Mark Simmons of Matthew Simmons Marketing has announced a new game trade show, Games Expo, for March 2007 in Las Vegas.  The dates and venue are similar to those of the GAMA Trade Show, which has been held in Las Vegas during March for years.  Although GAMA, the game manufacturers' trade association, has not announced its dates or location for 2007, it is expected to continue to hold its event in Las Vegas in March, which will put the two shows on a collision course, competing for the same exhibitors and attendees. 

Simmons is the former executive director of GAMA who ran the GAMA Trade Show from its relaunch in 1997 through 2003, building it to the premier event for independent pop culture retailers in the country.  Simmons resigned in September of 2003, after a period of vigorous internal strife at the organization (see 'Mark Simmons Resigns').  The GAMA Trade Show has continued to grow in the two years since Simmons' departure, setting a new record for over-all attendees and retailer organizations attending in 2005 (see 'GAMA Trade Show Attendance Up 10%').

In one of his e-mails with us as we discussed the show, Simmons tried to downplay the role of any past problems with the GAMA organization as a motivating factor in announcing this show.  'Past strife does not matter at all now -- sure it lingers, but is absolutely not salient,' he said.  He said that the primary reason for announcing the new show was that 'it made sound business sense for MSM.' 

Asked why he chose to compete so directly with the GAMA show, Simmons told us that there were no suitable dates in the Las Vegas venue he chose other than in March, and that the March dates in Las Vegas met the needs of potential exhibitors, retailer attendees, and National Games Week participants who might want to attend (National Games Week is a promotional event created by Matthew Simmons Marketing, see 'National Games Week Set for November 21-27').  For the full text of his response, see 'Mark Simmons of Matthew Simmons Marketing on Game Expo 2007.'

We also asked GAMA executive director Anthony Gallela for the response of the trade association to the announcement.  He expressed confidence in the continued success of the GAMA Trade Show, said that he expected it to be held in Las Vegas in March of 2007, as it has been since 1997, stressed that the reason for GTS's continued success was that it was responsive to the concerns of its constituents, and tweaked Simmons a bit by noting that 'we aren't grabbing a gauntlet and throwing it anywhere.'  For the full text of his response, see 'Anthony Gallela of GAMA Responds to Game Expo Announcement.'

Although the three trade show days of the Simmons show will be organized much as GTS's are, with relatively short exhibit hours, seminars for retailers, and meal events sponsored by exhibitors, it will also include another two and a half days open to a broader list of participants, including educator and consumer participants in National Games Week.  Simmons is proposing Game Arenas in the exhibit hall, where gaming events can take place, and island booths with spaces shared by a number of smaller exhibitors.

Gallela's response indicated that a number of the new strategies espoused by Simmons, in particular expanding the breadth of exhibitors and attendees, were already in the works for the GAMA show.