings during the show, with 68% securing new clients or business contacts, averaging nine new connections per participant. Shapiro emphasizes that a trade show is a multifaceted event, functioning simultaneously as a collection of booths, vertical industry showcases, a temporary marketplace, a media platform, a conference, a product launch venue, a networking hub, and a competitive intelligence gathering operation. He considers it one of the most potent forms of business-to-business marketing.

Despite the significant impact of trade shows, Shapiro notes a relative lack of attention paid to them compared to other marketing channels. In the United States alone, an estimated 13,000 B2B trade shows occur annually, attracting millions of business professionals and thousands of exhibitors. The top 100 trade shows in 2025 featured over 100,000 exhibitors occupying 41 million net square feet of exhibit space. The trade show and exhibition industry generated $16.5 billion in direct spending in 2025. Companies allocate considerable financial resources, executive focus, and employee time to exhibiting at these events. However, trade shows receive a disproportionately small share of the attention compared to advertising, digital marketing, and social media campaigns. This underemphasis overlooks the tangible benefits and return on investment that well-executed trade show participation can deliver, according to Shapiro's analysis.