PCA 2024: Day 2 Recap

The combination of great food at dinners and a significant lack of sleep always hits hardest for me on the morning of day three, and this year is no different in that regard. After running around frantically for two days straight, trying to cover as many booths as possible as quickly as possible, exhaustion is likely to be quick to kick in at just about any moment. We will see if I fall asleep while waiting in line to use the restroom this afternoon.

1. The Curious Case of the Disappearing Attendees – You would have to be blind not to notice a pattern in attendance that has taken place on the first two days: the booths are absolutely packed to the gills and overflowing with people during the first four hours or so—the Drew Estate booth, pictured above, is a very obvious example of this—but those numbers decrease quickly starting around noon. In fact, there is such a noticeable difference in the number of people roaming the walkways that there were a couple of times yesterday when I would not pass anyone at all while walking to my next booth to cover. While a decrease in the number of people as each day drags on is normal, several people commented that this year seems extreme in that regard, and I have a feeling it will only get worse on the last day.
2. Condensed Show Layout — As soon as I walked into the room where the convention is being held, it was obvious how densely packed everything is: the booths feel closer to each other, the walkways seem narrower, and there is little wasted space anywhere. In fact, while I covered a total of 18 booths on Saturday and 19 booths on Sunday, I only logged 9,361 steps and 9,137 steps, respectively, on those days, somewhat shocking totals compared to previous years covering the trade show when I have routinely logged between 14,000 and 15,000 steps during the same days while covering about two-thirds the number of booths.
3. There Are Fewer New Releases — It turns out the prediction that Charlie and I agreed on during last week’s PCA Preview show has been proven correct: there is a very obvious dearth of new releases being shown off at the show this year compared to previous years. The manufacturers I asked about this had various explanations, starting with the fact that the last PCA Convention & Trade Show ended just eight months ago. A few companies told me they purposely held back releases in an attempt to not rush new products onto the market before they were ready, while an accessory company mentioned that they brought significantly fewer new items in an effort to not overwhelm buyers, some of whom had attended the TPE show in the same convention center less than two months ago. Interestingly, this was not the case with at least one company that has historically featured very few new items during past shows, specifically Arturo Fuente, which is showing off an absolute plethora of new products that include not only a new blend but also some new packaging and that Legends thing.