Trade shows (or conventions) are big business. The costs incured and the summs they generate are big enough to warp national politics. A good example of this is the last New Orleans SHOT, which literally compelled the Governer of LA of interfer in legislation and a federal lawsuit so that the managing company would not abandon it's intention of holding the show.
The Columbine shootings in Denver, which caused (among other things) the cancellation of the NRA Annual Meetings, cost the firearms industry tens of millions of dollars in unrecoverable fees. The loss of revenue from the convention also hurt Denver and Colorado.
A large part of my career has been trade show management and logistics for small business's. I have worked with hundreds of shows. Last years count was 18 in 7 countries.
The costs to a company (attendee) not only include such things as floor space rental, but also equiptment rentals, shipping and drayage fees, and fees for electrical use, carpeting, trash pick up, booth cleaning, hired help, employee wages and cost associated with their attendance, business entertainment, and gratuities paid to make sure everything happens in a timely manner.
The conventions are dominated by the local unions, and extortion runs high. I won't get into horror stories; anyone who has worked a show has experienced them.
There is a very strict timeline for any show facility. Most major facilities are booked years in advance. You want to know where the SHOT Show is going to be held for the next three years, and the dates. I can guarentee that the show management already knows this.
Why? Because the show is limited to the facilities it can use. It has outgrown all but 3 of the convention centers in the USA. (Folks complaining that it never comes to their state need to take close look at where they think it could be held.) On top of which, due to the amount of shipping involved it must be near a major air and ground hub.
It takes 3 days to set up the SHOT. It takes 2 days to tear it down. It takes one day to clear the facility, and then the next show starts setting up. To extend the show, even one day, would almost double the exhibiting cost. The longer the show, the more expensive it is. Also the higher the attendance the more costs rise. And when the show is limited by size to certain facilities costs can also be expected to be high. Expenses for the SHOT are about average. They are certainly less than those incured at TREXPO (electronics industry) or SEMICON (semiconductor industry). Overseas shows are substantially higher in fees.
Hidden costs (which a manufacturer needs to factor into the cost of the product) for these shows include the cost of the actual booth, the graphics displayed, storage of all the materials when not in use, maintenance of the materials, and costs incured by the company in planning the event. 200 man hours of planning is about average for a small manufacturer per show.
Additionally a large portion of those personnel staffing the booths are sales representatives. In many cases these are not employees of the company, but are in fact self employed. They are there to take advantage of the enviroment which brings them, company executives, and their clients into close proximity, and to write the orders on which they live. They attend the shows by paying their own way, hoping to do enough business to justify the expenses.
I find it amusing to note that attending the NRA show, which is held in the same location as this years SHOT show, which is free to the public to attend, and which will feature all of the same major manufacturers and many of the smaller ones in the industry, is considered to be a vacation, and not worthy of attendance by many of those who would attend the SHOT without a second thought.
FOLKS, LISTEN UP!
The industry every year works with it's major public organization (the NRA) to provide each and every one of you this oppurtunity. It is a horrendous cost to all of those who display, but gladly expended to provide you the opportunity to meet the companies representatives and see their products. This is your extended SHOT show, and every company that is physically able to attend does so, incuring the costs to provide the public wth what you keep saying you want. (And tragically attendance is so poor that it may be that this too will be lost to you).
If you have ever entertained the idea of going to the SHOT but not to the NRA, and you are not immediately involved in the firearms industry, you're lying to yourself. You are a wanna be, and a status seeker, hoping to be able to someday show off that you were a player. And worse than that, you did neither accepted or appreciated what the industry offered you. To top it off you couldn't even be bothered to help the major organization dedicated to helping to preserve your rights to own a firearm.