Glass Shows Shine and Shatter

In even the smallest industries, competing tradeshows are a fact of life, especially if shows serve different niches and are staged in different seasons or regions.

But sometimes an industry can only support one show. That's apparently the case in the glass industry, where producers of its two leading shows contend that one would be enough ¡ª and that the other show should bow out gracefully.

"If it was a different industry, I would say there's always room for two, but this is a small industry," said Doug Dame, president of Dame Associates, which manages the biennial for-profit InterGLASSmetal/FENESTRATIONworld.

Denise Sheehan, industry vice president for the Natl. Glass Assn., which manages the annual GlassBuild America The Glass, Window & Door Expo, agrees. "The industry isn't big enough for two shows," she said.

The question then is: Who's going to blink first? The answer: probably not GlassBuild.

Sheehan said a majority of the industry's representatives told the association a decade ago that one U.S. show could satisfy all its needs. But, since GlassBuild is run by a nonprofit association and InterGLASSmetal by a for-profit managing company, a merger was unlikely.

InterGLASSmetal began in Boston in fall 1977. It peaked on the Tradeshow Week 200 in 1989 at No. 137 with 152,500 net square feet, 225 exhibiting companies and 5,662 attendees. When the 2003 show closed, 65 percent of the showfloor was filled for the next edition in 2005, Dame said. But come show time Nov. 1¨C3 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, only 80 exhibiting companies spanned a 30,000 net sq. ft. showfloor.

"They chose to go to the other show and not support ours," Dame said.

GlassBuild, on the other hand, has prospered. In 2004, the show occupied 147,300 net sq. ft. with 403 exhibiting companies and an estimated 5,600 attendees (including exhibit personnel), earning it the No. 174 spot on the most recent TSW 200. This year, the show drew 9,000 attendees and 480 companies to a 214,700 net sq. ft. showfloor at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

"We doubled GlassBuild overnight," Sheehan said.

GlassBuild's recent growth can be attributed to several things ¡ª but perhaps most importantly, timing. Formerly held in the spring, the 2005 show took place Sept. 13¨C15, just six weeks before its competitor, InterGLASSmetal.

According to Sheehan, the show moved to accommodate a new sector of exhibitors. In the past, GlassBuild catered to the commercial side of the glass industry. When the association purchased Window & Door magazine, it began recruiting residential construction firms, which preferred to attend a show in the fall, rather than in spring, when they were busy installing windows.

"We like fall for our shows," said Matt Kottke, marketing support manager for Truth Hardware, which exhibited at the 2005 GlassBuild.

Although his company displays products to customers all year long, there's a chance that anyone who hasn't made a decision yet may be at the fall show.

With the new exhibitors' desires in mind, NGA hired an outside company to survey veteran exhibitors. Nobody objected to changing the dates.

"By doing that, we plopped ourselves on top of our competitor," Sheehan said.

But her work wasn't done. She approached some of the show's VIP exhibitors and offered them an attractive package that included price breaks, discounts and VIP treatment, in exchange for only exhibiting at GlassBuild in the United States through the 2007 show. A few companies turned her down, but 26 accepted.

"I wanted to secure these people," Sheehan said.

And secure them she did. A year after the 2003 InterGLASSmetal closed, Dame's major exhibitors, all in the same week, pulled out of the 2005 show.

The association also spent 18 months retooling GlassBuild. It brought in outside firms to promote the show, gave exhibitors free customer passes and provided them with new services. The show was advertised in association and other magazines.

"This was my one time to make it," Sheehan said. "I didn't have a second chance. We worked hard at getting to where exhibitors and advertisers wanted to be. It was all about them. I didn't want to have to come up against my competitor in 2007."

For Truth Hardware, the marketing campaign worked. Until last year, the company exhibited at InterGLASSmetal, GlassBuild and Toronto's Win-Door North America (primarily intended to serve the Canadian market). This year, Kottke decided not to exhibit at InterGLASSmetal.

Win-Door was held Nov. 15¨C17, giving the industry three fall shows. "We chose the bookends; the first and last shows," Kottke said.

He described GlassBuild as "a very good show" with "a strong number of people walking the showfloor."

Wood's Powr-Grip, producer of vacuum-attaching tools and materials-handling equipment, also found success at GlassBuild. Marketing Director Joe Landsverk said the company brought back about 275 leads from the show.

Powr-Grip also exhibited at the 2005 InterGLASSmetal, but only got 13 leads, four of which were from other vendors. "We were really disappointed," Landsverk said. "In the past, we have taken 50 to 200. Fifty would be a pretty slow show."

However, the company also rented less exhibit space. Originally, it occupied a six-booth area, but it cut back to four 10¡ä¡Á10¡äs in the spring.

"We knew when GlassBuild changed its dates that something would be sacrificed," Landsverk said.

But Dame isn't ready to give up. "I have exhibitors that want me to go forward in 2007," Dame said. "We still retain the brand, which is trademarked and could decide to go forward with the show."

Wood's Powr-Grip will probably be one of those exhibitors. "The show could completely turn around in the next two years," Landsverk said. "If they decide to do another InterGLASSmetal, we would probably be there. I don't know why we wouldn't."