A Sale and a Handshake Win the West

Randall-Reilly brings fighting truck factions back together in Vegas

By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 2/19/2007

Randall-Reilly Publishing has healed the rift between the California Trucking Assn. and its former show management firm, Independent Trade Show Management — a rift that had torn the Western U.S. trucking industry in two.

In 2004, following more than a year of disagreement over the best timing and location for the Intl. Trucking Show, owner CTA and longtime manager ITSM parted ways. The CTA moved the show back to its former home in Anaheim in September; ITSM launched its own June event, The Truck Show, in Las Vegas where the Intl. Trucking Show had been for eight years.

Despite both sides' best efforts — for instance, the CTA hired big-gun automotive show organizer ConvExx, which moved Intl. Trucking to Los Angeles — neither of the separate events could out-do the other and achieve the mass they'd had as one. Truck drivers and other members remained loyal to the association, while fleet operators preferred Las Vegas. Original equipment manufacturers seemed divided.

With both shows flagging, changes behind the scenes increased their vulnerability. In 2005, a California court dismissed a lawsuit filed two years earlier by the CTA claiming breach of contract and unfair business practices. Last year, CTA President Joel Anderson, who had led the association through the contentious period, retired because of health problems.

This is the scene Randall-Reilly stepped into, buying The Truck Show for an undisclosed sum on Jan. 31. The deal made perfect sense: Randall-Reilly produces The Great American Trucking Show, held each August in Dallas. At 165,000 net square feet, 506 exhibiting firms and 40,663 professional attendees, Great American came in at No. 160 on the most recent Tradeshow Week 200. It was also the fastest-growing trade-consumer hybrid show in this year's TSW Fastest 50.

The show's executive director, Alan Sims, noted that Randall-Reilly has been following a strategy of growth through acquisition since Wachovia Capital Partners bought a controlling interest in the company in November 2005.

"With Wachovia becoming involved, there were a number of magazines and shows the company's been interested in as part of the plan for growing our tradeshow platform," Sims said.

With the change in ownership of The Truck Show, everyone's first question naturally was: Will the California Trucking Assn. reunite with its former show participants in Las Vegas?

The answer is yes.

On Feb. 12, Randall-Reilly struck an agreement with the association, according to which "the CTA will become a sponsor of The Truck Show and will cease to produce their Intl. Trucking Show," Sims said. The association will not own part of the show, he explained, but will be "a significant part of our effort to grow the show" by promoting it to members. In addition, the CTA will help develop conference sessions at the show.

Michael Campbell, CTA executive vice president and CEO, lauded the decision; "It will be good for our members — and the entire industry — to be able to attend one annual event in the West."

Roger Sherrard, president of Independent Trade Show Management, said he wasn't looking for a buyer for the Truck Show when Randall-Reilly approached him. "It took some talking into," he said. "I wasn't interested at first, but I'd have been stupid not to listen."

Not only was the offer too good to refuse, said Sherrard, but he also knew Sims and some other Randall-Reilly staff who used to work with him, and believed they would use their industry knowledge to better the show.

In addition, running the show was wearing Sherrard down. Between him and his father, ITSM had run the trucking show, in one form or another, for a quarter-century.

"I fought long and hard to make the Las Vegas show work, through all the issues with the CTA," he said. "I've been working real hard for a long time, as any small business owner does. The lawsuits and the fighting — I'm glad to have all that behind me."

Sherrard will no longer be involved with The Truck Show, except as a consultant during the transition. He will continue to manage his two other events, the Truck Show Latino and the Construction Truck and Equipment Expo.

Sims said, apart from the CTA's support, he was planning no major changes for this year's Truck Show, scheduled June 7–9 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. "You'll start to notice some subtle changes leading up to '07, and as the '08 event rolls around, you'll see more significant changes, with it becoming a more significant event."

According to ITSM, the 2006 show drew 15,002 attendees and 366 exhibitors. Although Sims said he had only modest expectations for growth in 2007, "as soon as the deal was announced, our phone started ringing. People are excited about having one show in the West again."

Sims said his research indicated that, since the 2004 separation between the CTA and ITSM, each show had been drawing a different audience, with very little overlap between the two.

"At one time there was one show with 500 exhibitors and 30,000 attendees, so we see the potential for one show again that's at least that big," he said. In addition, the company can bring to bear its resources and expertise — including 10 publications, Web sites and other media properties for the trucking industry — to market the show as never before.

Randall-Reilly still has a way to go, however, before catching the United States' largest show for the trucking business, the Mid-America Trucking Show. Held each late March or early April at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky., the Exhibit Management Associates-owned show placed No. 18 on the most recent TSW 200 with 746,809 net sq. ft., 1,080 exhibiting firms and 75,650 professional attendees.