Internet Retailer has long been considered one of the most influential and important sources of information for everyone in the retail industry, from the online shops that make up the bulk of its readership, to brick and mortar stores that get an edge on their competition by gleaning information from the revered site. In recent news, the IR (Internet Retailer) organizers have proven all the naysayers wrong, by hosting a show in San Diego that left attendees renewed, recharged, and filled with hope for a great holiday season in 2011.

According to the latest IRCE 2011 report, the IRCE sets attendance records at a time when the economy’s sluggish performance has been less than inspiring. This is especially true for an industry that has seen retailing take a hard ride through the first two quarters of the year, and it comes as real relief to those who were worried about the year ending on a happier note.

As for stats on the show, there were more than 7,300 who participated in IRCE 2011 last week in San Diego, which is up 14% from last year, making it quite easily the largest e-commerce event of its kind, in the history of the industry. With the number of exhibitors increasing 20% to 502 companies, it was a show that left a lot of people feeling there’s probably a lot more to come, as long as everyone pulls together to keep the momentum going.

In spite of an economy that has been fairly lackluster in overall performance, the largest online retailing trade show recently broke its own industry attendance record this year, as the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition 2011, which was held last week in San Diego, attracted 7,318 participants. This figure came as a surprise to some, since it was 14% more than the 6,432 who attended last year’s IRCE in Chicago 2010 show, which had been the largest event in e-commerce… until now.

“To achieve conference attendance growth of 14% is excellent even in a strong economy, but to experience that type of growth in an economy as weak as ours is truly remarkable,” says Jack Love, CEO of Vertical Web Media, which organizes IRCE, publishes Internet Retailer magazine and operates InternetRetailer.com. “It underscores the fact that IRCE, the largest of all e-commerce events by far, has unmatched conference content and that online retailing is the one bright spot in the overall retail market.”

All of this comes at at time when retailers in particular are looking for some good news, amidst the bleak forecasts that many industry experts have been touting over the last six months. On the other hand, it simply vindicates those who knew all along that the worst has already passed; and now the time is ripe for preparations to be made, as the year reaches the halfway mark, and retailers around the globe get ready for the next phase of business, as we approach the holiday season in 2011.