Oxford Publishing's Bacchanalian Conquest

The Show signs on another state's hotel, restaurant association

By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 2/5/2007

Today, Nevada; tomorrow, the world. Could that be what Oxford Publishing is thinking? Maybe not, but the producer of what it immodestly calls "the Show" is taking on new partners and adding new segments at world-domination speed.

Anybody wondering what the Show is exactly will recognize its flagship event: Nightclub & Bar/Beverage Retailer/Beverage & Food Convention & Trade Show. Founded in 1983, the annual event for lounge owners was No. 102 on the most recent Tradeshow Week 200 with 243,000 net square feet of exhibit space, 808 exhibiting firms and 42,000 professional attendees.

Oxford expects next month's show, March 4–7 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, to attract more than twice that number of exhibitors, due to an aggressive expansion into two new sectors.

Last fall, the company revealed the addition of two small new exhibitions to this year's event. Oxford is launching one of them, Hospitality Expo. For the other, the Las Vegas Intl. Restaurant Show, it bought the tradeshow assets of the Nevada Restaurant Assn., which will be the official sponsor.

Jennifer Robinson, show director for Oxford, said, "We felt there was a parallel between the beverage, food and hospitality industries, and we wanted to serve all these segments."

Then, last month, the company revealed an agreement with the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Assn. and the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Assn., to collocate their show, the Arizona Hospitality Expo, with Oxford's events at the LVCC. The Arizona show had been held in Phoenix every year since 1987.

Robinson said she expects the combined events to draw 2,000 exhibiting companies and at least 40,000 attendees.

She said it made sense for Oxford to look outside Nevada for partners in its expansion of the show, because Nightclub & Bar has always been a nationally focused event. The states sending the most attendees have been California, Nevada and Arizona, but among the top 10 are states from the East Coast, Southeast and Midwest as well.

Still, the focus remains on the top three. She cited Nevada Restaurant Assn. statistics indicating that Nevada and Arizona lead the country in restaurant sales. "We are very open to any other West Coast associations that would like the opportunity to help create and be a part of this dynamic event," she said.

One association that declined Oxford's invitation to collocate was the Nevada Hotel & Lodging Assn. That group formerly co-owned the Las Vegas Intl. Hotel & Restaurant Show with the Nevada Restaurant Assn., the American Hotel & Lodging Assn., the Hotel Assn. of New York City and the New York State Hospitality & Tourism Assn.

That show had taken place annually since 1979 (originally in conjunction with the California and Arizona restaurant and hospitality associations), and was expected to draw 400 exhibitors and 4,000 professional attendees to Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino April 4–5. New York-based George Little Management produced the show, which no longer exists.

It ended when the Nevada Hotel & Lodging Assn. declined to follow the Nevada Restaurant Assn. to Oxford's show at the LVCC. Instead, the NHLA hired Questex Media Group to produce a new event, HotelWorld, Sept. 18–20 at Mandalay Bay.

GLM will continue to manage the Intl. Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show, a TSW 200-ranked event that takes place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center of New York each November and is sponsored by the American Hotel & Lodging Assn. and the two New York associations that were involved with the Las Vegas event.

The Nevada Hotel & Lodging Assn. felt Questex, as publisher of Hotel & Motel Management and Hotel Design magazines, was a good fit for its own show, said President Van Heffner, who is also chairman of the Nevada Tourism Commission.

In fact — despite the addition of the Arizona hospitality event to Oxford's show — Heffner doesn't believe it will have anything in common with his show.

"None of the Show is a hotel show," he said. "HotelWorld is a cutting-edge, state-of-the-art, world-class hotel show."

Heffner added that HotelWorld would have an extensive conference program covering every aspect of hotel operations. "It's going to dwarf the gaming show," he said, referring to Oxford's Hospitality Expo. "I've had the privilege to attend (Nightclub & Bar) for years, and it has a completely different focus."

Asked if the new fall dates were a hard sell to participants, Heffner said no, because it had been in the fall many years ago, when it still collocated with the California and Arizona events.

"April is not a good time, because of all the holy days," he added. "Many of my dear Jewish friends couldn't attend because of the scheduling."

Questex's John McMahon said he expected HotelWorld to draw as many as 10,000 total attendees. He's holding 125,000 sq. ft. at Mandalay Bay for the inaugural event.

So, has all the hubbub caught the attention of the Natl. Restaurant Assn.? Yes, but it's not a concern, said Mary Pat Heftman, director of the group's annual Chicago event, the Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show. No. 29 on the most recent TSW 200 at more than a half-million net sq. ft. and 52,233 professional attendees, the NRA show dwarfs all the other events.

"Our show is the largest food show in North and South America," Heftman said. "We draw from every state and see original equipment manufacturers, suppliers and distributors" of every product and service for restaurants and hospitality food and beverage.

Besides, she noted, the state restaurant associations are NRA partners. "Many of them have their own regional events. It doesn't interfere with what we do on a national level," said Heftman.

For her part, Robinson said Las Vegas was the right place for Oxford's show, because the city "represents everything that is great about our industry. Our goal is to create a quality, dynamic event that serves all segments and regions of the hospitality industry, where buyers and sellers can get all their business done in one week in the most exciting city in America."