Ski Lift

What president of a tradeshow-owning association hasn't at some time had to referee a dispute between show management and a board of directors? Such disagreements are usually voiced behind closed doors, or during endless hours of committee meetings. But in the case of SnowSports Industries America, it was all out in the open.

After years of research and discussion, SIA in the summer of 2001 announced it was moving its SnowSports Show, worth $5.5 million a year to the association, from mid-March to late January starting in 2002. (There were also location moves from the Las Vegas Convention Center's Main Hall to its South Hall and now to Mandalay Bay Convention Center.) Although SIA made these and what seemed like a few other equally harmless changes to the show, the date change backfired, sparking a yearlong controversy that culminated in key exhibitors threatening to pull out.

President David Ingemie, a 23-year association member, thought all along the January timeframe was the way to go. Still he had to roll with the board's decisions and contend with the bad press the controversy caused.

With the powder settled, Ingemie talked with Senior Associate Editor Heidi Genoist about the tumult and SnowSports Show's future. Ingemie said if he'd learned anything from the experience, it's that controversies like this are endemic to associations – the secret is to how they handle them.

Question: What motivated the decision to change the dates of SIA SnowSports Show from March to January in the first place?

Answer: Even though exhibitors might be telling me to my face that the buyers weren't doing things a certain way, the research showed they were. They were going to earlier shows, making decisions to buy prior to Feb. 1. We had factual, quantitative data showing that. I think that's really what won out in the end.

Q: When was the decision made?

A: In 1999, when all the stars lined up. One of the things we didn't have for an earlier date before that was a venue. Just prior to 2002, that became available, and we switched the date. Unlike what was written and what we heard, it did go according to plan, because we knew it would take three to five years to set in.

Q: That sounds simple enough. Why the brouhaha when the board wanted to move the dates back to March?

A: We're owned by the exhibitors; we're not a for-profit company that just does what it wants. We have voting members, and 75 percent of them are under-$1 million businesses, so it's not easy for them to make a change. They don't have all the resources some companies have to go to a lot of shows.

Q: So, the 2002 show was a disappointment. Was that because of the new date? Or because it was only four months after Sept. 11?

A: Oh boy, yes. From our own perspective, we probably quadrupled the number of conference calls with committees, just because it was easier to do that instead of meet face to face, when everyone was a little nervous about travel. Then you had other things going on, like some restaurants not being open.

Q: Was that the only problem in 2002?

A: No, the disappointment for us was that, because of the fire marshal, we weren't able to put together a floor plan at the Las Vegas Convention Center that kept the attendees in the middle of the show. The doors are located so that we had to do 15-foot aisles around the perimeter of the South Hall, so people walked around the show instead of through it. That caused us more of an image issue than the number of exhibitors or attendees.

It was 9/11, the fact that this was the first time we had our show earlier in the year, the new hall. We were very disappointed by the buzz, or density level, of that show.

Q: So, the board decided to move the show back to March. What happened next?

A: It was the same thing we had when we moved to the earlier date. Half our members wanted the earlier date and half wanted the later date.

Q: Did you agree with the board's decision?

A: I had to go along with it; I'm an employee. But I thought they were making a mistake. I was glad the brain trust rose to the occasion and eventually decided to go back to the January dates and stick with them.

Q: There were changes in the association's show management staff during all this. Were they because of the problems with the show?

A: Totally unrelated. It had nothing to do with what was going on with the show. We were trying to get our costs in line with what we wanted to do.

Q: So all that's behind you now?

A: Completely? Never. I've looked at minutes of meetings that started in 1954. Show dates have been an issue since the association was founded. But, I do think we're going to stay in the January timeframe. We receive very little communication about the dates now, and there's no plan to move back to the dates we had before.

Q: Is the 2004 show an improvement then?

A: Oh yeah, the buzz is amazing. This year we're sold out. We don't have enough meeting rooms to host all the parties taking place. People are doing new, more open, exhibits. There will always be some high-walled, closed booths, but there's definitely a lot more excitement this show than last. Mandalay Bay helps that because people don't leave the facility. They're mingling for hours.

Q: Is the show growing?

A: We're up around 325,000 paid net square feet this year. We're sold out. Pre-registration is up about 4 percent over last year. Attendance will increase, as people become more familiar with the timing.

Q: But in 1999 and 2000, you had 500 exhibiting companies and 390,000 net square feet.

A: We don't think we'll ever be there again. The consolidation in our industry has been significant. I can probably name 30 or 40 snowboard companies that have gone away. To get much bigger, we'd have to expand into another market, and that is not in the cards. And we also don't have any more space. We made the decision not to do the second floor this year at Mandalay Bay.

Q: How long do you expect to be at Mandalay Bay?

A: Indefinitely. Five years of contracts, but we have no plans to leave there.

Q: Their room block requirements didn't pose a problem for you?

A: No. They raised them, but we beat it anyway. That's more of an issue for for-profit companies, because they're scared of the attrition clauses. They try to make money on the rooms, and we don't.

Q: Have you thought about selling the show, or outsourcing the management?

A: We continually look at alternatives. We look at selling. We've talked to Reed, VNU, but financially it doesn't make sense to the exhibitors who own it. Unlike MAGIC, the board can't sell the SnowSports Show and make any money.

Q: Are your numbers audited?

A: We do not use an outside auditing company. We audit internally by following up with each pre-registered retailer. We're pretty tight on that. Since the show is exhibitor-owned, they don't care if the show is growing; they want to know the name on the badge is a buyer.

Q: Where's the good skiing right now?

A: The East, Utah, the Tahoe area. I'm going skiing in the Northeast on Sunday and Monday, in Wachusett Mountain (Mass.). That's where I started. I grew up in Fitchburg, Mass., off Route 2. I'm going to be in Vail (Colo.) Feb. 11-15, Sun Valley (Idaho) the first week of March, probably two or three other places between that, then Copper Mountain (Colo.) in April. This year my goal is to ski 34 times, the number of years I've been married.