Industry faces at Interbike
Every year for 27 years the bicycle industry gathers somewhere in the American southwest to schmooze, sell, tout, brag, spy, gossip and swap lies at Interbike. Since the mid-1990s, the Mecca for North American capitalist, cycle-worshipping pilgrims has been Vegas. And what better nexus for this harmonic convergence, er, perfect storm of hope for a big score by entrepreneurs of two-wheel human-powered innovation and their target audience, bicycle nuts?
Interbike is 313,000 square feet of exhibit space and 660,000 square feet of floor space in the Sands Convention Center, 1,835 unique businesses, 22,974 expo attendees, 977 retailers, 486 media.
This edition of Interbike occurred in the very same week that some of Wall Street’s most formidable investment institutions collapsed like a house of cards and elite economists and Main Street were both in a tizzy. Still, and in part thanks to the 5-star demographics of multiport, Interbike remained in its bubble of well-being and enthusiasm for the elegant tools of their sport.
Here are a few of Interbike’s faces.
by Tim Carlson, September 30, 2008
