Honeymoon Already Over For Canon's New Shows

Exhibitors and partners launch show to compete with Canon's ATExpo

By Rachel Wimberly -- Tradeshow Week, 1/8/2007

Canon Communications bought eight manufacturing shows from Reed Elsevier in May and, soon after, said it would collocate Assembly Technology Expo, Natl. Manufacturing Week and Quality Expo, moving the shows from separate spring and fall dates to take place together in September at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.

It sounded like a good plan, but the execution had a different ring — at least for some.

Fuji America has exhibited at ATExpo on and off for close to 15 years. The company's marketing manager, Scott Wischoffer, listed a litany of problems at Canon's first show last September. His booth, along with a number of others, was part of the Electronics Assembly Pavilion (which Canon recently announced was being spun off into its own event next September, Electronics Assembly Show).

"We were not notified about the sale to Canon," he said. "Then suddenly the floor space price went up by almost $3 per square foot. Islands were eliminated. All the big booths were put in the back, which we shared with our competitors, and I wasn't comfortable they couldn't easily hear through the walls. And, they (Canon) charged more for corners."

Instead of going with the new show owner's flow, Wischoffer, joined by other electronics assembly companies, approached their trade association, IPC — Assn. Connecting Electronics Industries, and asked if it would consider launching its own show.

IPC already runs a few shows, including IPC Printed Circuits Expo, APEX and the Designers Summit, but it has never been a part of ATExpo. Anna Garrido, IPC's director of marketing and communications, said the 2,400-member association conferred with its advisory council, known as the Surface Mount Equipment Manufacturers Assn. Council, about the idea and decided to go ahead with it. The new show, IPC Midwest Conference & Exhibition, will be held Sept. 23–28 at the Renaissance Schaumburg (Ill.) Hotel and Convention Center.

"We're really happy with Schaumburg," Wischoffer said, "It's about the right size, well lit, non-union, (and has) free parking and lots of restaurants and hotels."

IPC's dates coincide almost exactly with ATExpo's Sept. 25–27 dates at Rosemont 16 miles away.

Dan Cutrone, Canon's director of marketing, said the company had made preliminary overtures to IPC about joining ATExpo, but "IPC, unbeknownst to us, in a rather puzzling move, decided to launch their own show."

Wischoffer said IPC's decision to launch a show was good for exhibitors. "The (Canon) show management didn't talk to us and didn't ask us what we wanted. They are misunderstanding having customers and having bodies."

Garrido said IPC would charge member exhibitors $26 per sq. ft. and non-members $29. Canon charges $31.50 per sq. foot, Cutrone said.

Electronics assembly exhibitors weren't the only ones who didn't see eye-to-eye with Canon. The Surface Mount Technology Assn. (not to be confused with IPC's SMEMA) had been in charge of the technical conference at ATExpo for a number of years under Reed's ownership. In return, Reed paid the association a yearly stipend of $250,000. When Canon bought the show, it declined to continue the financial arrangement.

As a result, SMTA President David Raby said his association also decided to launch its own show, SMTAI. It's slated for October at the Gaylord Palms Orlando Resort Hotels & Convention Center.

"There's no animosity or anything else with Canon," Raby said. "We know we had a good deal with Reed. I just wish Canon would have picked it up. We think it (the conference) was worth more than that."

Cutrone said Canon tried to reach an agreement with SMTA. Canon, like Reed, offered the association free meeting space and, also like Reed, a portion of the revenue from the conference, but it was unwilling to pay the additional stipend.

"The association had a difficult time coming to grips with reality," Cutrone said. "We hoped they wouldn't launch a standalone show. It's not good for the association or its members."

Despite SMTA's decision, Cutrone added, Canon will still consider working with the association in the future. Typically, he said, Canon works with a number of associations on its shows. "We're very enthusiastic about creating synergistic partnerships that are revenue generators," he said. However, he noted, Canon bases revenue-sharing agreements on performance.

Raby said it made sense for SMTA to break off and develop its own conference and trade-show to make up for the lost funds. The group chose Orlando because, "we didn't want to start with a new show and go head-to-head with ATExpo in Chicago," Raby said. "It didn't seem like a smart move to make."

On the other hand, he added, IPC has more experience with tradeshows, so probably is not as concerned about competitive pressures.

There has also been talk in the manufacturing technology industry of IPC and SMTA teaming up for IPC's new show. But both sides said no decision has been made as of yet.

Garrido said it was difficult to predict the number of attendees that would go to IPC Midwest, though she expects 150 exhibitors spread over 25,000 to 28,000 net sq. ft.

SMTA Vice President of Communications Steven Greathouse said, "The interest in our new show is good so far. It's going really well, and enthusiasm is high."

Even with the loss of SMTA, and even if some of its exhibitors go to IPC's competing show, 70 percent of the exhibit space at ATExpo is already booked, according to Cutrone, and he hopes to draw at least 40,000 attendees to the newly collocated group of shows.

"Whatever's happening in Orlando and Schaumburg won't be like what's happening at Rosemont," he said.