Duesseldorf's Man in America

Messe Duesseldorf is a major player in the exhibition industry, both in Germany and internationally. Its subsidiary, Messe Duesseldorf North America, represents the parent company's interests on this side of the pond, promoting the firm's shows, primarily those in Germany, but also others throughout the world.

As a consequence, MDNA President Thomas Mitchell has had one foot in the U.S. and the other in Germany for almost his entire career. The Chicago native went to work at MDNA in 1993, promoting global tradeshows such as drupa, K, Medica, interpack and boot Duesseldorf. In 1996, Mitchell moved to New York to open Messe Duesseldorf's new Manhattan office, where he oversaw marketing for three German trade fair organizers: Messe Duesseldorf, Messe Essen and Igedo. Three years later, he returned to MDNA's Chicago office and, in November 2005, succeeded Frank Thorwirth as the company's president, responsible for all of Messe Duesseldorf's activities in North America.

TSW Contributing Editor Gary Tufel spoke with Mitchell recently about the global enterprise that is Messe Duesseldorf, and what it's like to work so far from his company's home office back in Germany.

Question: Representing a German company's interests in the United States is not a job you see in the classified ads every day. How did you get it?

Answer: I was in the right place at the right time. I was interested in German and European history and politics, and had studied German since high school. I did a summer semester exchange program in Germany and toured Europe. I entered the tradeshow industry right out of Michigan State, where I majored in German.

Some friends of my parents had a son whose friend had a colleague at MDNA, at a time when MDNA wanted to bring someone in. When I began in June 1993, I had no idea of the scope of this industry.

Q: What exactly does MDNA do?

A: It serves two equally important roles: as a sales and marketing center, and as a service center for our tradeshow program. From the first inquiry about one of our shows straight through to on-site implementation, customers only need to make one phone call. Messe Duesseldorf's goal is to bring and serve our customers to markets all over the world, and MDNA is an integral part of that philosophy.

Q: Are there really that many American and Canadian buyers and sellers who can't find what they need at shows in their own countries?

A: Most of the shows here are not international. Duesseldorf shows, especially those like interpack, drupa and K, are not necessarily German shows. They have 50-percent or more non-German participation, especially from Southeast Asia, China and Eastern Europe. You can't find that at U.S. shows, which don't have the same scope.

Q. Messe Duesseldorf has more than 80 events outside Germany. What's your involvement with them?

A: Our mission is to America, but we certainly work with our sister operations in those countries and others, such as Singapore. We help promote those shows and send customers to them. The bulk of our customers go to our shows in Duesseldorf, but we're trying to increase their presence at our shows in other countries.

Q: What will be the main growth areas for Messe Duesseldorf in the coming years?

A: The Asian exhibition markets are considered to have the highest growth potential in the near future. In booming regions such as Shanghai, the exhibition industry has been achieving average growth rates higher than 20 percent since the beginning of the millennium. Messe Duesseldorf organizes exhibitions each year with a regional focus upon Eastern Europe (Russia and the Czech Republic) and Asia (China and India). Our international subsidiaries in all of the aforementioned markets are successfully expanding their show portfolios.

Q: From your unique vantage point, what do you see as the biggest challenge facing the German exhibition industry?

A: For an American-German business, it is the decline of the U.S. dollar. While we encourage American companies to increase their exports to make use of the favorable exchange rate, we face the challenge of the high initial investment to take part in our events in Germany.

Q: Who are your competitors?

A: Most of our leading tradeshows in Duesseldorf have a significant edge, in terms of size, internationality and quality, compared to other shows in Germany. The competing shows have different target groups on the exhibitor and visitor side. Some have a more local or regional focus.

As for our international activities, that depends on the topic and region of the respective tradeshow. In our main industries, the German trade fair companies normally are not our major competitors. We are competing with other international players or regional organizers.

In the international business, we may even team up with other German organizers.

Q: What's it like to work so far away from your boss?

A: It's mostly good. I've been around a long time, and we have a lot of latitude to run this market as we see fit. If Messe Duesseldorf thought it could run the North American operation from Germany, we wouldn't have this office.

We are in daily contact with the home office, and they are there when we need them, but the seven-hour time difference between Chicago and Duesseldorf is sometimes an issue. We get support from them. Our colleagues from Germany come to our shows here, and we go there for our shows and pavilions.

About three or four of our German colleagues per year come here for six weeks each to work in our office, see how we operate and brush up on their English. We get to know each other and, when they return to Germany, they have a better understanding of our operations.

Q: How do American and German show management firms differ?

A: There's a large difference. We own our shows and our facilities in Germany. Here, you have a few for-profits and a lot of associations that run their own shows. Having our own shows in our own facilities makes it easier to run and promote them.

But we do have guest events. Reed Exhibitions, whose German operation is based in Duesseldorf, stages events in our facilities.

Q: How about philosophical differences?

A: It depends on the company. Germans sometimes take the more long-term, strategic view. In the U.S., two shows in the same industry can fragment that industry.

In America, which is much bigger than Germany, the market is oversaturated. Also, shows rotate from location to location. In Germany, each industry holds its show in a specific city.

Tradeshows have a huge economic impact on German cities, which depend on that revenue. The printing industry's city is Duesseldorf, for instance, and the drupa print show will never be held in Hannover; there's no question about that. Hotels and other businesses can depend on that show.

In the U.S. - except for cities like Chicago - many cities, especially second-tier cities but even top destinations, have to sweat out tradeshow bookings and actively pursue them.

Q: What are the highlights of your career with MDNA?

A: Having been a part of MDNA for nearly 15 years, I have been fortunate to have had an extremely broad range of experiences. I'm proud that our customer base has continued to grow, our operations have become more efficient and we have been able to exceed revenue forecasts each year since I became president.

Q: Any challenges ahead?

A: I obviously want to continue to attract new exhibitors to the fairs Duesseldorf has to offer, especially to our events in places like China, Russia, Southeast Asia and Central Europe. Messe Duesseldorf specializes in successful partnerships all over the world, and I want to use my knowledge and network to be instrumental in helping expand our global reach.

Q: What's the next step for someone like you? Are there many Americans working in Duesseldorf?

A: There's only one, (Managing Director) Joachim Schafer, who is German-born, but an American citizen. There are a few who have worked in the States, a couple of British and some Europeans.

I've been here longer than the average American stays at their job, but I have no immediate goal other than to stay here. I've been president of MDNA for over two years, and there's a lot to do. There's room to grow here and overseas, and to grow American participation at our overseas shows.