Penton Media Eyes Services For Associations
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 2/27/2006
Penton Media has formed a business unit that will offer services to associations, including help with tradeshow management and exhibit sales.
The Assn. Resource Center, part of Penton Custom Media, will also help groups with their publications, Web sites and ad sales. The team will be led by Washington, D.C.-based Kenneth Hansen, most recently of the Magazine Group, a custom publisher.
Thomas Corcoran, also previously with the Magazine Group, will focus on ad sales, sponsorships and tradeshow exhibitors. Terrence Grogan, most recently president of Professional Trade Shows, will oversee marketing and event operations.
Hansen said the resource center's separate components already existed within the company. "Penton has done work with associations for years. This was really just a matter of bringing those disparate pieces together."
Penton Custom Media already works with 20 industry associations, including the American Red Cross, USTelecom and the Natl. Assn. of Manufacturers.
"I think there is a lot of leverage we can offer," Hansen said.
The center won't directly compete with SmithBucklin, which provides tradeshow and marketing help within the larger scope of association management.
"We're really more focused on marketing and communications," Hansen said.
Penton produces 35 tradeshows and conferences, including the East and West Coast versions of Natural Products Expo, which both rank on the Tradeshow Week 200. They will continue to operate separately.
