Little Shows Get No Respect

According to local press reports, there's been a battle brewing in El Paso, Texas, pitting poor little David, also known as the Borderland Trade Show for the maquiladora industry, against Goliath, also known as the U.S. Bowling Congress.

It seems the maquiladora event, produced by Borderland Network Productions and held every spring for the last 20 years at the Judson F. Williams Convention Center, had the audacity to plan its show in its usual timeframe for 2010, backed up with what the organizer claims is a binding contract, exactly when the U.S. Bowling Congress proposed to bring thousands of women bowlers, and their money, to town.

The convention center's manager, SMG, offered up the facility for any dates in the first six months of 2010 to the bowlers, effectively telling Borderland, "Your little show may have to go elsewhere." Borderland (and its show that brings 6,000 attendees every year) dug in its heels and promptly sued SMG. The bowling congress decided things were just too messy for it at that point and started negotiations with another city. The El Paso City Council jumped into action and authorized the city attorney's office to settle the lawsuit between Borderland and SMG, agreeing to pay for the settlement itself, in hopes of luring the bowlers back.

Now, everything seems to be up in the air. If El Paso and SMG can sweet-talk the bowlers back, and they bump Borderland off its dates, the organizer gets a cash settlement and a few other considerations for its displaced show. But if the bowlers go elsewhere, the maquiladora show will go on as planned at the center in 2010.

What this all says at the end of the day is pretty clear: A small show often gets no respect.

What show is really safe when a bigger, more lucrative event can come along at any time and crush it? And, what responsibility does a facility have to a company it's done business with for 20 years? In this case, it seemed like a pretty good deal to possibly settle for a few hundred thousand dollars if it meant bringing in many times that to the local economy.

Borderland isn't the only show fighting for respect. In fact, most consumer show producers are reading this and saying, "Tell me about it." Advanstar's Cycle World Intl. Motorcycle Show series, consumer events that travel to 13 cities annually between November and the beginning of March, often struggles for dates.

Advanstar's Jeff D'Entremont, group show and business development director, mentioned the case of a city in the past giving him specific dates for a show and then taking them back when a tradeshow lined up during the same time period. Advanstar's show, and its loyal, local motorcycle enthusiast crowds, who spend lots of money for a fun day out with the family, are a plus for any city — but after not feeling the love in some places, the motorcycle show has had to go elsewhere.

D'Entremont suggested cities that bypass shows such as his that come back every year and continue to grow, in favor of the heads on beds a bigger tradeshow might bring to town for a few days and never return, should consider the value of loyalty and the longer-term economic picture. I, for one, couldn't agree more.