World of Difference

Las Vegas—Oh what a difference six months can make. In that time, said participants in the Las Vegas Market, organizers implemented vast improvements to the semiannual home furnishings event.

The second industry week took place Jan. 30–Feb. 3 at the World Market Center and Mandalay Bay Convention Center, drawing 1,197 exhibiting companies. Permanent showrooms accounted for 347,000 square feet, while three outdoor pavilions at the World Market Center and four halls at Mandalay Bay added another 497,000 net sq. ft. of temporary exhibits.

The inaugural show last July had about the same size exhibition and attracted 62,000 registrants, according to organizers. They declined to give attendance numbers for the January show, saying it would be a few weeks before their registration data — culled through a radio frequency identification badge system provided by ExpoExchange — would be available.

However, long registration lines on the show's opening day were evidence of larger-than-expected crowds, said Briana Mackey, director of the show and of operations for the facility.

"We planned more points of service and a bigger registration area than we had in July, but we simply had more on-site registration than anyone anticipated," Mackey said. "It was a good problem in many ways, but it's given us cause to make revisions to that program going forward."

She added that one of the World Market Center's guiding philosophies from now on would be to listen and respond to attendee and exhibitor feedback.

Mackey and her colleagues learned an important lesson about that approach at their second show: It pays off.

Following a debut that saw large crowds but its share of complaints, the World Market Center made several changes in both the marketing and operations of the show — and their customers noticed.

"Last year, we were at the front of the hall. This year, we're near the back, but we wrote twice as many orders in the first day this year as we did the whole show last year," said Enrique Figueroa, of Corda-Roy's, a maker of bean-bag beds that exhibited in the World Market Center pavilions.

Figueroa thought the difference had to do mainly with attendee quality, but he also pointed to the long main aisles crossing the pavilion, overhead signs indicating company names and booth numbers, and the layout of exhibits — all improvements over last summer, he said.

"Everything's better. The location, the hours, the traffic," said Alan Macomber of Cadeau, an Oakland, Calif.-based maker of home décor and gifts that was part of Interior Lifestyles, Messe Frankfurt's show within the Las Vegas Market at Mandalay Bay.

Last July, Interior Lifestyles was in a separate area and had different hours than the rest of the show. It also was not clear in some marketing materials that the event was part of the furniture industry week.

"Being inside the main floor has made a big difference," said David Audrain, president of Messe Frankfurt's U.S. division. "Also, the traffic overall has improved in the temporary exhibits, due to the changes in marketing made by Dana Pretner and her team."

Pretner, World Market Center director of marketing and public relations, said she made a fundamental change to the show's branding this year. "We had been promoting the World Market Center as the destination, but we learned at the last show that we have two other very vibrant venues that needed to be integrated into everything we did. So we created the umbrella identity of the Las Vegas Market and highlighted each of the venues in a specific way."

Attendees also noticed that — despite a 45-minute shuttle ride between the World Market Center and Mandalay Bay — the multi-venue show was more navigable this time around.

"This is so much easier to walk than High Point," said Niki Haas, a buyer for Company Store, an online catalog.

In addition to changing traffic circulation so the shuttle dropped off and picked up attendees in front of the registration and food tents, Pretner incorporated a quick start program that gave attendees a color-coded overview of the entire show upon arrival. Shuttles to Mandalay Bay were nearby and frequent.

"We wanted to make sure that Mandalay Bay had its own position and traffic," Pretner said.

With the SnowSports Industries America SnowSports Show closing at Mandalay Bay Jan. 26, the World Market Center and Messe Frankfurt had only two days to move in.

Mackey said Freeman, the general contractor for the Mandalay Bay portion of the show (Champion Expositions had the contract for the pavilions), gained accessed to the floor at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, and exhibitors were let in at 8 a.m. They worked nonstop to open the show on time Tuesday morning, a day after the opening at the World Market Center.

The staggered opening worked so well that it will be continued by organizers.

"It's a terrific success story," said Pretner. "Freeman and the facility really stepped up. If we didn't have quality on all sides, we wouldn't have made it on time."

World Market Center was so pleased with Mandalay Bay that it is in talks to "see if we can work out a long-term agreement with them," Mackey said. For now, next July's temporary exhibition is slated at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

As the Las Vegas Market matures, participants hope that it will attract more contemporary designers and buyers from outside the western United States.

"I would like to see a more national crowd," said Manny Better, of Philippe Langdon, a furniture maker exhibiting at Mandalay Bay. "I would like to see this replace High Point, but people are saying it's getting a reputation as a western show."

Something for Pretner to work on for round three?

"Our attendance from the East Coast was more than 30 percent of our U.S. pre-registration. Internationally, we had 60 countries represented in pre-registration," she said. "But we will continue to grow geographically."