Dmg Launches Consumer Shows in Chicago, Rochester

Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 8/7/2006

Two months ago, when dmg world media lopped off a third of its consumer show portfolio, its Home Interest North America vice president, Tom Baugh, said, "The idea here isn't to stay at 38 (remaining consumer shows). We are actively looking at acquisitions right now. We are also looking at launches."

Apparently, he was serious about that last point. On July 27, dmg world media announced the launch of two new consumer shows: the Greater Chicago Home and Interior Design Show and the Greater Rochester Home Show.

With the announcement, Baugh said the reorganization — that is, the decision to sell nine consumer shows and cancel six, close four offices and lay off 30 people — "has already produced good results. We have improved efficiencies, and our hub offices are buzzing.

"With the right people in the right places now, we have the capacity to explore launch opportunities, and Chicago and Rochester are the first to be ready to market."

The Chicago show is scheduled March 30–April 1, 2007, at the recently opened Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center; the Rochester show, March 16–18 at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center in Rochester, N.Y.

In the previous reorganization, the six canceled shows were all for the home and interior design sector, as were the six U.S.-based shows. Three Canadian travel shows (two in Montreal and one in Quebec City) have been purchased by the local dmg world media management team, according to the company.

The Chicago and Rochester home shows are the first consumer shows dmg world media has launched since the reorganization.

"We think these two launches are just better aligned with our strategic objectives," Baugh said. "In the same way that we truly believe that the shows we are selling will be a better strategic fit for another show producer, we believe that the Chicago and Rochester markets meet our criteria for success."