Barcelona-Global Wireless Congress-2009-----No standing in lines for coffee, sandwiches or beer suggested that the  registered attendees were down.  I also made note of a number of booths that  were empty, although the empty booths had been listed in the exhibitors guide.The numbers that were published suggested that American companies made up about 15% of the exhibitors, (Asia - 17%) and the remainder from Europe and a small number from other parts of the world.

In spite of the show attendance being down from last year, I found a lot of excitement around some of the new technologies being exhibited for the first time.  I am quite bullish about our industry (wireless), and I am seeing that the down turn economics in North America and some parts of Europe has not impacted other markets like the Middle East, parts of Asia Pacific, China, India and Latin America. 

So, what is my recommendation from companies that are suffering in  the regions hit by the current economics ? -- Expand into other markets.  If you are still concerned about the cost of sales in new markets, look to  outsourced sales and marketing organizations where you can "share a sales organization" at a fraction of the cost for the direct sales approach.

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