Cygnus Acquires EMS
The purchase aims to expand fire and law enforcement portfolio
By Rachelle Crum -- Tradeshow Week, 7/18/2005
Cygnus Business Media has acquired the emergency medical services show EMS Expo, three emergency response magazines and their accompanying Web sites from Van Nuys, Calif.-based firms Summer Communications and EMS Productions.
The annual show, expected to span 90,000 net square feet Aug. 25–27 at New Orleans' Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, will be produced by the Cygnus Expositions division, which also organizes Firehouse Expo and Firehouse World Conference & Exposition. The EMS show and magazine employees will remain based in California.
The acquisition complements the firm's existing Firehouse brand portfolio, and offers additional synergies within its law enforcement group, said Paul Mackler, president and CEO of the Westport, Conn.-based parent company. "It will allow us to gain more reach in the EMS segment for our advertisers within the EMS and first-responder industry."
Cygnus Expositions President Jeff Price said the firm is "already incredibly strong in reaching the marketplace of first responders" through its fire portfolio. More than 600,000 unique visitors log onto http://www.firehouse.com monthly; another 86,000 fire commissioners, chiefs and firefighters subscribe to Firehouse magazine; and more than 20,000 fire professionals annually attend Firehouse Expo (July 26–31 at the Baltimore Convention Center) and Firehouse World (next Feb. 19–23 at the San Diego Convention Center).
The 85,000 net sq. ft. Firehouse World show Jan. 31–Feb. 4 in San Diego attracted 4,895 attendees, a 9-percent increase over 2004. The firm's first annual law enforcement show, Enforcement Expo, will take place Sept. 8–10 at Cleveland's Intl. Exposition & Conference Center (I-X Center).
The acquisition "rounds out" the firm's fire portfolio "just perfectly," Price said.
Carol Summer, former president of Summer Communications and EMS Productions, said, "having Cygnus acquire (the EMS show and publications) and incorporate them into an already established portfolio of emergency service and fire rescue media products is very fortunate. The properties will continue to flourish with a large media company supporting them."
EMS Expo, which also rotates to Atlanta and Las Vegas, is supported by the Natl. Assn. of Emergency Medical Technicians, which has its annual meeting during the show. EMS Expo will also feature the annual conference for the Louisiana Assn. of Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technicians and the Ambulance Services Industry Management Conference.
Cygnus Business Media spokeswoman Kathy Scott said the acquisition coincides with pending regulatory changes. Last month, the U.S. Senate's Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee approved and passed along to the full Senate a measure that would establish a group to coordinate seven federal agencies involved in EMS, including the departments of Health & Human Services and Homeland Security, and the Natl. Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Because EMS departments have historically dealt with U.S. Department of Transportation agencies, and not the Department of Homeland Security like fire departments do, "our advertisers (and exhibitors) haven't been able to necessarily reach private EMT services," Scott said. "Cygnus is just another huge organization that sees the EMS industry as important first responders."
