Show Location: Small Firms Stick Close to Home

By Stephanie Corbin -- Tradeshow Week, 3/26/2007

This was the first year for the Katy Home & Garden Show in the Houston suburb of Katy, Texas, but it won't be the last.

"It was kind of a theory, if you will, about what we saw as trends in the market," said Robyn Cade, who owns RJC Productions with her husband Jeff. The company owns the show and launched three others — Katy Kid & Baby Expo, Katy Women's Expo and Katy Christmas Show — that will be held later this year for the first time.

A Tradeshow Week study of independent for-profit companies identified several similarities among them. While show business entrepreneurs often look completely different, an overwhelming number of those with four or fewer shows in their portfolios run consumer shows and believe in staying close to home — not launching shows in Las Vegas or Orlando, but in places more like, well, Katy, Texas. Some work that way because of the cost savings, some because of the convenience, some because of the market trends they see.

"We started the events in Katy because people are tending more, in our region at least, to want a show closer to their homes," Cade said. She noticed other shows in suburban venues drawing 3,000 to 5,000 attendees and hoped the Katy Home & Garden Show would draw between 5,000 and 10,000 people.

"It was a huge success," she said, noting attendance for the first-time show was 7,742. "We were absolutely thrilled, and so were our exhibitors." The show, held Jan. 27–28 at the Leonard E. Merrell Center, had 261 exhibiting companies on a 35,000 net square foot showfloor.

"It's amazing how well it was received," she added.

RJC Productions also owned the Houston Home & Interior Design Show, but Cade said it's been canceled in favor of the similar show in the Houston suburb.

Locating in the same area as the show manager's residence also adds a personal aspect to the business.

"You can only do so much by phone," Cade said of show planning. "People want to meet you, to see you, to know what you're about."

Plus, she said, "It makes it a lot easier being close to home and not having to stay in a hotel. It's nice to come home every night, even though you're setting up a show and running it."

Cade also likes having the events in the community where she lives and works.

"It helps with the knowledge of the community more," she said. "It gives you a better understanding of what you have to offer."

Rita Gramsch, president of Intl. Showcase Associates, agreed.

"I know the local market, and I know the advertising market," she said. The company owns Creativ Festival, the new name of the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival, held in Toronto in the spring and fall. The show lets attendees "give it a try" with small seminars in the spring and classes at the conference in the fall.

Intl. Showcase Associates, based in Richmond Hill, a Toronto suburb, has only the two shows in its portfolio.

"We have an ongoing relationship with the (Metro Toronto) Convention Centre and the (Toronto) Intl. Centre, the two venues where we have the events," Gramsch added. Being located in the community allows her to serve on committees that discuss future plans for the venues and give her opinions on the needs she sees. "We wouldn't be able to do that to the same extent (otherwise)," she said.

For three years, she also had seven regional shows spread throughout Canada, in addition to the Toronto versions. Gramsch made the decision to drop them and concentrate strictly on the Toronto market.

"This was the strongest show always," Gramsch said. "I thought, 'OK, bring the people to us so we could make this the largest show of its kind.'"

And that's what the company's done. The fall show had roughly 70,000 net sq. ft. of exhibit space, about 375 exhibiting companies and 40,000 attendees.

Gramsch said, in her case, less is more. In fact, the main reason she has two shows — rather than just one — is to provide her with cash flow throughout the year.

"We're such a specialized market," she said, centering on the crafting niche — textile, fiber, paper crafting and beading. "We're able to focus on that."

Many of the event's attendees also come from Ontario, and working and locating in that market gives Gramsch a better handle on the area.

"You keep on top of what is working and what isn't working," she said. Regional differences made that difficult when the show rotated from area to area.

Sometimes the location of a show is primarily about convenience.

That was the case for the Maryland Home & Garden Show, said Jay Plummer, vice president of S & L Productions. The company is located in the Baltimore suburb of Glen Burnie and held the show in Baltimore before moving it to the Maryland State Fairgrounds in another nearby suburb, Timonium, in 1991.

"There was more space and free parking," Plummer added.

The show's most recent installment had approximately 76,000 gross sq. ft., about 120 exhibiting companies and 10,358 attendees, including exhibitors.

"It's a lot more convenient if you need to go back to the office for something, rather than making sure you have everything the first time," Plummer added.

Plus, it's naturally a benefit to have the show in a location the company's familiar with, making it easier to connect with attendees and exhibitors.

Others, of course, say location is irrelevant.

"I don't think it makes a difference," said Dick Johnson, owner of Cox/Johnson in Omaha, Neb. "You can do a show anyplace if you're set up and have the personnel."

Still, only one of the four shows Cox/Johnson owns — the Omaha Boat, Sports & Travel Show; Midwest Boat Show; Omaha Home & Builders Show; and Mid-Nebraska Boat, Sports & Travel Show — is held somewhere besides Qwest Center Omaha. The Mid-Nebraska Boat, Sports & Travel Show takes place at the Heartland Events Center in Grand Island, Neb.

Bar Hodgson Productions has taken shows all over Canada in the past, but now has both its shows, North American Intl. Motorcycle Supershow and Toronto Intl. Spring Motorcycle Show, at the Toronto Intl. Centre, almost 50 miles from the company's office in Ashburn, Ontario.

"Yes, it is easier," Hodgson, show owner and producer, said of locating the shows near the office, "but that doesn't make it impossible to go elsewhere."

When the show is out of town, there is the additional cost of airplane tickets and hotel rooms, but "none of these things are insurmountable," he added.

Hodgson noted the benefits of working closer to home, though. It's easier to meet with the venue staff, and there is little travel involved for his four full-time employees.

The company has tweaked the show over the years to grow at the same rate as the venue. January's show had about 270,000 net sq. ft. of exhibits, roughly 450 exhibiting companies and close to 60,000 attendees.