U.S. shows stage a comeback: A shell game played without a pea, the electronics exhibition is prey to economics and psychology

On the occasion of its Golden Anniversary, IEEE's premiere annual convention — called INTERCON after the AIEE/IRE merger — passed away, only to be reborn as ELECTRO. Once internationally recognized as one of the largest and most successful conventions and exhibitions of its kind, INTERCON in 1976 gave way to a primarily regional show, ELECTRO, that in alternating years moves between Boston, Mass. (replacing NEREM), and New York City. INTERCON's demise is easy to explain: A virulent disease that struck the entire U.S. electronics industry sapped INTERCON's strength until it became clear that it had outlived its usefulness. From all-time highs of 74 734 registrants and 1307 exhibitors in 1962, during the golden era of electronics growth in the United States, INTERCON began to slip. As late as 1969, 60 543 attendees and 618 exhibitors were reported by the convention managers, but only two years later the show's attendance had plunged to 35 228 and its exhibitors' list had shrunk enough for IEEE to announce a change in the convention management — from consultant to inhouse — but such cosmetic actions weren't the answer. By 1975, INTERCON's last year in existence, attendance was down to 20 471 — about one third of what it had been only six years before — and exhibitors were down to 190, less than 15 percent of what they had been in INTERCON's heyday.