For as long as I can remember in attending the American Bar Association’s annual TECHSHOW conference, one constant has persisted: the prominent presence in the exhibit hall of Thomson Reuters or its predecessor West Publishing Company. This year, that will change. When TECHSHOW opens Feb. 27 in Chicago, Thomson Reuters will not be among the exhibitors.
Thomson Reuters confirmed this week that it will not exhibit at TECHSHOW this year. Last year, it spent $137,000 to exhibit at TECHSHOW.
Even so, this is not a threat to the viability of TECHSHOW, sources familiar with the conference said. In recent years, TECHSHOW has seen growth in both the number of vendors who participate and the number of legal professionals who attend. Information provided by the Law Practice Division after last year’s show said that it was the most successful ever in both revenue and attendance.
‘Re-Evaluating All Trade Shows’
So why is Thomson Reuters pulling out?
Michael Abbott, vice president of global thought leadership and of the Legal Executive Institute at Thomson Reuters, is the executive who was responsible for the company’s decision not to exhibit at TECHSHOW this year.
Over the past year, he said, TR has been re-evaluating all trade shows it attends to consider how best to engage with the customers who attend those shows. “As we start to think about how best can we engage with the customers, this is one where we thought we’d go in a different direction,” he said.
TR participates in a number of trade shows and spends a large number of dollars in doing so, he noted. It is rethinking its strategy with regard to all of those shows, he said.
“It’s event by event. Some lend themselves to big booth presence. In other situations, we feel we can have more of
