Many Mac users wonder , now that . Analysts and pundits are quick to point out that Adobe and some other vendors have dropped off the Exhibit Hall list in recent years, and that's sent up the red flags that something is wrong, horribly wrong, with Macworld Expo. I posit that it means no such thing--it's just an evolution that, with any luck and no small amount of good planning, Macworld Expo's planners should be able to ride through.

The exhibit hall at Macworld Expo has always been the gauge-- especially to outsiders--as to whether the show was successful or not. It's a very superficial gauge, but it's one that enables people to readily compare the event against past shows. I can't count the number of "I went to Expo for the day and I was bored" posts from people online over the years, intermingled with "What is this, iPod/iPhone World?" and "Where are all the deals?"

But Macworld Expo has been, for years, much more about the conferences and other events that happen away from the Exhibit Hall rather than just the exhibits and vendors themselves--though that's all that a person who gets an exhibits pass is likely to see.

That's clearly the direction NAPP has pushed Photoshop World in, and the event appears to thriving as a result.