Show Launches: Organizer Growth Goes Organic

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

With few quality tradeshows available for purchase at reasonable prices these days, show management companies are increasingly focused on organic growth.

Launches outnumbered acquisitions for most show organizers last year, with the exception of dmg world media, which has continued on its buying spree. And with the economy picking up and competition for acquisitions fierce, in 2005 that trend is expected to continue.

"The launch climate for us has actually been pretty good," said Mary Kay Sustek, COO of VNU Expositions, which produces more than 50 tradeshows per year. "In the late '90s, up to 2000, we were focused more on acquisitions. Since then, we've been focusing more on organic growth."

VNU Expositions launched seven shows in 2004. Another eight will hit the market this year. Among the 2005 launches will be the Hispanic Retail 360 Conference & Expo, planned for the Adam's Mark Hotel in Dallas Sept. 25–27.

"We have five groups in the U.S. and one in Brazil. We'd like each one to do one or two launches per year if they can," Sustek said.

Cygnus Expositions has five launches in the works for this year, about the same number as last year. Among them are Enforcement Expo, planned for Cleveland's I-X Center Sept. 8–10, and Bridal 2005, held at New York's The UnConvention Center, Pier 94 March 13–15. A subsidiary of Cygnus Business Media, the expositions unit has a mandate to use launches and acquisitions to increase its current portfolio of 50 tradeshows.

Jeff Price, president of Cygnus Expositions, said he doesn't expect every launch to succeed. One that did, however, was last year's PhotoImaging & Design Expo.

"That was a particularly good launch; we had huge acceptance from the attendees," Price said. "But you can't expect all of your launches to be successful. In the early days, we used to think if one out of four succeeded, we were doing well. With the cost of launches, you have to have a higher success rate than that now."

Launching a new show always carries some risk, in addition to a lot of time and effort. But there are several tried-and-true ways to increase the odds of a show taking root.

One way, of course, is to clone an existing show. Cygnus is taking that approach with some of its 2005 launches, including introducing the Farmfest brand in Indiana and expanding the recently acquired CONEX regional construction shows to Phoenix and Pomona, Calif.

That's also what Hanley Wood did by partnering with E.J. Krause & Associates to launch a Mexican version of the Tradeshow Week 200 show World of Concrete in 2004. The event will next be held June 15–17 at Centro Banamex Convention Center in Mexico City.

Diversified Business Communications is launching its established Expo Comida Latina in a third city — at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio April 24–25. And George Little Management is spreading its New York-based SOURCES to the Los Angeles Convention Center Jan. 21–24, 2006.

Galen Poss, president of Hanley Wood Exhibitions, said the company plans to launch another Mexican show this year, one in China in 2006 and two shows in new markets in 2007.

"We have always pursued a strategy of trying to launch off strong brands and acquiring shows in markets where we don't have strong brands," he said.

Collocation is another popular risk-reduction strategy. Hanley Wood, whose portfolio includes 15 shows, is launching its 25,000 net square foot Backyard Living Expo Nov. 1–3 alongside one of its TSW 200 shows, the 234,000 net sq. ft. Intl. Pool & Spa Expo at Orlando's Orange County Convention Center.

George Little Management, producer of more than 50 tradeshows, is also continually on the lookout for collocation opportunities, said Alan Steel, GLM executive vice president. One of the company's new 2005 shows, the Art & Framing SHOWCASE, will kick off at New York City's Pier 94 Oct. 16–17 — during the same week as GLM's established House to Home Market Week.

The market week is already comprised of four tradeshows at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center — the New York Home Textiles Show, EX*TRACTS, SURTEX and the New York Gourmet Housewares Show — that together draw 8,000 buyers to a 120,000 net sq. ft. showfloor with 900 exhibitors. Badge-sharing agreements and free shuttles between Javits and the Piers will enable buyers to visit all five events.

Collocated shows don't have to be produced by the same company, as GLM's agreement to collocate its Gourmet Products Show with Reed Exhibitions' Natl. Hardware Show in Las Vegas May 17–19 indicates.

Partnerships also enable organizers to share the risk of launching new events. For instance, GLM is producing its new Art & Framing SHOWCASE as part of a joint venture with Marketplace Expos. The Telecommunications Industry Assn., Pulver.com and CMP Media are teaming up to launch IP-4-IT Nov. 14–16 at the Rio Hotel & Convention Center in Las Vegas.

Poss said Hanley Wood doesn't launch shows indiscriminately. "We never launch anything that won't be successful," he declared. "In terms of using a shotgun approach and seeing what happens, we'd rather try to be a little more selective. Your customers on both sides of the aisle have to make commitments on these things. You want to make sure that if it doesn't work, everyone understands why it didn't."

GLM agrees with that approach. "We've never been a company to start shows simply for the sake of starting a new show," said Steel. "We start new shows so they make money for our customers. We tend to be a little behind the curve in starting new shows. You've got to be convinced of the validity of the concept. You have to be sure you don't leave your customers dissatisfied."

At VNU, Sustek said new show ideas are hatched by market experts. "We identify the need and then we launch something. We don't just launch a show and force it on a customer," she said.

Poss said almost all of Hanley Wood's new show ideas originate in the minds of industry experts, be they exhibitors, buyers or publishing partners. Personnel are siloed by market, rather than skill set, in an effort to generate enthusiasm for those markets.

"We have very tight relationships in the markets we operate in. We have strong agreements with publishing partners and associations. That gives us a pretty deep reach into the marketplace," he said. "We believe that the strength is in the groups that are working in the industries we serve."

Most agree that there's also less nail-biting when shows are launched while the economy is robust and corporate spending strong. And right now, a recovery is apparently underway.

"I think business overall is just better," Poss said. "All the airplanes are full now. That's always a good sign. People are optimistic."