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Today on Manhattan\u2019s West side, thousands<\/strong> of people are funneling into the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center for a trade-focused gathering. Not an unusual occurrence at Javits, but the expo taking place today and tomorrow is<\/em> unusual in a number of ways. Bild Expo is put on by iconic Manhattan-based electronics retailer B&H<\/strong>, but despite the fact that the show is being run by a merchant, the goal of the event is not to sell products \u2014 or in fact to make money at all.<\/p>\n Bild Expo launched in 2023 to celebrate B&H\u2019s 50th<\/sup><\/strong> anniversary. At the time, the company wasn\u2019t even sure if it would do another one, but that first show was such a success that B&H has brought it back two<\/strong> years later for two<\/strong> days \u2014 June 17 and 18, 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were coming up on our 50th anniversary and we wanted to mark it, both with the industry and with our customers,\u201d said Jeff Gerstel, Chief Marketing Officer at B&H Photo in an interview with Retail TouchPoints<\/em>. \u201cThe whole idea was to bring the B&H brand to life for a two-day celebration of what we do. Rule number one was it had to be free<\/strong> [for attendees]. We weren\u2019t there to sell anything; we weren\u2019t there to make money. We wanted to create an event for the benefit of the attendees, with one simple goal \u2014 that they leave having learned something, been inspired by something or someone and gotten access to the brands they love and the creators they follow in a very humble, low-key and intimate setting.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n Most trade shows are profit-making endeavors, so to understand the community-over-money mentality of Bild Expo, you have to understand a little bit about B&H.<\/p>\n The name, Bild, is a subtle nod to the heritage of B&H and its founders in the Orthodox Jewish community: \u201cbild\u201d means \u201cimage\u201d in Yiddish. Since its founding in 1973 as a small camera shop, B&H has placed a premium on open-handed expertise<\/strong>. And that approach hasn\u2019t changed over the past 50<\/strong> years, even as technology has become more complex and interwoven in day-to-day life.<\/p>\n \u201cB&H has an extremely high-touch, old school approach to taking care of customers,\u201d explained Gerstel. \u201cA lot of what we sell is expensive, complicated gear, and [our focus is on] helping people make the right decisions for them. In some ways it\u2019s a throwback to something that I don\u2019t know even exists anymore. It\u2019s a very much a long-term view \u2014 we\u2019re interested in customers for their lifetime, not to make a sale today.<\/strong> Nobody\u2019s on commission. If people leave without buying something, that\u2019s fine, no one has sales targets. It\u2019s all about, how do we take care of the customer? It\u2019s very easy to say, but very hard to do.\u201d<\/p>\n This attitude is the reason generations of professionals and hobbyists have returned again and again to B&H\u2019s Manhattan superstore despite ample opportunity to buy their electronics elsewhere. And given this, it\u2019s perhaps not so surprising after all that the company would choose to host an expensive, multi-day event dedicated to the art supported by the tools it sells, <\/strong>an event for which the only financial goal is to hopefully cover costs.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIf we can more or less cover our costs, that\u2019d be nice, but again, the approach for all these years has been, if we do the right thing, people will come back,\u201d said Gerstel. \u201cMaybe [the show ends up] costing money to produce, but over the long term it\u2019ll create benefits for the brand and for the exhibitors who participated.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n Exhibitors at the event \u2014 which this year includes more than 250<\/strong> brands such as Canon<\/strong>, Sony<\/strong>, Nikon<\/strong>, DJI<\/strong>, Kodak<\/strong> and Fujifilm<\/strong> \u2014 pay to participate, but they clearly also see the value. Not only has the number of exhibitors increased from the 2023 show, but many returning exhibitors also have increased the size of their presence this year.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a chance for the industry to show what we can do,\u201d said Gerstel. \u201cWe\u2019re all actively competing \u2014 people have limited budgets, and we\u2019re not selling anything, for the most part, that people need to survive. But we feel that if the industry bands together and puts its best foot forward to this audience, it really creates magical outcomes. So part of the goal [of Bild] is to kind of reframe the job and the objective [to show] that the competition isn\u2019t the people at the next table. The purpose here is to unlock the creativity of the audience and by doing so, we lift all ships and the industry prospers.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n That industry has seen a big boost in the past decade thanks to the rise of online content creators, and Bild Expo, while still nurturing B&H\u2019s core photography clientele, is also dedicated to this primarily younger consumer set. <\/p>\n About one-third<\/strong> of the more than 100<\/strong> conference sessions at this year\u2019s show are dedicated to content creation, with presenters from major platforms such as YouTube<\/strong> and Snapchat<\/strong> as well as a full roster of successful creators sharing insights. These sessions are set alongside a range of workshops and immersive experiences on everything from AI editing to photo lighting, production quality and more.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the big surprises in 2023 was how young the audience was,\u201d said Gerstel. \u201cContent creation has brought a whole new tsunami of customers into the industry.<\/strong> So this year I would say 40% to 50%<\/strong> of attendees at the show will be under 40<\/strong> years old. [The industry] has been really successful at broadening the tent and welcoming people in who have a big desire to learn more and get better. For Bild, how to balance the traditional still photography world with this emerging, very different animal and have the two coexist has been a big part of the fun.\u201d<\/p>\n B&H executives also will appear on stage, but the primary way the company shows up at the event is with more than 300<\/strong> employees on the show floor helping to run different experience areas. \u201cMostly, it\u2019s a chance for us to interact with the many attendees on a one-on-one basis and help them grow their talent,\u201d explained Gerstel.<\/p>\n Attendees at the event also will have ample opportunity to test out new gear \u2014 and buy it if they want. In fact, one of the big draws for attendees is specials on the gear being showcased<\/strong>, although whether or not they buy it at the show, online or decide to walk a few blocks to buy it at the B&H store, is inconsequential to the B&H team.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more important to Gerstel and his team is recreating the sense of community that attendees experienced at the 2023 event.<\/strong> \u201cI remember one comment from an attendee [in 2023] who said, \u2018It was like an ocean of photographers, and I was one of them,\u2019\u201d shared Gerstel. \u201cIt\u2019s just this group of people getting together and enjoying each other\u2019s company.\u201d<\/p>\n Gerstel doesn\u2019t want to commit to a regular cadence for the event, partly because he and his team don\u2019t want it to \u201cbecome a routine thing\u201d like other trade shows, and also because putting on a trade show is a lot of work, especially for a company where that\u2019s not the core business. \u201cAs magical as the event was [in 2023], it really stretched us; everyone here has a day job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe create this atmosphere where a large industry feels very small for a couple of days,\u201d Gerstel added. \u201cIt\u2019s about the love of the craft; that\u2019s what gets celebrated. I remember speaking to one of our founders, and he said, \u2018Look, our business approach is very simple. If we do the right thing, people will come back. It\u2019s literally as simple as that.\u2019 There\u2019s a belief that the commercial side will take care of itself if we do a great job on the customer side, and that\u2019s the story of this event and this company.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nB&H\u2019s Signature Focus on Customer Experience, Translated into an Expo<\/strong><\/h2>\n
A Chance to Help Customers \u2018Unlock Their Creativity\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Nurturing a New Kind of B&H Customer: The Content Creator<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\u2018Making a Large Industry Feel Small for a Couple of Days\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n