ABSTRACT
Trade shows are found across in all industries in one form or another, and their dynamics and roles are documented in the emerging body of literature around field-configuring events. This chapter examines the role of Field Configuring Events (FCEs) played in a stigmatized sector and how the effects are mediated through other facets of the industry, including business models and geography: for example, the need for face-to-face meetings in a spatially dispersed sector. Trade shows presents a space where the normally cloistered white-collar members of the online industry can come up against the stigmatized reactions of the outside world. By attending shows, newcomers demonstrated themselves that they actually existed in person, garnering increased exposure and credibility to webmasters. The multiple and intersecting activities indicated the importance of the temporary liminal spaces for members of a stigmatized industry to work through and play out the tensions arising from their identity, whilst also re-enforcing the tight-knit nature of their community.
