New Team Tackles Shoe Show

By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 1/31/2005

It's been a busy year for the World Shoe Assn., with a behind-the-scenes consultant building a new vision and management team. The work is already paying off, with several changes hitting The WSA Show, including a new venue for its fall shows starting in 2007.

The Feb. 5–8 edition of the semiannual show, which ranked No. 19 on the 2004 Tradeshow Week 200, will see several improvements. Among them are reorganized product categories, a color-coding system and clear signage — all meant to make the buyer's experience more pleasant and efficient.

In addition, starting in August 2007, the summer show will be under one roof at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The winter show will continue to take place in its current locations at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, the Sands Expo & Convention Center and the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino.

Upheaval at the WSA began in fall 2003 when former Executive Director Chris Aiken took what turned out to be a permanent leave of absence and the association hired the Infinity Expo Group as the show's interim manager.

The WSA also hired Skip Farber, a former executive of Advanstar Communications and Reed Exhibitions, to lend advice on business strategy and financial operations.

Farber spoke with the association's directors and assessed the situation. "If they followed the direction they were headed in, they were going to repeat the history that had put them in the precarious position they were in," he said. "They were underperforming, and the events were not well-managed."

One of his first tasks was to find a new executive. Out of a strong field of candidates, Farber singled out Diane Stone, who at that time was a consultant for the Toy Industry Assn., producer of the American Intl. TOY FAIR, No. 49 on the most recent TSW 200.

Farber had known Stone since 1997, when he spearheaded Advanstar's acquisition of Expocon, where Stone was group show director.

Farber said what made Stone the best pick to lead the WSA was "her experience in consumer products and the retail channel."

The association hired Stone in July to fill the newly created position of COO, effective Nov. 1. Around the time she started, four WSA staff members, including Show Director Kathleen Sampson, left the association.

Was it the new boss cleaning house? Stone says no.

"It is inevitable that cultural change after a significant period of time is going to result in the moving on and the building of an organization that's focused in new and different directions," she said.

Stone was hired for her sales and marketing acumen, partly because the association had neglected those areas in favor of operations, she said.

"And therefore, the team of people that was here was not sales- and marketing-driven. As you migrate the strategy and culture of an organization in a clear direction based on the needs of the marketplace and the demands of the business, that evolution is a natural thing."

Despite tough times during the transition, it's showing signs of paying off. Stone has put together a team that she feels is perfect to carry out the show's new focus.

The five-woman team includes:

• a fashion-industry expert who has worked for Italian shoe designer Escada
• a chief marketing officer from Advanstar with an MBA
• a sales director who was formerly with VNU Expositions and Czarnowski Exhibit Services
• a director of operations who's worked on the biggest show in the United States
• and a director of content and publications who has worked for Reed Exhibitions.

Maintaining continuity for WSA clients hasn't been a problem, Stone said. "I got here two and a half weeks before the August show. I didn't have to execute it, so what did I do? I made a ton of appointments with key customers."

Hired only a few months before its first show, the new team has begun tackling key problems.

Stone began with some technical changes. Because the buyers' needs are of the utmost importance in any retail tradeshow, she wanted to fix what she saw as a confusing environment for them. Hence, the re-categorization of products and improved signage.

Next, Stone plans to add an educational component to the show, going from no seminars to a full-blown conference by the August event.