Canon Makes Its Move Into Midwest

Acquisitions don't get much more strategic than Canon Communications' recent purchase of eight manufacturing tradeshows from Reed Elsevier. Canon's latest move to collocate three of the shows is part of a much larger plan that the company has been developing for years.

In May, the Los Angeles-based Canon purchased eight industrial and manufacturing shows formerly operated by Reed Exhibitions, among them Assembly Technology Expo, Natl. Manufacturing Week and Quality Expo. This month, the company said it would move the shows from separate spring and fall dates to take place together, starting in September 2007. They will continue to be held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, where all three had been before.

Along with Reed's Canadian industrial shows and 23 related magazines published by Reed Business Information (publisher of Tradeshow Week), the eight shows Canon bought had been on the block since last December.

Reed hoped to sell the entire group of assets to one buyer, but Canon was only interested in the U.S. shows, said Kevin O'Keefe, vice president of Canon's events division.

In fact, Canon had had an eye on the Reed shows for some time. Canon produces successful manufacturing events on the East and West Coasts and was looking for an entry into the Midwest market, home to numerous buyers in the sectors its existing events serve.

Having multiple, related shows to put together under one roof fits Canon's modus operandi. Its two largest shows, No. 60 and 104 on the most recent Tradeshow Week 200, respectively, are: Medical Design & Manufacturing West, WestPack, PLASTEC West, Pacific Design & Manufacturing, and Electronics West in Anaheim; and MD&M East, Atlantic Design & Manufacturing, EastPack, and PLASTEC East, in New York.

If all goes as planned, O'Keefe believes, the newly collocated Midwest event could outgrow its New York and Anaheim counterparts someday.

The synergy between Assembly Technology Expo, Natl. Manufacturing Week and Quality Expo "is even greater than what we have on the East and West Coast," he said. "The attendees to these shows are all the same, all working in the same process. Now, by putting (the shows) together, you've got 1,800 exhibitors in one place."

In its press release about the collocation, Canon quoted flagship exhibitors from the events saying they were happy about the move. "The Canon collocation plan for 2007 is really exciting news. A strong reliable event is about to become a real powerhouse for us in terms of lead generation and new business development," stated Richard Andraki, president of Cox Automation, an exhibitor in Assembly Technology Expo.

Typically, organizers encounter resistance when they make dramatic changes in the timing of established shows. Although Assembly Technology Expo will only be moved back about one month, Natl. Manufacturing Week and Quality Expo will switch from spring dates in March and April, to the new fall dates in September.

O'Keefe said the new date was chosen to avoid "competing with ourselves." MD&M takes place in March in Anaheim, in April in Atlanta and in June in New York.

The shows being combined have seen declines in both exhibitors and attendees in recent years, due to consolidation in the manufacturing and industrial sectors.

Once the goliath of the group, Natl. Manufacturing Week (now a combination of several, formerly independent shows) this March drew 10,633 professional attendees to visit 915 exhibiting firms spanning 131,702 net square feet. That compares with 15,401 attendees, 1,028 exhibitors and 205,140 net sq. ft. in 2005. It was more than twice its current size three years ago.

Canon believes the collocation strategy will turn things around. Changes in the manufacturing sector mean that one person at a company is doing all the jobs that several different people did five years ago, O'Keefe said. They need one event that brings together the various facets of their work, rather than several separate shows.

"Our strategy is to go out to the manufacturing market and present one combined event that's much more attractive to the attendees," he explained.

O'Keefe said the newly collocated event in Rosemont would also benefit from marketing to Canon's database of MD&M participants, who have expressed interest in a Midwest venue. The organizer will add a medical pavilion to the Assembly-NMW-Quality lineup starting in '07.

Also, in even-numbered years, when Quality Expo rotates to Detroit, Canon will use the space left behind to incorporate a plastics pavilion, a feature in its other MD&M events.

However, the company presently has no plans to rebrand the Rosemont collocation as an MD&M event, according to a spokesman.

Canon hopes the Midwest event will net 400,000 sq. ft.

It will be held for "a minimum of two years" in Rosemont, O'Keefe noted. "Obviously (Chicago's) McCormick Place is interested in having us, but it offers a cost set that's 30 to 40 percent higher for our exhibitors ... Rosemont Exhibition Services is incredibly flexible in terms of drayage and so forth. They've really rolled out the red carpet, and whatever we want they'll do. We don't get that anywhere, not even Anaheim or New York."