The Entertainment Software Association, the group behind the E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) have announced that E3 will be a much smaller affair in 2007. The new version is expected to be called E3 Interactive Media Festival and should be an invite-only event with less than 7,000 attendees (compared to 60,000 for this year’s E3).
E3 is not the first trade show to either scale back or stop entirely. Internet World, Comdex and Networld+Interop have also been affected. Smaller shows that offer better opportunities for mover and shakers to meet and still cost less seem to be the new trend.
One big conference that so far has bucked this new trend is the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. There are no current plans to scale back this massive event.