Values Guy

Describing himself as a "values guy," GES Exposition Services President and CEO Paul Dykstra believes that if you can get 1,400 people thinking the same way, success is inevitable. Since the tradeshow industry went into a downturn shortly after he moved from Viad's Travelers Express to head GES in 2000, success has not necessarily been automatic. Now, as GES parent Viad prepares to spin off its payment services unit to focus more closely on convention and event services, and as the tradeshow industry seems poised for a revival, Dykstra talked with Tradeshow Week Associate Editor Margo McCall about the state of GES – and the industry.

Question: How will the spin-off of Travelers Express affect GES Exposition Services?

Answer: Once Travelers Express is spun off, GES will be the largest remaining subsidiary of what we're calling New Viad. The bulk of the company will be focused on the convention and events business.

Q: How closely will Viad's two main businesses, GES and Exhibitgroup/Giltspur, work together after the spin-off?

A: They are two distinct businesses, but certainly there are strengths of both organizations that we can leverage. We did the Ford centennial event in Detroit last year. Exhibitgroup really used their expertise in some of the design components and GES was the general contractor. I think that event really typifies what we'd like to do working together in the future.

Q: Are the companies going to eventually merge?

A: I get that question a lot. As far as I'm concerned, we are two separate businesses owned by the same parent company.

Q: When you took over as president and CEO of GES in 2000, you had just a few good months before the industry went into its downhill trajectory. Did anything you learned in business school prepare you for that?

A: What comes back more and more, both through my education experiences and my work experiences, is a couple of things: getting very, very close to your customers, listening to what they say, listening to what they need.

Q: Like many CEOs, you cut costs during the downturn, but it appears you've also tried to add value with the National Servicenter and GES Online. What else have you got planned?

A: The downturn certainly forced us and just about everybody else to take a hard look at costs. We took a lot of costs out of our business, both in overhead and becoming a lot more efficient in moving shows in and out. Most of those activities are behind us now, and part of our overall mentality is that we've got to reinvent every day and find better ways to do things and ways to reduce the hassles for our clients, because that's what they expect.

Q: Service contractors say they have to balance the interests of show managers and exhibitors. Who really holds the most sway?

A: If you turn the clock back 10 years, there was heavy focus on show management. But while we cannot lose focus on the show managers, we've got to provide higher value to the exhibitors.

Q: How has the competitive environment changed during the time you've been with GES?

A: The downturn in the industry created a smaller overall pie. We saw some of our competitors bought up by other companies. We've seen some in various parts of this business not be able to survive the current climate. That's why we've had to focus on reinventing and driving additional value for clients.

Q: As a result, are there more opportunities for acquisitions?

A: It's possible. We are preparing ourselves to have that capability again. We certainly want to watch our industry, but also look at our core competencies and see if those could apply to things that are similar but not directly involved in the tradeshow business.

Q: Is landing a larger number of shows as clients the goal?

A: We're always after increasing our market share. At the same time, we want to continue to look at things we can provide to exhibitors within shows that can help them. When I listen on the phones, and I do that regularly, you get a lot of exhibitors who say, "I just got this dumped in my lap by my boss. He told me to have a good show. What do I do?" We're in a great position now to work with exhibitors, to help them through the sometimes scary process, going through the exhibitor kit, getting the things ordered they need ordered, then having a successful event.

Q: Was the service contracting industry a little behind the ball with technology?

A: Probably in some respects, the answer to that is yes. We look at technology as something that can make a discernible difference and drive a better experience for the exhibitors or for show managers and lower our costs, but it's also something that may have new product applicability in the future. There are some things we're working on right now that we think will be very significant both in improving the quality of shows and in providing some revenue sources to make GES grow in the future.

Q: In such a volatile business environment, how do you come up with your financial guidance?

A: Most of what we do is based on listening to clients. We're in constant communication 365 days a year. We build that at the aggregate level. We combine that with external sources like TSW's Executive Outlook and macroeconomic indicators like (Gross Domestic Product) and corporate earnings that we think are good leading indicators of the tradeshow business. We don't have the same visibility that we did pre-9/11. Spending decisions are delayed to the last possible second now. Exhibitors may be waiting 30 days out or even a week out. I think that's probably one of our biggest issues as we look forward: When will exhibitor spending rebound in a robust way?

Q: Is the worst over?

A: My belief is, if corporate earnings are a leading indicator for our industry, we need a couple more quarters of solid earnings. Once companies feel a little more comfortable that they're back on track, they will start to spend more in areas like tradeshows. In another six months, if we don't have any other world events, I think we'll start to see the industry pick up.

Q: Has the tradeshow industry fundamentally changed?

A: What we hear a lot is that exhibitors want to raise their ROI on shows and they're looking at the ratio of benefits to costs. I think that's probably a normal occurrence during an economic downturn. Now on a go-forward basis, will things return to what they were? I don't think so. Still, tradeshows are a low-cost method of introducing products, getting people together, kicking the tires.

Q: When you got into this business, did you have any idea what went into tradeshows?

A: I certainly did not, and I'm not sure I do to this day. But it's a very exciting business. The variety we see every single day – every day is a different day, a different industry, different businesses. It's just a lot of fun.

Q: Do you enjoy living in Las Vegas?

A: I'm an avid golfer. Coming from Minneapolis, where you were lucky to get a six-month season, to Las Vegas, where we can play year-round, has been a big, big boon. If you were going to pick a place to put your service contractor headquarters, I can't think of a better place than Las Vegas.

Q: Care to name your toughest golf adversaries in the tradeshow industry?

A: No, I'd better not.

Q: Can you drive a forklift?

A: I have driven a forklift under the strict oversight of our safety and loss people. I'm not certified as a forklift driver, so they'd never allow me to do that in a show.