Oct
31
Google Fights: Interbike v. Eurobike
Filed Under Industry News, Interbike | 1 Comment
At the very end of Bike Biz UK’s news item about the proposed new US trade show in Portland next year, way down at the very bottom, there’s this one line:
“In terms of website links, GoogleFight shows that Interbike can knock the stuffing out of Eurobike.”
So we’ve got that going for us.
You have to love Carlton Reid’s sense of humor.
Speaking of Google links, since checking the Google Fight this morning and again just now toward the end of my work day, the number of links to Interbike has gone up close to 100,000. It was in the low 900,000’s this morning and is now at 1,090,000.
I think that speaks volumes about the vibrancy of our community that’s out there online. This issue has obviously piqued the interest of the bike industry and the online cycling community served by the bloggers has really stepped up to cover and discuss it.
Oct
30
Well how’s this for a kick in the butt to get me back on track with the posts? With all the work that’s involved post show (and all the great coverage the rest of the blog/media world provided), I had to let the blogging slide a little. Well, alot. Before moving on to the [big] topic at hand, I would like to say that we here were all very impressed with the great coverage of the show by the blogging community and I really enjoyed meeting many of you at the blogger round-up at Interbike. We’re proud to be a part of that community.
So, if you haven’t heard yet, Eurobike, the largest of the European bike trade shows, has announced plans to launch a US trade show next September in Portland, OR to compete with Interbike. Here are some links to the news:
Bicycle Retailer & Industry News
I love Mondays, don’t you?
So, here are some initial reactions I’ve had. I haven’t had the opportunity to attend Eurobike, so I can’t speak from firsthand experience, but I have always heard great things about EB from other IB staffers that have been to Friedrichshafen.
In Interbike’s role as the sole US bicycle industry trade show we see it as one of our main goals to help grow the industry. We are members of the industry that we have served for over 25 years and look forward each year to bringing the entire industry together for a week to celebrate the business of cycling. Through our partnerships with retailers (NBDA) and strong and pioneering support of advocacy groups and efforts, we’ve always had as one of our main goals at Interbike to help grow the pie for the industry and help promote cycling participation and cycling-friendly legislation in the US. We understand that the Interbike show might not be perfect, but we’ve always tried to listen to retailers, manufacturers and advocacy groups to improve the show and to help the industry grow.
With that said, if Eurobike believes that they can help our industry continue to grow cycling as a more visible and important activity in our marketplace by launching a competing show at about the same time as Interbike, then we welcome them to the family. If nothing else, the competition will help us to be even better at what we do. However, the dividing effect it could have on our industry is a concern. We believe that having an annual gathering of the industry community where we can all get together is important.
We’re just as interested as you are to see what information surfaces on this news item in the near future.