Senior Executive Leaves Canon Communications

Diane O'Connor resigns from position as head of firm's tradeshow division

By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 6/12/2006

Barely a year after it was bought by Apprise Media and 20 years after she was first hired, Diane O'Connor is leaving Canon Communications.

O'Connor, vice president of events, is the second executive to depart since Canon was acquired by Apprise, which is backed by Spectrum Equity and led by former Primedia executive Charles McCurdy. In February, Canon CEO William Cobert resigned after 27 years with the company.

The departure of two top-ranking executives won't leave a leadership vacuum, however, McCurdy said. "I give tremendous credit to both Bill and Diane in putting together a very strong organization beneath them. I'm lucky to have strong people in the organization to promote into leadership positions," he said.

When Cobert left, McCurdy took on the additional title of CEO. To fill the latest vacancy, he tapped Kevin O'Keefe as vice president of events. McCurdy described him as O'Connor's designated successor.

"He's a 10-year veteran at Canon and has been running the tradeshow sales organization very effectively for many years," McCurdy said. "I've worked closely with him over the past year and have been impressed not only with his sales leadership but with his strategic view."

O'Connor had no comment on O'Keefe's qualifications as her replacement, but said she wishes him well.

For her part, O'Connor — who does not have a noncompete agreement — said she intends to remain in the tradeshow industry. Possibilities include joint ventures, acquisitions or startup shows for high-growth technologies and markets.

"I've been approached by a number of companies, both with a publishing and trade exhibition background. For a long time, I've wanted my own trade exhibition company. I'm also exploring those opportunities," she said.

"There are many opportunities out there that still exist for trade exhibitions. I don't believe in putting a show out there for the sake of putting a show out there," she added.

When Apprise bought Canon in April 2005, O'Connor agreed to stay on until this May. "I could have stayed, but this is no longer the place for me, so I decided to move on," she said.

O'Connor added that she wasn't interested in becoming CEO when Cobert departed. "My interest has always been in the tradeshow side," she said.

McCurdy thanked O'Connor for her contributions. "I greatly wish her well. She came to a point where she decided she would enjoy taking on new challenges. Clearly she wanted to branch out."

O'Connor's departure was effective June 9, one day after the June 6–8 Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) East, Atlantic Design & Manufacturing, EastPack, and PLASTEC East wrapped up at New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. When O'Connor joined the company two decades ago, it produced just two events: MD&M East and MD&M West.

The 2005 MD&M East, now collocated with three other shows, ranked 104th on the Tradeshow Week 200, with nearly 26,000 attendees, a 242,239 net square foot showfloor and 1,381 exhibitors. Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) West, WestPack, Plastec West, Pacific Design & Manufacturing, and Electronics West, which collectively ranked No. 60 on the most recent TSW 200, drew nearly 38,000 attendees and 1,944 exhibitors to a 326,772 net sq. ft. showfloor at the Anaheim Convention Center in 2005.

Among her accomplishments, O'Connor championed collocation at a time when the strategy was deemed revolutionary.

Taking O'Connor's place, O'Keefe will be responsible for Canon's 16 existing trade-shows in North America, Europe and China, as well as the integration of the eight shows Canon recently acquired from Reed Exhibitions.

Among the Reed shows are Assembly Technology Expo, Natl. Manufacturing Week and the biennial Intl. Powder & Bulk Solids Conference/Exhibition, all of which rank on the TSW 200.

McCurdy said more than a dozen employees assigned to the acquired shows will be making the jump from Reed to Canon. In addition, Canon is looking to hire an undetermined number of other tradeshow professionals to work on the acquired shows.

O'Keefe joined Canon as a tradeshow sales manager in August 1995. He is credited with helping implement Canon's collocation strategy, helping launch Medtec and Plastec, integrating the packaging shows and introducing pavilion exhibits. Before joining Canon, he spent a decade as president and CEO of Crown Exhibit Group, a New England custom exhibit designer and producer.