Boston Centers Sign New Marketing Pact

BCEC, Hynes and WTC will help each other sell their exhibition space

By Rachelle Crum -- Tradeshow Week, 1/10/2005

On the heels of Boston opening its fourth convention center, two local venue owners want to dispel any notion that elbows are flying in attempts to divvy up the city's tradeshow business.

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, owner of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center, recently signed an agreement with the Seaport Cos., owner of the Seaport Hotel and Seaport World Trade Center, and the Boston Convention Marketing Center, MCCA's sales and marketing arm. The pact calls for fair competitive practices, information sharing and collaborative marketing among the parties.

The primary focus of the arrangement is the two neighboring waterfront facilities: the 8-month-old, 1.7 million square foot BCEC and the 20-year-old, 850,000 sq. ft. Seaport WTC.

According to the plan, the facilities will include information about each other on their Web sites and collaborate in developing print advertising. The BCMC will include a specific reference to WTC in parts of its direct mail campaign. Also, if the MCCA should need additional space to accommodate a BCEC event, space at the WTC will be sold in conjunction with the BCEC.

Finally, the contract calls for safeguards, including penalties, to prevent the BCEC from taking shows from the WTC. If a show does leave the WTC for the BCEC, MCCA will make a mitigation payment to the WTC, depending on how long the event has been at the venue. The penalties will not apply to shows that outgrow the WTC.

James Rooney, executive director of the MCCA, said the three-year deal, which was called for in the 1997 legislation authorizing the BCEC's construction, was a logical move "to market this area of Boston in a similar fashion. I think it's a selling advantage for us to say that right up the street, there's another facility, even though we're different owners."

Positioning the facilities as a team "makes an awful lot of sense," said John Drew, Seaport Cos. president and CEO. "The area doesn't need two entities competing for business. This puts Boston in a better competitive position."

Rooney added, "There's much more trust between us and the WTC. That speaks to Boston's interest." The agreement "really sets up the rules of engagement" between the facilities. "I'm not going to compete on price."

Drew said he doesn't expect to receive a mitigation payment. The mitigation is more of a reminder to "keep everyone focused and to make sure that we don't inadvertently hurt each other."

The same 1997 legislation calls for a similar agreement between the MCCA and the Bayside Expo & Executive Conference Center, typically a consumer show venue and the only other privately owned tradeshow facility in the city.

Talks between the MCCA and the Bayside center are underway, Rooney said. Paul Bennett, general manager of the Bayside center, however, indicated there was a ways to go since he is somewhat skeptical about the deal signed with the WTC.

Bennett said he still wonders how the BCEC will fit into the Boston tradeshow facility equation. "We have always had a friendly, competitive relationship with the World Trade Center and the Hynes Convention Center because all of us have known that the success of one facility will benefit the others," he said.

Rooney said the BCEC is not interested in stealing business from anybody else in town. "We're attracting shows that couldn't have come to Boston before," he said.

For instance, he pointed out, "It was no problem backfilling all the space at the Hynes" from the relocation of the Hynes' two large 2005 shows (New England Grows Trade Show and The Intl. Boston Seafood Show) and a 2006 show (Yankee Dental Congress) to the BCEC. "The Hynes numbers will exceed last year," Rooney said.

According to the MCCA, in 2004 the Hynes held 23 trade-shows, representing 179,036 room nights. For fiscal 2005, the facility has a total of 27 tradeshows scheduled, representing 241,306 room nights.