Employment Picture: Pace of Hiring Picks Up

By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 4/11/2005

What do The ASI Show!, Bobit Business Media, Natl. Trade Productions and VNU Expositions have in common? They're all in hiring mode right now.

And they're not alone. Recent listings on the Intl. Assn. for Exhibition Management's online career center read like a Who's Who of tradeshow producers. Companies as diverse as Hargrove, J. Spargo & Associates, Primedia, Pulver.com and Shomex Productions recently posted openings.

The expansion isn't limited to for-profits. The Consumer Electronics Assn., producer of top show Intl. CES, was also recently on the lookout for help, as was the American Heart Assn., the American Dental Assn. and the Natl. Assn. for the Specialty Food Trade, producer of the Intl. Fancy Food Show.

"I think it's a real sign of the recovery," said IAEM COO Cathy Breden. "It's just an indication that they're bringing employees back on and they're growing."

The renewed surge in industry classified advertising began in the fourth quarter, said Breden, and blew IAEM's advertising revenue budget projections out of the water.

The burst of hiring comes after several trying years, when tradeshow attendance and overall business travel dipped due to Sept. 11, an economic recession and the Iraq war.

Some exhibit design houses and other suppliers have admitted to reorganizing and trimming staff in response to the deteriorating market; however, it's been rare that for-profit show management firms have revealed staff cuts. One exception was the publicly traded Key3 Media Group, which downsized after filing for Chapter 11 reorganization and emerged as the privately held MediaLive Intl.

"There certainly were some layoffs. I just don't think anyone talked about them much," Breden said.

But the days of shrinking payrolls are apparently over.

Dmg world media, producer of more than 300 exhibitions, currently has 40 openings worldwide and is actively recruiting salespeople. "This quantity or focus is not unusual for us, as we have been seeing growth, both through acquisition and organically, for some time," said spokeswoman Mia Eng. "Certainly, some of these positions are driven by recent acquisitions — for example, we have just welcomed new team members following our acquisition of AD:TECH — but we have also created senior roles to manage the growing business, but filled those with internal candidates."

VNU Expositions has so far budgeted for four staff additions this year, including an opening for a conference and expositions manager posted on IAEM's online career center. "We hire people as our business dictates it. In the past six months, our hiring has picked up," COO Mary Kay Sustek said.

Jeff Price, president of Cygnus Expositions, said his company is always on the lookout for talented people, since it's on a mission from parent Cygnus Business Media to expand its tradeshow holdings. "We've been hiring and expanding since I took over the division four years ago," Price said. "This year is no different. We are continually looking for good folks."

The 76-employee Hanley Wood Exhibitions, owned by private-equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson, is in the same boat. Like several other for-profit show producers, Hanley Wood has no qualms about hiring inexperienced employees and showing them the tradeshow ropes.

"We've grown the division from one show to 15 in the last five years. That creates an opportunity for people to grow and advance," said Galen Poss, president of the exhibition unit, adding that 41 percent of its employees end up being promoted.

"We are more in a mode of finding smart, talented people. Hopefully, they have tradeshow experience. If they don't, we can train them in what they need," he said.

Reed Exhibitions spokeswoman Beth Blake said her company, which employs 375 people in North America and 2,000 worldwide, is also in constant hiring mode. "We're always looking for good candidates for all positions. It's an ongoing process."

George Little Management, meanwhile, prefers to groom existing staff for promotions. "Our practice at GLM has really been to train a lot of our show managers," said Alan Steel, executive vice president.

Over the past few years, Steel said, the company has been cautious about bringing new people aboard. And although some feel that tradeshows are returning to their upward trajectory, Steel said GLM isn't about to go on a hiring spree.

"I don't think we're ready to say the market is past all of its bumps yet. We've always been pretty careful about our hiring," he said.