In 2002, the US tradeshow industry experienced a decline for the second year in a row. According to Tradeshow Week, net square footage suffered the most, dropping 5.3% from 2001. The number of exhibiting companies at tradeshows fared better, decreasing only 1.8% from 2001. Attendance also decreased 2.2% from 2001, rebounding from a decline of 7.4% in the previous year (http://www.tradeshowweek.com/trends/index.asp). However, after two years of losses in the amount of net square-exhibit footage, the number of attendees and number of exhibitors is beginning to rebound. For the final quarter of 2002, professional attendance and the number of exhibiting companies at tradeshows increased (Dodds, 2003).