E3 is a trade event for the video game industry in the United States. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publishers, hardware, and accessory manufacturers use to introduce and advertise upcoming games and game-related merchandise to retailers and to members of the press. E3 includes an exhibition floor for developers, publishers, and manufacturers to showcase their titles and products for sale in the upcoming year. Before and during the event, publishers and hardware manufacturers usually hold press conferences to announce new games and products.
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells in smaller quantities to consumers for a profit. Retailers are the final link in the supply chain from producers to consumers.
CES is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typically hosts presentations of new products and technologies in the consumer electronics industry.
COMDEX was a computer expo trade show held in the Las Vegas Valley of Nevada, United States, each November from 1979 to 2003. It was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world, usually second only to the German CeBIT, and one of the largest trade shows in any industry sector. COMDEX exhibitions were held in many other countries from 1982 to 2005, with 185 shows altogether. The first COMDEX was held in 1979 at the MGM Grand, with 167 exhibitors and 3904 attendees. In 1981, the first COMDEX/Spring was held in New York City.
A trade show, also known as trade fair, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and customers, study activities of rivals, and examine recent market trends and opportunities.
The NAMM Show is an annual event in the United States that is organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), who describe it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology communities".
MegaCon, short for Mega Convention, is a large speculative fiction convention that caters to the comic book, sci-fi, anime, fantasy, RPG, and gaming communities, often occurring in spring at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The convention is the largest Fan convention event in the Southern United States and second largest in North America with an attendance of 160,000 recorded in 2023.
The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) is a non-profit trade association based in Columbus, Ohio, dedicated to the advancement of the non-electronic social games industry – Board/Tabletop Games, Miniatures Games, Card Games, Collectable/Tradeable Card Games, Role-Playing Games, and Live-Action Role Playing Games. Its members are game manufacturers, retailers, distributors, suppliers, conventions, clubs, and independent professionals related to the games industry.
The Anaheim Convention Center is a major convention center in Anaheim, California and is the largest exhibition facility on the West Coast of the United States. It is located across from the Disneyland Resort on Katella Avenue. The original components, designed by Adrian Wilson & Associates and built by Del E. Webb Corporation, opened in July 1967—including a basketball arena followed shortly by the convention hall. It holds many events, like Star Wars Celebration, VidCon, BlizzCon, Anime Expo, D23 Expo, WonderCon, NAMM Show, competitions, and more. In addition to hosting various types of conventions, the Anaheim Convention Center was used to host the wrestling during the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Global Gaming Expo (G2E) is a gambling industry trade show presented by the American Gaming Association (AGA) and organized by Reed Exhibitions. The flagship G2E convention debuted in 2001 and is held each fall in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. With an attendance of 200,000 in 2022, it is North America's most attended fan convention.
The Interbike International Bicycle Expo was the largest bicycle industry trade show in North America and was held annually in Nevada from 1982–2018. Exhibitors consisted of companies interested in selling their products and services to bicycle retailers, wholesale distributors, and manufacturers. Because of the many new cycling products and technologies that are launched each year to much fanfare at Interbike, the show was also an important media event for the bicycle industry.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) is the world's largest retail trade association. Its members include department stores, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, and independent retailers, chain restaurants, grocery stores, and multi-level marketing companies. Members also include businesses that provide goods and services to retailers, such as vendors and technology providers. NRF represents the largest private-sector industry in the United States that contains over 3.8 million retail establishments, supporting more than 52 million employees contributing $2.6 trillion annually to GDP.
The Energy Market Authority (EMA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore.
MWC Barcelona is an annual trade show organised by GSMA, dedicated primarily to the mobile communications industry.
CeBIT was the largest and most internationally representative computer expo. The trade fair was held each year on the Hanover fairground, the world's largest fairground, in Hanover, Germany. In its day, it was considered a barometer of current trends and a measure of the state of the art in information technology. It was organized by Deutsche Messe AG.
EB Games Expo, commonly known as EB Expo or EBX, was a video game trade fair and convention held annually from 2011 to 2018 in Australia. It was organised by EB Games Australia. It was used by many video game developers to show off their upcoming games and game-related hardware. Unlike E3, it allowed members of the general public to attend. The most recent show was held in 2018 as part of the Penny Arcade Expo.
UK Games Expo (UKGE) is tabletop-game convention and trade fair held annually at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) and the Hilton Birmingham Metropole.
EduTECH is an annual two-day education and ed-tech conference and trade show in Australia that brings together over 10,000 educators from pre-schools, schools, universities, vocational education, training organisations and corporate trainers, as well as Government education departments and a myriad of education products and solution providers, to discuss latest education trends and methods, and to find ways to improve teaching and learning. EduTECH is well-known to be the largest education event in the Southern Hemisphere and APAC region. The conference is held annually between June - August. In 2023, EduTECH will run at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 24 and 25 August 2023. Previous events ran at the International Convention Centre Sydney by Terrapinn Ltd.
The NRF Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the philanthropic arm of the National Retail Federation.
