Software Expo Wooed Back to L.A.

A huge entertainment software trade show that left its Los Angeles birthplace for Atlanta last year–much to the dismay of city officials–will return to the city for five years, officials said Tuesday.

The announcement of the event, which carries substantial prestige and potential revenue for the city, is expected to be made today by Mayor Richard Riordan and other officials. They declined immediate comment.

But sources close to the negotiations said the Electronic Entertainment Expo–known in the trade as E3–has agreed to return to the Convention Center in May 1999 and remain for five years.

“E3 was born in L.A., lost to Atlanta for a couple years and now … will return,” said one source.

The trade show, which made its debut here in 1995, is billed by its owner, the Interactive Digital Software Assn., as the world’s largest trade show dedicated to entertainment and educational software, a $15.5-billion industry. In 1996, E3 featured more than 400 companies exhibiting more than 1,700 new titles.

The association–which boasts as members the giants of multimedia and video game manufacturing, such as Nintendo, Sega Entertainment, Sony and DreamWorks SKG–contended that it needed more space for its exhibits when it announced its departure from the Convention Center.

But most of the software association’s member companies are on the West Coast, which motivated the organizers to bring the show back to Los Angeles, sources said.

The return of the trade show is a boost for the Convention Center, which has lost significant revenue because of declining tourism and widespread concerns about Los Angeles’ image.

“This is huge and this is exactly what we want to be doing–bringing business back to Los Angeles,” said another source, who declined to be identified.

The return means more to the city than to the industry. It could draw 40,000 so-called hotel “room nights,” each of which is taxed about 14% by the city.

The city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau recently scored another victory when the National Education Assn. agreed to hold its annual convention here.

Entertainment industry officials will benefit from the software show’s return to Los Angeles because more of their employees will be able to attend.

When the association held its trade show last spring in Atlanta, several exhibitors grumbled about the move. They said the hot spot of interactive entertainment is on the West Coast and that is where the show should remain. Some said they would have skipped the the Atlanta expo if they hadn’t had new products to display.

Atlanta officials said they could offer twice as much space as Los Angeles. But Riordan and other city officials, particularly from the Convention and Visitors Bureau, have worked hard to persuade organizers to return, sources said.

The show could mean more than $80 million for hotels alone, a source said. Attendees also contribute to the local economy by spending on meals and shopping.

The five-year pledge by the software association “means they are here for the long haul and that they will likely stay longer,” a source said.

City officials typically remain in contact with convention organizers who bail out of Los Angeles. The American Booksellers Convention is another that left the city, moving to Chicago, that the city is attempting to woo back.