The first "RoadShow" I attended was called a Clinic. It featured Doyle Dykes,only. That was in "96 or "97. My older son won a Doyle Dykes instructional video. The last one I attended was in "07, featured Doyle Dykes and his daughter,only. I won 2 sets of Elixer Polywebs, which I promptly sold.
Steve
The "Road Show", as a branded event, is a relatively recent thing.
There used to be "clinics", which would feature people like Doyle Dykes, Dan Crary, Beppe Gembetta, Pat Kirtley, Steven King or Chris Proctor. Those were mostly music, with the artists talking about guitars here and there.
Then there were "Restring Clinics". They're still done from time to time, but not nearly as often as they used to be held. They can be nightmarish, too, depending on how many people show up.
After that came the "Road Show". Originally, the Road Show incorporated a tech portion, and that made for a really nice, long evening. They dropped the tech portion and it helped to streamline things a bit, although trying to get a meaningful test-drive during the Petting Zoo still bordered on the comical.
Enter the "Find Your Fit" event. These began their life as simple sales events. Essentially, a FYF is like the Road Show Petting Zoo on steroids. If you're seriously looking to buy a guitar,
this is the place to do it. Reps still bring some crazy BTO's out with them, but the environment is much better for trying out guitars...