New dates. New space in the Jacob K. Javits Center. New collocation relationship. The National Broadcasting Association made some substantial changes to its NAB Show New York this year changes that contributed to a different kind of feel for the show. They brought more energy and excitement to the already innovative event, which was held Oct. 18-19.

The inaugural collocation partnership between NAB and Audio Engineering Society (AES) made sense for both organizations because they have an overlap in audiences on the broadcast side but limited overlap in exhibitors. Both events draw about 15,000-16,000 attendees, bringing the total number of participants to more than 30,000 people.

“Our attendees benefit from the relationship in many ways, but one is that AES offers more education and a longer schedule (running four days) than we do,” explained Chris Brown, NAB executive vice president, conventions and business operations.

He added, “Our attendees can take advantage of that with their NAB registration.”

In its new upstairs exhibit space, NAB continued integrating its education with its exhibits. Its core programs are held in theaters on the trade show floor, and it also shortened many of the session formats and worked with speakers to develop dynamic, interactive experiences.

“We want to connect the education with the technology on the show floor so that it’s easier for people to see connections and find what they need,” Brown said. “Often sessions will start and the room will be half-full, and by the end, it will be full because people see the action and pop in.”

Similar to surfing the web, this education format allows attendees to drop in and see if the content is right for them, and allows attendees to maximize the two-day schedule by reducing “travel time” between the showfloor and sessions.

“We don’t want to lock them off the show floor for a period of time, we want them to have the time for in-depth conversations with exhibitors on the show floor,” Brown explained.

He continued, “It’s a different dynamic than our Vegas show, where the conversations are shorter because it’s bigger, requiring attendees to cover more ground and exhibitors to connect with more people.”

Finally, NAB continued to drive New York flavor into the event.

As a new award tied to the New York market, “Created in New York” was awarded to Jeph Loeb and Jim Chory, co-executive producers of Marvel TV, while the show’s content was tied to news production, advertising, live event production and carried an emphasis on Wall Street.

“The show is designed for meeting the needs of the New York market,” said Brown. “It takes some time to set people’s expectations that this is not a replication of the Vegas show (and) to that end, our marketing message is very important.”

Next year’s NAB NY Show will continue to see some changes as NAB increases its space by taking on another exhibit hall in the Javits Center, however, the dates will remain the same and the show will continue to collocate with AES.

“We’re excited about expanding next year and eager to build on the synergy with AES,” Brown added.

NAB Show New York 2018 will return to the Jacob K. Javits Center Oct. 17-18.

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