Planning around convention dates

Since this question comes up very often, here are a couple links to help plan around (to either attend or avoid) conventions in Las Vegas:

Las Vegas Convention & Visitor's associaton: https://www.vegasmeansbusiness.com/planning-tools/convention-calendar/

Las Vegas Advisor convention information: http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/vacationplanner-keydates.cfm

 

2010 Mega Conferences

2010 Mega Conferences

Mega conferences are those with 50,000 or more attendees. I noticed a trend of overlapping very large conferences, so I've also listed those, since the total of conference goers in LV at the same time is over 50k, even though each individual event is smaller than that. I've lumped those together on this list.

January:
Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 1/7-1/10 100k attendees
Adult Entertainment Expo 1/7-1/10 30k attendees

International Builders show 1/19-1/22 55k
Shooting, Hunting & Outdoor Trade 1/19-1/22 45k

February:
Winter Las Vegas Market 2/1-2/5 55k
Surfaces 2010 2/2-2/4 25k
World of Concrete 2/2-2/5 65k

MAGIC International 2/16-2/19 70k

April:
National Association of Broadcasters 4/12-4/15 83k

2010 International Esthetics, Cosmetics & Spa 4/24-4/26 325
Interop Las Vegas 4/25-4/29 18k

June:
Licensing International 6/8-6/10 20k
International Communication Industries/Infocomm 6/9-6/11 32k

September:
Las Vegas Fall Market 9/13-9/17 55k
True Value 9/13/9/15 14k
Glassbuild America 9/14-9/16 10k

November:
Automotive Aftermarket Industry 11/2-11/5 110k

G2E: Global Gaming Expo 11/16-11/18 29k
Dema Annual Convention 11/17-11/20 15k
International Pool & Spa Expo 11/17-11/19 12k
Traders Expo 11/17-11/20 5k

 

2011 Mega Conferences

2011 Mega Conferences

Mega conferences are those with 50,000 or more attendees. I noticed a trend of overlapping very large conferences, so I've also listed those, since the total of conference goers in LV at the same time is over 50k, even though each individual event is smaller than that. I've lumped those together on this list.

January:

Consumer Electronics Show: 1/6-1/9/11 120k attendees
Adult Entertainment Expo: 1/6-1/9/11 30k

Shooting/Hunting/Outdoor Trade Show: 1/18-1/21 55k attendees
World of Concrete: 1/18-1/21 65k

World Market Center: 1/24-1/28 50k attendees
Surfaces: 1/25-1/27 25k

ASD: 2/27-3/2 45k attendees
The Rental Show: 2/27-3/2 7.5k
Creative Painting: 2/27-3/4 1.5k
Amusement Expo: 3/1-3/3 2.6k
International Pizza Expo: 3/1-3/3 10k
CaterSource: 3/1-3/2 7k

Hospitality Week's listing on the Convention website is confusing. The main event lists 31,000 attendees, then there are several peripheral shows concurrently with "N/A" as the attendance. I do not know if figures for the other shows are "not available" or "not applicable" as the attendees are all figured into the 31,000 already listed. Just in case, I am listing all the shows.

Hosptality Week: 3/8-3/10: 31k attendees
International Restaurant Show: N/A
Hotel Expo: N/A
Nightclub and Bar Convention: N/A
Wireless Communications: 3/9-3/11: 6.1k

Conexpo-Con/Agg: 3/22-3/26 140k Attendees

Interop: 5/8-5/12 18k Attendees
BuyHere/PayHere Dealers: 5/9-5/14 2.2k
The MoneyShow: 5/9-5/12 8k
National Hardware Show: 5/10-5/12 31k

Vision Expo: 9/8-9/10 14k Attendees
Hand Surgeons: 9/8-9/10 2.8k
Photo Marketing: 9/8-9/10 27k

American Dental Association: 10/10-10/13 45k Attendees
Business Aviation: 10/10-10/12 35k
IMEX: 10/11-10/13 8k

Automotive Aftermarket: 11/1-11/4 106K Attendees

 

Just a FYI, I notice that neither site lists the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention April 9-14. That usually brings in 80,000-100,000 attendees. Kind of odd not to be listed, it is one of the mega conventions.
http://www.nabshow.com/2011/index.asp

 

I like this site the best:

http://www.lasvegastourism.com/lasvegas_conventions.htm

 

I grab data from the calendar at vegasmeansbusiness.com and reformat it for Excel, create some filters, then set it up as sort of a Gantt chart and map it out visually. The quieter times tend to stand out that way and can be a basis for further investigation. I also try to track special events that might not show up on a convention calendar, like Rock in Rio and such. Those can be tricky though because it's easy to miss them.