[Mister X]

The following was written by me at the request of my boss Daniel. But I will say that I pretty much agree with it all.

We would like to make very plain our extreme displeasure with the Montreal Cybernet show organizers. Not only do we feel that we did not get our money's worth, we feel like we were actually ripped off.

To charge an amount like $125 USD for a show with no booths or significant displays and only entry level seminars is quite ridiculous. Paying for the privilege of standing around in the "networking area" for a while wondering who all these people were and drinking over-priced beer was not only unrewarding from a business standpoint, it was also extremely frustrating.

Surely there were people at the show that we would have been very interested in talking to. In fact we went there planning to talk to some people about specific things. And I'm sure that the people we wanted to talk to were there somewhere. But we really had no way of knowing who they were, or finding them if we did know. The lack of even the inclusion of a company name on badges meant that it was reduced to asking people who they worked for and what they did.

From the standpoint of a local Montreal business the show was actually embarrassing. We had clients who were quite satisfied with us and what we provided them with but they expressed their disappointment with the whole experience of coming to Montreal for Cybernet. Almost certainly these people will not be back next year. A tradeshow that hurts business instead of helping it is worse than useless.

I think I can speak for all Montreal industry people in saying that we are very proud of our city. Which is why this show was such a terrible disappointment for us. People will be going home thinking that perhaps Montreal is a good place to party, and a beautiful city. But too many of them will be thinking that it's an unrewarding place to do business.

Perhaps Montreal should do what the Toronto industry did and organize our own tradeshow. People that actually care about business in this city might do a better job than someone with a "take the money and run" attitude.

Probably there are going to be a lot of people who disagree.

But I have to say that the format of the show really sucked for those of us who don't already know most of the attendees from previous shows and meetings. I was disappointed enough that I decided not to even bother with going back today and going on the Webmaster tour, which I was quite looking forward to. All in all it was a more of a frustrating experience than a rewarding one. Maybe I had unrealistic expectations for my first trade show. But I doubt it.