So what would have been wrong with June or July?
That would have allowed exhibitors to attend both shows, yours up north and ours down south. This kind of scheduling lets them cover both regions, and attendees can visit whichever is more convenient for them. Some would probably go to both shows.
As it stands, we have three or four regional shows a year. There's RMAF, LSAF and AKfest, sometimes VSAC. These are in distinctly different regions. Many exhibitors have expressed an interest in attending all of the shows because it gives them the best coverage. When you schedule a show that overlaps with another, that prohibits the smaller niche companies from attending one of them. Since they usually have few employees, often one-man shops, they can't be at both shows.
Since you've chosen the first weekend in May, I am not planning to do LSAF in 2009. I don't want to have two regional shows competing for the same group of exhibitors on the same weekend. It's difficult to get a block of rooms at a suitable hotel, nearly impossible when you try to reschedule near the event date. So your decision to take the same weekend we've used for years is more than an inconvenience.
The audio enthusiasts in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri and Arkansas are disadvantaged by this, and it is a sad thing to see. Dallas is an easy drive for them, making the LSAF a nice little mini vacation for many. Not having LSAF in 2009 leaves a void. It is a direct result of your scheduling your AKfest for the same date as LSAF, now a second year in a row. I sort of felt we were cooperating groups, kindred spirits with the same goals. Especially with that in mind, this is really a big disappointment to me.