In a surprise move, this Tuesday’s mailbox found a communication from AXPONA stating that their previously mentioned 2020 dates will now move away from 4th quarter and back to the originally planned April calendar month. The Chicago audio show had voiced a change that landed its mid west stronghold very close to nearly four other hifi-related events located within the holiday season (RMAF, Toronto, New York and DC).
The change came as a surprise to some, a relief to others. Travel costs and transportation from show to show in short time periods forces many exhibitors to make hard choices, but the April time slot for AXPONA will still leave them dealing with the international Munich show just on their heels. Full quote from the JD Events team below.
“Dear Audio Industry Friends,
First, please know AXPONA will not be moving to the fall dates as stated last week, but will remain in April for 2020 and beyond.
As stated in our announcement last week, we have been encouraged by many exhibitors in recent years to move far away from Munich, to add a trade day and to make it easier for international vendors to exhibit. When dates became available at The Renaissance in Schaumburg that accommodated all of those elements, we jumped at the opportunity to secure them. We announced the new dates immediately and more than two years in advance. Much positive feedback was received in support of the date change. However, we also received negative feedback regarding the disruption of fall schedules and questions were raised as to the intentions behind the move. We certainly did not intend to cause harm to any other events. Our goal has always been to serve the domestic and the international market, and the initial decision was made to accommodate that goal.
We have not, and will not lose sight of our valued exhibitors, attendees and friends in the audio community, so to best serve the entire industry, we are going to take a step back and hold the show April 17-19, 2020. The AXPONA team is greatly appreciative that so many manufacturers, dealers, distributors, audiophiles and press feel passionately enough to have expressed their opinions to us directly and on social media. AXPONA’s vision remains to be the premier North American event for the audio industry. Going forward, AXPONA will be sure to gather more comprehensive input from the entire audio community before making any significant date changes. We also now appreciate how many people like our April timeframe within the audio show calendar.
Please know that we are listening, we hear you and we want to continue receiving your feedback. The most important goal for AXPONA is to serve the audio community and to provide the best possible venue and timing every year for the industry to gather and experience great systems, great products, great music and great comradery. We look forward to seeing you April 12-14, 2019.
Thank you from Mark, Liz and the AXPONA team.”