Spring 2008 Intelecard Expo - Post Show Review!

Ok so the Intelecard Expo in Edison NJ has just about wrapped up and I have to say this was probably one of the worst prepaid shows I have ever gone to in my life! For starters the show was way off the beaten path in the middle of an industrial park.... I got lost trying to find this place! Once I finally did get there it got a whole lot worse.

I didn't see too many cars in the parking lot, which should have tipped me off, but when I got in I think there was about 50 people there at the maximum and the show had already been open for an hour. Most of those 50 people were booth staffers and they were just going back an forth talking to each other. What made matters worse was the show looked like it was done in a garage. There was no carpeting in the iles and the were only 27 booths scattered over 4 rows. I have seen Church Bazaars bigger than this thing! I felt so bad for the Intelecard show staffers and the booth staffers, they looked bored out of their minds! I went and talked to a few of them just to help them pass the time (I posted a picture here to the left of the outside of the NJ convention center where this show was held).

CTA and Simple2Call had the biggest booths (20 x 30) and Raza had a fairly big booth (10 x 20) right at the entrance. Other booths there at the show included ones from Cell Gate USA, Direct Wholesale, Emida, Futura Card Services, NACT, Nexus Wireless, N-Soft, Pulsar Communications Inc., SK3, STX Communications LLC, Telispire, Via One Technologies Inc, WCGS and a few others. If you ask me these companies should ask for some money back! No real big providers were exhibiting there but Ibasis had there very own meeting room and seemed to be making the most of the show and I also saw a few IDT and Locus guys roaming around. I hope it was a little more well attended on the first day of the show than it was on the second (The picture to the right here is as you walk into the hall and the Raza booth is straight ahead).

It saddens me to see Intelecard this way and I hate to say this is probably one of their last shows judging based on this poor performance. It's not all there fault, the industry has shrunk big time and to top it off they now have competition from the Prepaid Press. I think the lesson learned here is there is only room in today's market for one show a year and I think that honor is going to now be owned by the Prepaid Press Expo in Vegas.

Well that's it for my review of the show and farewell from beautiful Edison NJ!