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Vegas. (Call it whatever you like, the May ICSC convention will probably always just be ‘Vegas’ to most of us.) It epitomizes what trade shows are all about – the chance to put faces to names, forge connections, and actually communicate without the intervention of Blackberries, IMs, emails, or telephones.

This May – after a seven-year hiatus – I’ll emerge from the electronic cocoon of PlainVanillaShell and once again experience the show first-hand. I hope to have a chance to meet many of you in person at last!

You’ll find the Trade Dimensions International booth – the entity responsible for PlainVanillaShell as well as the Retail Tenant Directory – in the Trade Expo. (That’s in the South Hall, the lower level of the LVCC. The Exhibitors List puts it at 3054 but the booth stretches to the corner, at 3058.)

In addition to touching base (or debating, if you like, any of the positions I’ve taken in the hundreds of PlainTalk columns over the years!) you really should check out the newly-redesigned Retail Tenant Directory system. It’s so intuitive you could easily put it through its paces on your own, but we’d be happy to take you on a test drive so you can see everything it has to offer.

Since the information in the new directory (print and electronic) is hot off the press, it’s an invaluable resource to have for the show itself. Particularly in these competitive times there’s a psychological and deal-making edge to knowing (or at least appearing to know for that moment!) as much as humanly possible.

Since the Trade Expo opens on Sunday, many pick up the new Retail Tenant Directory system to load into their laptops (or, if they’re traditionalists, load the print directory into their briefcases!) before the Leasing Mall even begins the following day.

But we’re there for the whole show, of course – you really should stop by. Not only are the resources we produce certainly worth taking a look at (after all, if they make you one deal, they pay for themselves) but we also have a great show giveaway this year – a flash drive – that’s sure to come in handy.

What will Vegas (oh, all right, RECon) be like this year? It’s hard to say. A lot of things have changed: in the world, in our economy, in the show itself. The instinct might be for some to duck and cover, to hunker down until the dust settles. But, for all but the vastly wealthy with the wherewithal to ride out the storm without making another penny, yielding the field to more-aggressive competitors is simply not an option (and wouldn’t be wise even then.)

Deals are still happening. They just take a bit more work and a lot more knowing the industry inside and out.

And that’s where we can help.

See you at the show!