This story was reflected to correctly identify Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., as the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and the Subcommittee on Defense.

The “Zoom Zone Showcase” wrapped up its third year this week, but it’s obvious there’s no gas left in the tank.

In a two-thirds empty hall of display booths surrounded by the same old people from the same old organizations talking about the same old things, it was uncomfortable to watch a great opportunity choke and sputter to such an ignominious end.

With just a dozen or so exhibitors (and none of them from out of town), the tradeshow-style event just too small to produce the kind of “collisions of interest” that spark the pistons of capitalism.

And despite interesting presentations from top Clemson researchers, it was too large to serve as a symposium to spur public officials and business leaders to solve a problem — in our case, how Anderson can use Clemson connections to help us compete on knowledge and skills rather than cheaper costs.

As an economic development advocate, I would love to campaign to save it.

But that’s part of the problem. What is it we’d be trying to save?

Don’t bother asking any of the attendees. The handful of the people I spoke to agreed that it was intended to help private companies make better use of Clemson University’s research and technology and “brand” our community to better compete in an increasingly globalized economy.

But none of them could clearly explain the strategy or any strategy to make the event effective.

And no one really knew why the Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce, a retail-focused membership organization, served as the organizer, save for the fact that Zoom Zone was the event that superseded its annual business expo.

There was a lot of talk about the model, a Johnstown, Penn., event that attracted a lot of players in the military-industrial complex in the backyard of Sen. Patrick Murtha, conveniently the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and the Subcommittee on Defense.

But the presence of Rep. Gresham Barrett, an outspoken opponent of pork-barrel spending, underscored the absurdity of that comparison.

“Zoom Zone” is a great slogan, for sure. It’s dynamic. It feels good — those Zs zipping past your tongue and teeth. And it captures the critical importance of the automotive industry cluster to our area. (Heck, it would work great in Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research and its efforts to leverage early partnerships with such giants as Timken and IBM, to develop a full-blown, North Carolina “research Triangle”-style business region.)

But there’s no point in having a good slogan if you don’t have the goods to back it up.

Rather than try and put on another “showcase,” our local officials would better use their time, energy and money to turn the existing Anderson-Clemson Alliance from a steering committee into an economic development dynamo.

Zoom. Zoom.