The Pacific Marine Expo, our Northwest sistership of the International WorkBoat Show, wrapped up Friday in Seattle and, with almost 6,000 attendees and 350 exhibiting companies displaying products in over 60,000 square feet, it was a great success.
This year’s results proved that despite challenging market conditions the show remains critical to the Pacific Northwest’s commercial maritime industry.
With crippling fishery closures, increased catch regulations in the Pacific Northwest, and the fact that the show was held two weeks earlier this year (directly conflicting with several fishing seasons), there some concern about attendance numbers. Recognizing this, we set out to capitalize on our WorkBoat audience on the West Coast to shore up attendance. I’m happy to report that we were successful. We expect our valuable WorkBoat customer base out West to continue to grow going forward.
At PME attendees were treated to a catalog of revamped special events such as the Coastal Challenge that saw fisherman competing in skills competitions throughout the show. Additionally, we switched up the format of the Annual Highligher Awards to recognize the winners during the show rather than at an offsite reception. The change was very well received as evidenced by the standing room only crowd.
This year at PME we also hosted over 150 students from local high schools who were treated to small group tours of the show floor, in person meetings with exhibitors, and a warm welcome from PME staff. Based on feedback from school administrators, the program was meaningful to both students and exhibitors.
On the content side, we delivered more news out of PME than ever before. Prior to the event, WorkBoat and National Fisherman editors visited shipyards in Port Angeles, Wash., providing content to our social media channels and further building relationships with our customers. In addition, and for the first time, we produced four new dedicated show newsletters, as well as our regularly scheduled newsletters, to keep you abreast with all the happenings at the show and beyond.
We expect to do the same at the International WorkBoat Show which will be held in New Orleans Nov. 29-Dec. 1. Please visit www.nationalfisherman.com, www.workboatshow.com and www.workboat.com/international-workboat-show to read more.
We look forward to seeing you in New Orleans.
Bob Callahan is the Group Vice President/Show Directorof the International WorkBoat Show and the Pacific Marine Expo.
