Less buzz but more biz at CommunicAsia

COMMUNICASIA, SINGAPORE--Business leads generated from this year's event were stronger than in 2011, according to exhibitors which ZDNet Asia spoke with. This is despite a clash in schedule with Shanghai's Mobile Asia Expo in the same week, and a smaller buzz with some big names missing from the showfloor this year, including Docomo, Nokia, and Skype.

The trade show's organizer Singapore Exhibition Services (SES) noted that there was always mixed feedback every year. It noted that this year there were 49,000 attendees--compared to 53,000 in 2011.

Jerry Rapes, CEO of software firm Exist Global, pointed out that there was less noise and less flashy marketing this time around. "But if you talk about the number of leads that we got this year, it's like double what we got last year. This was partly due to some of the initiatives to help us network."

Agreeing, Daniel Goodfellow, senior vice president of global marketing & communications at KIT Digital, said: "We did notice that some of those players were not here this year. I suspect that as the business of delivering video over the Internet for telcos and this kind of companies becomes more strategic, it's really the C-level executives that's making the important decisions. Many of them are here at the show."

"For some of these companies they're starting to do their business to business marketing behind closed doors. We try to do both, so we try to do that as well, as well as build our brand and raise awareness in the market place," added Goodfellow.

Others like Charles Zingler, principal consultant of Zingler & Associates, noted that the missing big names did mean it was a bit quieter but business was still getting done.

SES said that some changes can be expected next year, at least in terms of layout. Broadcast Asia will be held at Marina Bay Sands, together with the other shows CommunicAsia and EnterpriseIT. BroadcastAsia is currently at Suntec city--at a separate location five minutes away by taxi--which is set to undergo renovation soon.