Exploring the Knowledge Strategies of Temporary Cluster Organizers: A Longitudinal Study of the EU Fabric Industry Trade Shows (1986–2006)

Abstract

Trade shows and other temporary clusters have recently emerged as key sites of theoretical relevance for scholars who are interested in the spatial consequences of interactive learning. Recent research has viewed these events as relational spaces in which countless actors interact and learn spontaneously without a central actor governing the process. In the case of permanent clusters, however, studies have started to unpack the practices through which key actors, such as entrepreneurial and professional associations, stimulate learning and interaction. In this article, we hold that these central subjects also have an important role in activating the benefits of colocalization with regard to temporary clusters. In an empirical study of the European Union clothing fabric trade shows between 1986 and 2006, we identified four types of practices through which trade show organizers shape learning and interaction at their events. Contrary to current views, our study found that exchanges of knowledge at these events do not always occur at the global level. Instead, the geographic scale of the processes of exchanging and acquiring knowledge in temporary clusters is socially and politically constructed at several levels—from the merely local to the truly global. We also found that organizers of trade shows facilitate vertical relationships between exhibitors and typical visitors (i.e., buyers), whereas other knowledge flows are neglected or even hindered. We conclude this article by highlighting the theoretical implications of our study for the literature on the spatial consequences of interaction and innovation.

Key Words:

• trade shows
• temporary clusters
• interactive learning
• organized proximity
• textile industry

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the editor and three anonymous Economic Geography reviewers for their constructive criticism; Harald Bathelt for his insightful comments on previous versions of the manuscript; and Bocconi University’s Center for Research on Marketing and Services for its generous financial and organizational support. We are also indebted to our informants for their time and patience in answering our questions about clothing textiles, trade shows, and their organizations’ history and to trade show organizers for granting us access to their events.

Notes

1 This study refers expressly to business-to-business trade fairs (i.e., those that target industrial buyers). Our findings and the resulting implications do not hold in the case of trade fairs dedicated to consumers, given the visitors’ limited geographic mobility and their prevailing interest in entertainment experiences.

2 According to UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, international trade shows are those that attract at least 4 percent of their total visitors or 20 percent of their total exhibitors from abroad.

3 To visualize export trade shows at the regional (European) level, one can build similar figures by differentiating the share of nonregional (non-European) visitors and exhibitors.

4 For example, in their 1990 spring-summer editions, the average stand size at Ideacomo and Ideabiella was, respectively, 120 and 85 square meters. In contrast, the average stand size at the larger events was significantly smaller (e.g., 43 square meters at Moda In and 44 square meters at Première Vision).

5 Consider, for example, Ideabiella, which is among the smaller trade shows in our sample. Since the show lasts 4 days, a visitor in 2006 could spend a maximum of 38 minutes per exhibitor (i.e., 4 days, 8 hours per day, 50 exhibitors). At Première Vision, with its 700 exhibitors, the same visitor can spend fewer than 3 minutes per exhibitor (i.e., 4 days, 8 hours per day, 700 exhibitors).