Las Vegas Reflecting a new optimism about the industry, the Medtrade West Exposition and Conference held at Bally's Las Vegas in May was by all accounts more of a success than participants expected.

"It's been busier this year than any other year that I've been coming," said Chas Kaufman, infant management specialist for Pittsburgh-based Respironics Inc. "In fact, this is the busiest that I've ever seen it. It was dead last year, so it seems the show is moving in the right direction."

Show officials reported a total attendance of 4,300-a 30 percent increase over last year's total of 3,300. About 2,500 were visitors, while 1,800 were exhibitors overseeing some 300 booths. In addition to visiting the booths, visitors could choose from about 40 seminars led by industry experts on subjects ranging from competitive bidding to lymphedema pumps.

"Our exhibitors are very happy," said Alisa Derryberry, marketing manager for Washington-based VNU Expositions, formerly known as BillCom Exposition and Conference Group. "Our exhibitor advisory board met on Friday morning, and the response to the show was that it was a resounding success. One of our exhibitors even told me that the difference between last year's show and this year's is night and day."

"The show seems to have picked up in its volume compared to the last seven or eight years that I've been here, which is encouraging," said Joe Brandt, Pacific regional director at Sunrise Medical's Longmont, Colo., location. "It seems as though there are more people stopping in the booth than there have been in the past."

The past clearly colored the expectations of some exhibitors, including two of the industry's largest manufacturers. For the second year in a row, Elyria, Ohio-based Invacare Corp. did not exhibit. And Sunrise kept a low profile, occupying a much smaller-than-expected booth.

"We made a coordinated decision to downsize because of the traffic patterns that we've experienced in the past (at Medtrade West) and because of the amount of cost when compared to return on investment," Brandt said. "But rather than pulling out completely, like some of the other major players have done, we still felt that we want to support the industry organizations and home care providers."

The positive news about this year's show bodes well for the 2001 show, scheduled for March 26-28 at the Las Vegas Hilton, officials said.

"We will continue to grow the show as the midyear buying event," Derryberry said. "Our exhibitors have told us repeatedly that they need a forum to present their products during midyear, and trying to crunch it all into one show would be too difficult. So, we've created more of an exposition here than a conference, which is what it's been in the past." -R.P.

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