Ziff Davis Media Cancels Tech Event

Jason Fell - www.foliomag.com

09/11/2008

Ziff Davis Media has cancelled this year’s DigitalLife Expo, an annual technology trade show it produces in partnership with PC Magazine. The event had been scheduled for September 25 to 28 in New York.

Paul O’Reilly, vice president of Ziff’s event marketing group, attributed the decision to poor economic conditions. “We couldn’t get the event to the size and scale of previous years,” O’Reilly told FOLIO:. “We just weren’t confident that we could do the brand justice.”

Ziff pulled the plug on the event after speaking with its major sponsors. “We were upfront and open about that, especially with sponsors and exhibitors,” O’Reilly said. “After several discussions, everyone felt that they wanted to pass on a smaller event this year and focus on building the show up again next year.”

Ziff’s DigitalLife Expo launched in 2004 and attracted 24,000 attendees. In 2006, according to O’Reilly, the event had grown to 50,000 attendees.

Ziff Davis Media, which also publishes Electronic Gaming magazine and ExtremeTech.com, filed for bankruptcy protection in March as part of a debt restructuring plan. In June, the publisher announced that a New York court confirmed its reorganization plan, and that it expected to emerge from bankruptcy protection this summer.

O’Reilly says Ziff is hoping to work with its sponsors to produce the DigitalLife Expo next fall. “Nothing is certain, yet, but we hope to bring it back in 2009. Also, we’re looking at the same timeframe, which is great for launching new products and games.”