May well be more lightly attended than this year, if a very spotty survey of exhibitors is any indication. Vendors, who accounted for at least half of all attendees, were uniformly unhappy about exhibit floor traffic in New Orleans this year.
It can’t be the venue – New Orleans did a great job hosting the event. It may be the industry, which is going through one of its periodic soft stages. And when rates are soft, there is little money for marketing, travel, and entertainment.
More likely it is the perceived lack of crises on the horizon. WIth P&C insurance rates low, and capacity (the number of insurance carriers willing to write business) high, and no particular line in trouble (WC, auto, liability, med mal, even property are all doing fine), there was no compelling reason for many risk managers to attend.
And without risk managers, vendors don’t have much to do.
