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Seattle International Bicycle Expo: Time for a Change

By Jay Stilwell

If you had an opportunity to experience this year’s event then you will understand why we are compelled to express our concern regarding the state of the Seattle International Bicycle Expo. Bicycle Paper is one of the two founders of this event and one of five exhibitors that has been at every Expo since its inception 21 years ago.

Let’s put things into perspective for those who haven’t been around that long. The Greater Seattle Bike Expo was first presented in 1989 at the Mountaineers Building. The following year it moved to the Seattle Center Northwest Rooms, then it outgrew the combined Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, Mercer Room and Mercer Arena and eventually relocated into the Stadium Exhibition Center in 2001 as the Seattle International Bicycle Expo. As a cost cutting measure, it was moved to Hanger 27 in 2005. With the pending demolition of Hanger 27, the event was presented at the Cruise Terminal in 2008 before returning to Magnuson Park, this time in Hangar 30 with adjacent tents.

Photo by Bicycle Paper

With the exception of the first four, I have attended seventeen Expos and enjoyed seeing our readers and their excitement with our new publications. Often, readers stop by our booth to pick up the guides and tell us Bicycle Paper is one of the reasons why they come to the show. This motivates us to keep coming back and to continually improve our publications.

Unfortunately, this year’s show was one that may be remembered for the wrong reasons: images of circus tents, damp blue shag carpet that squished with water as you walked on it, tents threatening to fly away, cold wind rushing through open doors, freezing attendees and exhibitors alike.

Some exhibitors left early this year, others wished they could have, but with the investments of booth, staffing and presentation costs, most stayed until the end. One of the main attractions that was promoted as a “must-see feature” in 2009 was the Oregon Bicycle Constructors Association exhibitors. They probably won’t be back due to the difficulty people had locating their tent and the flooding in their area. These are just a few of the circumstances that were far too common and are symptoms of how this event has gone from first-class to second rate.

As our Northwest bicycle community works hard for legitimacy in a car-centric society, we can’t afford not to do everything first-class — if we don’t, then cycling will be a sideshow in the current transportation revolution. Therefore, as a possible solution, we propose that a stakeholders committee be formed with everyone’s interest represented, and everyone’s expertise brought to bear. The purpose of this committee would be to come up with, among other things, a permanent home for the Expo that works for the whole community. This solution should include a venue that is weatherproofed and is located closer to hotels, restaurants, bus lines and other attractions that Seattle has to offer. It may or may not cost more to put on, but we’ve seen what results from pinching pennies. With a world-class Expo, the Northwest bicycle community would be sending the right message: we are to be taken seriously.

A discussion is already under way in Cascade Bicycle Club’s forums, and we greatly encourage anyone with similar concerns to make your voices heard. We look forward to the continued discussion at www.cascade.org/Community/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=7threadid=1294 or send us your comments at publisher@bicyclepaper.com.