Conference and exhibition organizers have a hard time getting their minds around nanotechnology. What they ultimately learn, albeit slowly, is that nanotechnology is a technology and one that enables other technologies and industries.
As such, nanotechnology solutions are sold to other industries, i.e. automotive, electronics, biotech, etc. so theres not much buying and selling strictly within nanotechnology going on that will support a Trade Show. As we have stated myriad times before: nanotechnology is not an industry.
So, as the organizers of the Small World Expo have come to realize, nanotechnology is not ready for a trade show. But the real cautionary tale here for other expo and conference organizers is that nanotechnology may never support a trade show.
The Semicons, the Photonics West, the Aquatechs of the world are really the trade shows that nanotechnology providers need to be at in order to sell their products. Nanotech companies are not going to buy carbon nanotubes from other nanotech companies, or at least not in anything other than research quantities.
Despite this, expo and conference organizers are tempted by the huge shows for nanotech they see being put on in Japan and Korea where 10,000 to 25,000 people show up (The European NanoBusiness Association will be leading the European delgation to NanoKorea 2004). But these shows in Asia are driven not by buying and selling but by governments eager to promote their regions as a nanotechnology hub. The United States and European nanotechnology initiatives just dont work that way and they dont seem to see it that way either, perhaps to their ultimate inconsequence.
We should say in the spirit of full disclosure, Cientifica was going to be involved in the Small World Expo by developing the nanotechnology conference part of the show. Cientifica was planning to co-locate its successful World Nano-Economic Congress (WNEC) event at the Small World Expo.
Despite the Small World Expos cancellation our spirits are not dampened, and we are well on our way to producing the WNEC in Singapore in partnership with Economic Development Board of Singapore. Here as in all our WNEC events thus far the discussion centers around nanotechnologys impact on other industries and the path to commercialization of those technologies.
While nanotech may not support a huge trade show, there is still enough buying and selling going on that well targeted groups can still get together to better support their businesses. This is what we will continue to provide in the conferences that we are associated with.