VSDA CONVENTION TIME FRAME PULLS VIDEO SURVIVORS

RANDY WEDDINGTON

LAS VEGAS -- For video retailers, including supermarkets, attending this year's Encino, Calif.-based Video Software Dealers Association's newly shifted convention, it appeared to be the survival of the fittest, noted industry observers.

Held here, Jan. 7 to 9, at the Sands Expo Center and the Venetian Hotel, the 20th annual VSDA Convention, with its Home Entertainment Expo & DVD Festival, coincided for the first time with the Consumer Electronics Show by Arlington, Va.'s Consumer Electronics Association. The much larger CES (with a record attendance of over 122,000) ran Jan. 6 to 9 at the Las Vegas Convention Center and sprawled into the surrounding area.

Show attendees were divided in their appraisals.

In support of the move, "It was probably a good idea to piggy-back VSDA on CES since VSDA has been losing attendance as its members go out of business," said Myrna Feinstein, director of advertising, Supermarket Video Inc., Los Angeles.

The rescheduling, though, has created other problems. "Having two conventions six months apart makes it hard for some to attend -- especially some supermarkets," she said. "And this is peak season with higher hotel rates."

SN, in fact, spotted few supermarkets on the show floor, though those reportedly on hand included Albertson's, Kroger, Marsh Supermarkets, Schnuck Markets, Price Chopper Supermarkets, Hy-Vee Food Stores, Dierbergs Markets, Dillon Companies, Fred Meyer and Wegmans Food Markets.

The chief reason for this scarcity was that supermarkets, like other retailers, had joined the floor exodus led by major suppliers. "All of the action is in meeting rooms," said John Fincher, national accounts manager, Baker & Taylor, Morton Grove, Ill. "The supermarkets that are here are in the meeting rooms, like everyone else."

"An account like Giant Eagle, or some of the higher profile supermarkets, they're as booked as we are," said Joseph Amodei, executive vice president and general manager, USA Home Entertainment, New York.

The shift has impacted even those with a floor presence, like USA. "Normally we've had two meeting rooms," said Amodei. "This year we have three, and all are booked solid for all three days."

Many major suppliers, however, opted for meeting rooms rather than booths. These included A&E, Columbia TriStar, MGM, Paramount, Fox, Warner, Universal and Trimark.

Over 60 meeting rooms were booked at the convention, according to show Director Kimbirly Orr of Home Entertainment Events, Santa Ana, Calif. "The primary purpose of an event like this is to put buyers and sellers together," she said. "It's up to them, not us as show producers, to decide how they're going to meet."

Of those who remained at this year's show, "in the survival of the fittest, it is down to the fittest," John Merchant, VSDA board member and owner of 49'er Video in Sacramento, Calif., told SN.

On the exhibit floor were Buena Vista, New Line, First Look, New Concorde (from the ubiquitous Roger Corman), Troma, Leo, Xenon and smaller sources.

With scarcer traffic, floor exhibitors reported varying levels of productivity as they weighed the crowds (or lack thereof).

"Traffic hasn't been as busy as last year, but the people we've seen have been more qualified," said Gerry Malavenda, sales manager, home video, First Look Pictures, Los Angeles.

In at least one arena the VSDA excelled, though it approached the atmosphere of a three-ring circus.

"I'm amazed at how big the adult section is," former VSDA board Chairman Mark Vrieling, owner of Rain City Video, Seattle, told SN.

Indeed, most of the show's display area was given over to the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo staged, like the VSDA Convention, by HEE, in which VSDA partners with Advanstar Communications of Cleveland.

"Whatever the size of the floors of the adult segment and the mainstream segment, it's the economics of the whole industry that will determine what the VSDA show is like," said VSDA President Bo Andersen. "The adult business is important to a lot of our members."

Asked about the possibility of the adult business eventually dominating VSDA, Andersen replied that "the economics don't support the adult side driving the whole association."

And about future convention plans, Andersen said the VSDA was committed to January shows in Las Vegas for the next three years, but was considering the option of "being coincident with CES on only one or two days."

While VSDA attendance figures were not available at presstime -- Orr told SN that auditing them can take up to two weeks -- it's likely that they will be misleading. Since adult show visitors are included in the total, the record highs they may show won't reflect the relative inactivity of the mainstream section.

Of exhibitors surveyed by SN, none estimated more than 5,000 visitors to the main floor, with most pegging the total well under that. VSDA reported 11,000 attendees to its show last July.

And while adult business remains a strong component for many video retailers, its show success adds little inducement for supermarkets to attend.

The supermarket video survivors who did, however, "are more committed to the industry than they've ever been," said Fincher.