Head Honchos
-- Tradeshow Week, 6/9/2008
Chairman and CEO
Las Vegas Sands
Sheldon Adelson's certainly an elusive man when it comes to the media. That, however, doesn't stop him from being the subject of countless stories in TSW's pages. The story of how he started COMDEX from scratch, sold it for $800 million, and built the Las Vegas Sands empire is the stuff of tradeshow industry legend.
Everybody knows what kind of powerhouse the Sands complex in Macau has become, with tradeshow organizers elbowing each other to book space there. Then there are the plans for Singapore, for resorts in Kansas (you can look it up) and who knows what else.
But wait … there's more, such as the pitched battle between his neighbor down the Strip (and what seems to be arch-nemesis) Steve Wynn. Adelson told TSW three years ago he would expand the Sands Expo & CC by 800,000 sq. ft. Plans have even been filed with Clark County, Nevada, zoning officials. However, those plans are still quite vague. Meanwhile, Wynn announced his own proposal for a new convention center, practically in the shadow of the Sands-Venetian-Palazzo. Don't expect Adelson to take that sitting down.
As if that weren't enough excitement for a man whom Forbes Magazine has declared the 12th richest in the world, there are a few plans in the works in Nevada that would divert bed-tax revenue to the state budget and away from the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority. And who's behind them? You guessed it, Adelson, motivated by his long-professed belief that the LVCVA, a quasi-governmental entity, has no business competing with him and other private-sector operators.
The bottom line: Expect Adelson's name to show up again the next time TSW puts together one of these lists of the industry's most influential people.
Executive Vice President
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino
It appears that Chuck Bowling isn't going to have time to get too comfortable in his new role as executive vice president of Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. According to Mandalay President and colleague Bill Hornbuckle, Bowling's being groomed to fill Hornbuckle's role and take the helm from him in less than a year. This is no surprise, given Bowling's steady rise to the top at MGM Mirage since he began his Las Vegas tenure at MGM Grand in 1998. Since then, Bowling has held a variety of sales and marketing positions at the company, leading up to his current role overseeing day-to-day operations at Mandalay Bay.
Hornbuckle, who's known Bowling for 10 years, said he believes Bowling's success in the industry is due in part to his friendly nature, an innate ability to establish and build positive relationships with clients, and an uncanny ability to zero in on, package and deliver what they want.
“Above all else, it's his ability to see a piece of business from the client's perspective,” Hornbuckle said. “That is probably his best quality and one of the things that's made him excel in the industry. He's one of the friendliest guys, and clients relate to him instantly. He's a southern gentleman, and he has a way about him.”
A 27-year industry veteran, Bowling also is a well-known, outspoken and respected member of the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, Nevada Commission on Tourism and Travel Industry Assn. of America boards.
President
Reed Exhibitions Americas
The last time TSW published a Power Pack in 2006, Burchett still was considered a new face, someone who had more or less just arrived on the scene. My, how things have changed. Even if one didn't factor in the steady year-over-year revenue growth for Reed Exhibitions, there's still plenty more to talk about.
One of the most significant moves Burchett and Reed Exhibitions Americas made since the last time out was the decision a little more than a year ago to acquire a majority interest in 26 tradeshows in Brazil and create a partnership with the largest tradeshow organizer in South America, Brazil-based Alcantara Machado. It became a new entity, Reed Exhibitions Alcantara Machado.
Alcantara Machado held on to a handful of shows, but the most successful went with the new partnership with Reed Exhibitions Americas: Mecanica, for machinery and industrial supplies; Brasilpack, for packaging; and Fenatec-Primavera/Verao, for textiles.
Also last year, Burchett realigned his top management, leaving him more time to focus on the real growth areas of the business, among them Latin America and health care.
Reed Exhibitions' life sciences group also has seen rapid growth during Burchett's tenure, including expansion of the Interphex brand. In addition, he's overseen swift expansion in security, home enhancement and lifestyle, serves as a member of the World Wide Board of Reed Exhibitions and is responsible for the global development of the company's life science, health care and gaming brands.
Executive Vice President, Exhibitions
Advanstar Communications
Calanca earned his stripes in the tradeshow industry far in advance of being offered the post overseeing Advanstar's exhibition arm. He spent 23 years moving up the ranks at Reed Exhibitions, ending up as senior vice president before striking out on his own in 2003 to found, with three other partners, Infinity Expo, a small, entrepreneurial tradeshow firm. Infinity launched and managed several shows before dissolving in late 2005. Calanca said at the time, “There just wasn't volume there to support four partners. It was good business, just not that much.”
It didn't take long though for someone with Calanca's pedigree to be snatched up by another company. In 2006, he went to work for Advanstar Communications.
In his role at Advanstar, Calanca's responsible for the continued growth and direction of the company's exhibitions, four of which are on the 2008 TSW 200, including No. 6 Las Vegas-based MAGIC Marketplace.
The company's successful strategy of matching its tradeshow and magazine titles, among them 87 events and 60 publications and directories, also has paid off for Calanca and his team. In 2007, private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson made the biggest U.S. acquisition of the year when it bought Advanstar for $1.4 billion.
Now the only question seems to be, with all that fresh capital in hand, which one of the Advanstar divisions – fashion and licensing, life sciences or powersports and automotive – will Calanca expand next?
Senior Vice President, Events and Conferences
Consumer Electronics Assn.
Most years, (the only exceptions being those when the massive triennial CONEXPO-CON/AGG takes place), Intl. CES is the largest tradeshow staged in North America, typically ranked No. 1 on the TSW 200. Chupka oversees the large consumer technology tradeshow, which brings more than 130,000 people to Las Vegas every January for a look at the latest, coolest products and services. The show also prompts more than a few headlines, most having to do with electronics. However, this year's hottest rumor during the show was that it might – just might – move to another city. That was quashed by CEA President Gary Shapiro later in the week when he said Las Vegas was the only place the behemoth could fit.
Chupka's been finding ways to make the show more relevant as on-air broadcasting and mobile communications find common ground in content. Enter the launch of Content@CES at the most recent show, which included exhibitors such as Sony and NBC Universal, providing a forum for next-generation, Hollywood-type content. It's an area where NATPE, the Natl. Assn. of Television Program Executives' annual conference and exhibition, usually dominated, but now Intl. CES is giving that show, also staged in Las Vegas in January, competition, especially with the hiring of Nick Orfanopoulos, former director of NATPE, as a consultant for CES' content section.
With all these changes, and the show's continued growth – 1,857,161 net sq. ft. in January, compared with 2007's 1,804,070 net sq. ft., plus almost 200 additional exhibitors in 2008 for a total of 3,268 – what will 2009 hold?
CEO
dmg world media
It's been a little more than 10 years since Mike Cooke tackled the top post at dmg world media. Since his 1997 appointment, he's led the company's growth from a U.K.-based focus to a global one, acquiring more than 60 companies and increasing annual revenue from $70 million to more than $300 million. Cooke even moved to the United States in 2002, at least in part to facilitate that growth.
It seems to have paid off, too.
The past year has been a busy one, as dmg completed its divestiture of nine consumer shows, including all of its home and garden shows; put what was left of its North American consumer show portfolio on the market (about 40 shows, still awaiting a buyer); and acquired the remaining 51 percent of George Little Management that it didn't already own.
That acquisition moved dmg world media into a tie with Reed Exhibitions for the second-most TSW 200 shows. The company has 10, eight of them GLM-managed. (Nielsen Business Media ranked just ahead of both dmg and Reed Exhibitions with 11.)
Outside of his professional life, Cooke apparently likes a challenge too: He recently completed the Haute Route, a 180-kilometer (112-mile) journey by foot and skis from Chamonix, France, to Zermatt, Switzerland.
President
Nielsen Business Media
Last year was a roller coaster ride for Nielsen executives like Farrar. Longtime tradeshow veteran and Nielsen CEO Robert L. Krakoff died unexpectedly. Farrar, who was COO at the time, stepped in, led the division and was eventually named president.
Some would say it takes a certain kind of person to not only keep things together during a difficult time, but also lead the troops. In that case, Nielsen has been served well: Farrar's a former U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer.
His years in the tradeshow industry were a plus too. In 1986, Farrar started his career with the Capitol Convention and Exhibit Company before shifting in 1992 to Bill Communications where he was appointed president of the BillCom Exposition and Conference Group and then promoted to vice president of corporate services for the parent company.
In 2000, Farrar became senior vice president of business development for (then) VNU Business Media where he played a leading role in the acquisition of Miller Freeman USA, a $200 million business media company made up of more than 70 magazines, tradeshows and conferences.
Since landing the top gig at Nielsen, Farrar's spearheaded the formation of an entertainment group that will include ShoWest, ShowEast, Cinema Expo Intl. and CineAsia Exposition, as well print publications such as Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter and Back Stage.
Reorganizing Nielsen's shows and print titles, pushing a digital agenda and revamping show management at some of the company's biggest shows are just a few of the many things Farrar's had on his plate in his new role.
President
Intl. Assn. of Exhibitions and Events
Since Hacker began his association management career almost 40 years ago, he's served on dozens of boards and as a key staff member, executive, consultant and adviser. Highly visible as an exhibition industry association leader, he helped build IAEE's membership from less than 2,600 when he went to work in 1992 at what was then called the Natl. Assn. of Exhibition Managers to more than 9,000 individuals today.
Hacker sent a message that the organization was broadening its scope by renaming it the Intl. Assn. for Exhibition Management in the 1990s. Then, in 2006, that scope was further broadened by another new name, this time the Intl. Assn. of Exhibitions and Events.
Proving the new nomenclature is far more than symbolism, IAEE has forged alliances with 17 international, national and regional exhibition industry associations with overseas offices now in Brussels, Belgium; Singapore; and Beijing. Hacker's pushed for greater recognition of exhibitions as a legitimate marketing medium and for the easing of visa requirements for overseas participants at U.S. tradeshows.
He was named Industry Leader of the Year in 2005 by the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Last year, he received the New York Society of Assn. Executives' Vision Award and was inducted into the Convention Industry Council's Hall of Leaders. Hacker also is a member of the American Society of Assn. Executives and sits on the boards of the Travel Industry Assn. and the Convention Industry Council.
President
Merchandise Mart Properties Inc.
Merchandise Mart Properties manages somewhere around 10 million sq. ft. of exhibit space in several American cities and mounts more than 300 trade and consumer events every year. However, it was two blockbuster announcements in the past year that have pushed Kennedy on to the list of the most influential people in the tradeshow business at this moment.
The first was the news that MMPI would develop a medical mart in Cleveland that would provide the city with a much needed convention center. At the same time, it would create hundreds of thousands of square feet of permanent exhibit space for pharmaceutical and medical device companies in a region that is dense with health care facilities.
Then, there was the announcement that MMPI would spend $100 million for an expansion of Pier 94 on the west side of New York City. If MMPI can successfully run the famously intractable New York political gauntlet, the city will end up with about 400,000 sq. ft. of desperately needed exhibit space just blocks from the Jacob K. Javits CC, which appears as if it will continue to be the size it is now for some time to come.
Kennedy's been president of MMPI since 2000, but he went to work as a research analyst in 1987 at what was then essentially a family business. Vornado Realty Trust bought Merchandise Mart Properties from Kennedy's family in 1998. Among the properties MMPI operates and holds shows in are the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, L.A. Mart and the Boston Design Center.
President and CEO
E.J. Krause & Associates
Long before the tradeshow business was truly global, Ned Krause opened offices and produced events around the world. In 1979, Krause and his father went to work at Clapp & Poliak Intl. They saw globalization coming: China was just beginning to open up, but even before that, the elder Krause had spent more than 20 years running the U.S. Dept. of Commerce's bureau of export development, starting many of the DOC's exhibitor programs in the late 1950s and early '60s.Father and son received permission to stage the very first exhibition in China, Electronics China, that brought 85 exhibitors from the United States. In 1984, they founded EJK and produced a single event. Since then, Ned Krause has built an international operation that eventually became the most extensive of any U.S.-based tradeshow organizer.
Today, the ExpoComm China telecom show alone attracts more than 250,000 visitors. The show, launched in Beijing in 1986, was the foundation for the Krause strategy: Build a global sales and marketing infrastructure that could help buyers and sellers throughout the world connect with one another.
Today, nine ExpoComm events are held each year around the world. EJK produces more than 80 events a year in 16 different industries, employing more than 230 people. In 2007, IAEE awarded the Pinnacle Award, its highest individual honor, to Krause for his advancement of exhibition and event management through education, disseminated knowledge, introduction or development of innovative techniques and dedication to industry ideals and professionalism.
Chairman and CEO
Apprise Media and Canon Communications
Want to know what it takes to start a successful company? Ask McCurdy; he's done it more than once.
As co-founder, president and director of Primedia, he oversaw the acquisition, development and growth of more than 20 platform niche media companies. He was the driving force behind the company's entrance into the enthusiast and B-to-B magazine markets, as well as consumer guides, specialty video, supplemental educational publishing and their related online and digital media properties.
McCurdy also was a pioneer with the successful model that any B-to-B company that wants to stick around for a while has since adopted – a portfolio with a combination of print, live events and digital products.
In 2004, McCurdy rolled the dice again with the launch of Apprise Media. That led to the acquisition of three platform companies under the Apprise umbrella: Canon Communications, as well as Beckett Media and Action Pursuit Group, which together form Apprise Enthusiast Media.
McCurdy's philosophy on how to conquer a market sector is apparent by the strategy he and his team at Canon have undertaken to be the dominant force in the advanced manufacturing sector. What started as a handful of shows has now mushroomed into a series of collocated events, sometimes as many as eight at one time, in different regions around the United States. As if that weren't enough, McCurdy has both launched and acquired even more shows overseas.
President
Freeman
Right now Popolo's president of Freeman, but come July, his title will be reduced to three letters: CEO. The company announced in April that current CEO Donald S. Freeman Jr. will step aside and Popolo, Freeman's son-in-law, will take his place heading the company. Freeman will continue as chairman.
Popolo didn't start his career in the service contracting side of the business. Prior to joining Freeman, he was government affairs representative for Roadway Services in Washington, D.C. He joined Freeman as assistant treasurer in 1997, was promoted to vice president of finance and treasurer in 1999 and named president in 2001.
If the past year at Freeman is any indication of the future, Popolo's going to have quite the legacy to keep up with. The company snagged service contracts with two of the country's largest shows, the Natl. Assn. of Broadcasters' show NAB, ranked No. 14 on the 2008 TSW 200, and the triennial NPE – The Intl. Plastics Showcase, owned by The Society of the Plastics Industry, ranked No. 12 on the 2007 TSW 200 (for the 2006 show).
At the same time, the company's diversified beyond the realm of a mere general service contractor by entering the face-to-face marketing world with the purchase last year of ProActive to better help its clients understand and enhance their brands.
The company also inked a strategic partnership with BDMetrics earlier this year to allow exhibitors the opportunity to use that company's matchmaking and social networking technology for marketing purposes.
President and CEO
Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority
Mayor Oscar Goodman has said three people hold the title of Mr. Las Vegas: Wayne Newton, the mayor himself, and the LVCVA's Ralenkotter. Having recently celebrated his 35th anniversary with the authority, it would seem as if Ralenkotter could now rest on his laurels.
Business is booming; the Vegas brand's known worldwide. Las Vegas hosted 357,000 convention visitors at 305 conventions when Ralenkotter joined the LVCVA in 1973; last year, 6.2 million convention visitors attended 23,847 conventions in Las Vegas. In March, the Las Vegas Hospitality Assn. handed out its first Distinction Awards, giving Ralenkotter the Legacy Award – but that doesn't mean he's done yet.
In fact, he's got a goal to bring 43 million visitors – both for business and leisure – to Las Vegas by 2009. To accomplish that goal, he'll have some help: Somewhere in the neighborhood of $42 billion will be invested in new resorts, convention centers and casinos over the next decade. Along with that will come 35,000 new hotel rooms.
There are challenges though, like that $890 million phased enhancement of the Las Vegas CC that's just about to – no, really – get underway. At the same time, there could be the kind of local political problem Ralenkotter might not have been used to in the past. Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson is backing a couple of state-wide initiatives that would divert bed-tax revenue away from institutions like the LVCVA (and its convention center project) to other needs in the state. The Las Vegas bureau has an annual budget of $280 million, so this is not exactly a minor blip on the path to ultimate success.
Chairman, President and CEO
Gaylord Entertainment
Since Reed joined Gaylord Entertainment in 2001, he's been a man with a plan – and he's stuck with it. The plan was pretty simple: build all-inclusive convention center-hotel properties near major cities around the United States, court a specific segment of the tradeshow and meeting industry that likes to rotate its meetings around the country, and book them.
The plan's definitely worked. Reed's led the company's strategic reorganization as a hospitality and entertainment conglomerate. Now Gaylord has four convention center-hotel properties, including the recently opened Gaylord Natl. Resort & Convention Center in Natl. Harbor, Md., right outside Washington, D.C.; the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, close to Dallas; the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, Fla., near Orlando; and the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in the company's hometown of Nashville, Tenn.
Gaylord Entertainment also has gone on record stating it intends to replicate its plan in the country's top 20 to 30 convention markets. At the moment, it's working with the city of Chula Vista, Calif., to build a new convention-center hotel just south of San Diego.
Reed comes by the expertise to pull off such a strategy naturally. His experience includes a stint with the Holiday Inn Intl. Group in Europe before moving over to the parent company, Holiday Corp., and eventually another one of its brands, Harrah's Casinos.
Chairman and CEO
Reed Exhibitions
Rusbridge is an obvious choice here. His resume's a chronicle of his 30-year exhibition industry career, which has taken him from sales executive with Clapp & Poliak (1978) to managing director of Cahners Exhibitions (1982), president of Reed Exhibitions Europe and Asia (1994) and finally chairman of Reed Exhibitions worldwide (1996). In 2000, he oversaw Reed Exhibitions' successful acquisition of Miller Freeman Europe, adding 1 million sq. m. (10.7 million sq. ft.) of exhibition space to Reed's already well-established portfolio, making it the world's largest exhibition organizer.
During his career at Reed Exhibitions, Rusbridge has developed the company's global network into one of brand strength, industry knowledge and organizational expertise while negotiating a series of partnerships and acquisitions with venues, organizers, trade associations and government bodies.
In the past few years, with Chet Burchett, president ofReed Exhibitions Americas,focusing on the Western Hemisphere, Rusbridge has overseen a dramatic expansion of Reed's presence in emerging economies, opening new offices in Russia, India and the Middle East. He's expanded Reed's presence in China with three joint venture partnerships – including one with Sinopharm, a major Chinese pharmaceutical firm, to produce medical shows. And in 2007, Reed also expanded its activities in Latin America. Today, Reed Exhibitions organizes more than 500 events in 38 countries, employing more than 2,600 event specialists in 39 offices that serve 47 industries worldwide.
With Rusbridge at the helm, Reed Exhibitions has remained focused on delivering the goods to its event customers while simultaneously growing its strategic presence online.
Vice President, Exhibitions
Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers
Only one show manager can lay claim to managing two of three shows that consistently appear at the top of the TSW 200: Megan Tanel. As vice president of the Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers, she oversees all of the organization's U.S.-based shows, including the triennial mega-shows CONEXPO-CON/AGG that had close to 144,600 attendees and 2,182 exhibitors on a 2.28 million sq. ft. showfloor at the Las Vegas CC this year, and ICUEE (Intl. Construction and Utility Equipment Exposition), which in 2005 had 9,934 attendees and 805 exhibitors on a 1 million sq. ft.-plus showfloor at the Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center in Louisville.
How did Tanel end up with such a big job? The old-fashioned way – she earned it. Tanel joined AEM in 1995 as an exhibits assistant and held a series of exhibition-related posts that included exhibits manager and director of exposition services. She helped launch the AEM-produced World of Asphalt Show & Conference in 2001 and shepherded it, as an exhibits manager and show manager, to three TSW Fastest 50 awards.
She was named CONEXPO director in 2006 and ICUEE director in 2007.
Just in case she doesn't have enough to do, Tanel also is responsible for AEM's international exhibit pavilions program that provides turnkey services to help smaller, new-to-market companies participate in international tradeshows in Europe, China and Brazil, including BAUMA and INTERMAT.
