The announcement today that Apple is pulling out of MacWorld as a marketing vehicle should send a chill up the spine of many marketers and companies looking at trade shows to support media. I mentioned earlier this year that trade shows are no longer as strong as they once were, at least those that rely on major corporations for support.

The trade show/tech conference remains valuable for small companies that aren't putting much effort into their marketing, but they also don't contribute much to the bottom line of the events themselves.

If you plan to succeed in the marketplace, you really need to start looking at doing some real marketing.