The IT industry's "all-in-one" trade show and conference, Networld+Interop and Comdex, will run alongside its competitor IT2001 next year in a joint mega-event.
The new event, to be held in March, will comprise the N+I conference, and the Comdex and IT2001 exhibitions, Alex Feher, managing director of Key3 Media (formerly Ziff Davis Events) said.
Previously, Australian Exhibition Services' IT exhibition competed with Comdex, Feher said.
Under the new format, Comdex will be run as an exhibition, without a conference arm following an unsuccessful conference last year.
The Comdex conference was re-launched last November with the N+I and Comdex exhibitions, but failed to attract attendees.
As reported by IDG Communications last year, the three-day Comdex conference event only attracted around 200 people to all its sessions. The lack of interest raised concerns with organisers, presenters and exhibitors.
At the time, organiser Ziff Davis Events suggested that the plan of consolidating the N+I conference and Comdex conference into one event would be considered.
More details on the new joint event will be released later today.
Meanwhile, Key3Media expects to be spun off from its parent company, Ziff Davis, in mid-July. According to Feher, Key3Media will become a separate public company and may list on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq.