CHICAGO (BRAIN) — The Chicagoland Area Bicycle Dealers' Association is moving its 2016 trade show to the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, Illinois, the site of several CABDA shows in the 1990s. The new space is twice the size of CABDA's 2015 venue, and is already 60 percent sold out, organizers said.
"Our goal was to bring a pre-season, trade-only convention back to the Midwest, and after the success of last year's event we knew we had to grow," said Jim Kersten, who owns Edgebrook Cycle in Chicago and serves as CABDA's president and show director. "Feedback from both dealers and exhibitors regarding our 2015 event was overwhelmingly positive."
The 2016 event is Feb. 3-4.
In addition to being much larger than CABDA's 2015 venue, which was St. Charles' DuPage Expo Center, Pheasant Run MegaCenter connects the show to a full-fledged resort with a hotel, restaurants, and nightlife/entertainment options. It also allows for multiple seminar spaces and breakout groups. It is a non-union facility which keeps costs down for exhibitors.
"We have big plans for 2016. We're scheduling more seminars and product demos, exhibitors are reserving larger booths, and this year we'll have an industry party that will be second to none," Kersten said.
The CABDA Expo is open to dealers and industry members only; the event is not open to the consumers.
"When we rebooted the organization, we wanted to be a dealer association first and a trade show second. So we will continue hosting an event that is dealer-oriented, and at a time of the year that is easy for shop owners to attend and bring their staffs," Kersten said.
CABDA is also expanding its target audience to include dealers from farther away. "Last year we had over 450 attendees from nearly 150 shops, this year we hope to double both numbers," Kersten said. Exhibitor registration information can be found at cabdaexpo.com or (847) 714-7007.
