June 2005
Can a show survive a struggling industry?

Every industry faces ups and downs. But when the industry is down, the show doesn’t have to be. Here’s how to keep your show going strong even as your industry deals with challenge and change.

By Nancy Mann Jackson

In late 2001, the International Association of Airport Duty-Free Stores (IAADFS, www.iaadfs.org) was hit with a double whammy. Not only did the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 bring the travel industry to a screeching halt, but merger-and-acquisition activity in the retail sector meant the duty-free industry began shrinking considerably. Rather than giving in to the challenges facing the industry, show organizers decided it was more important than ever for the association’s Duty Free Show of the Americas to go on, and they made a commitment to ensure that a challenged industry didn’t translate to a dying show.

“The travel downturn after 9/11 was dramatic; air travel was down substantially so duty-free stores were affected by that,” says Michael Payne, Senior Executive Vice President of SmithBucklin Corp. (www.smithbucklin.com), producer of the show. “The simultaneous trend of mergers and acquisitions had a tremendous impact on suppliers to the duty-free industry.”

For instance, one alcohol supplier who usually sent 60 people to the show each year was bought out by a competitor, eliminating 60 attendees with one fell swoop, Payne says. And in addition to alcohol suppliers, the M&A activity also affected other lines of business including fashion, jewelry and perfume.

“All the changes impacted the number of exhibitors and the amount of space they bought, our registration numbers, and our marketing and sponsorship budgets,” Payne says. “There was a lot of uncertainty and lack of dollars, and there was no clear direction yet. In a situation like that, you know you’re going to take a revenue hit, so the question is how do you continue to offer value and hold a relevant show.”

IAADFS answered that question by refocusing its priorities based on the needs of the industry at the time. Stability and continuity topped the list. “We wanted to present a sense of stability in a time that was chaotic for many,” Payne says. “That meant focusing on increasing the numbers of buyers in attendance, and it meant going into our reserves for a couple of years to subsidize some activities and events that would have normally been sponsored.”

While overall numbers were down, organizers worked hard to bring in high-quality buyers to the show, spending more time and money marketing to buyers than usual — and publicizing the strength of the buyers in attendance. By dipping into the association’s reserve funds, show organizers were able to offer several new components to the show, such as a free lunch, raffle prizes, and quality entertainment. “That’s why you have reserves,” Payne says. As a result, IAADFS increased the buyer-to-supplier ratio, which ensured that the exhibitors who were in attendance could complete plenty of business during the show.

“People noticed some decline in overall attendance, but we came back at them and talked about the quality of the buyer,” Payne says. “This show is a buying show; people place lots of orders on the floor. So we emphasized that the show creates a buying environment and, if that environment is successful for you, the fact that there are fewer buyers out there shouldn’t matter.”

By 2004, changes and uncertainty in the industry had mostly diminished, and the Duty Free Show of the Americas more closely resembled its pre-2001 version. But the challenges it faced are not unique; every industry will likely confront similar struggles or changes at some point. A show manager’s ability to deal with and overcome those changes will determine whether an industry’s trade show can survive, even as the industry itself may be failing.

So how do you prepare for the times when your industry will face challenges, and how will you deal with them when they arrive? Here, managers who have maintained successful shows in struggling industries offer their advice and best practices for keeping the show going when the industry meets obstacles. 

Stay in touch
The best show managers are never blindsided by a shift in their industries because they continually stay updated on the news and trends in the field. For example, the manufacturing industry has struggled for several years, but one of the industry’s major trade shows, National Manufacturing Week, continues to serve its market well.

“We’re immersed in the manufacturing industry,” says Kel Marsden-Kish, Vice President of National Manufacturing Week at Reed Exhibitions (www.reedexpo.com). “We really have our fingers on the marketplace, so we know what to expect.” Marsden-Kish stays in touch with his industry by reading the trade press on a regular basis, closely monitoring attendance numbers from year to year, commissioning an outside research study, and communicating with attendees and exhibitors at his show.

That simple communication with show attendees is often overlooked but can be invaluable for staying tuned in to the industry, according to Bill Sell, Managing Partner for Advisor Communications (www.advisorcomm.com), which produces the newly reinvented Comnet Summit. “You have to get out there and talk to the industry, the people who should be the customers — and not two or three of them, but talk to four or five a week,” Sell says. “As a show manager, getting out there is the most important part of the job but the hardest thing to do. Don’t wait until closer to your show; be out there talking today. It’s not about your event; it’s about what they’re doing today and what they want or need.”

What you can do
When you’re in touch with your industry, it’s not difficult to realize when changes are warranted. “The signs are easy to pick up on when you’re paying attention to the industry,” Payne says. “Then you just have to figure out how to continue offering value.”

Various shows have found unique ways to continue offering value while their industries struggle or change around them. With input from show attendees and exhibitors, show managers must define the most fitting solution for their group.

Changing Locations. For National Manufacturing Week, remaining viable in the face of an unpredictable industry means changing venues. Beginning in 2006, the show will relocate from its longtime home at Chicago’s McCormick Place to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in nearby Rosemont, IL.

“Networking and building community is more important when an industry is struggling,” Marsden-Kish says. “My goal was to keep the manufacturing industry together, and I wanted to make it easy for attendees to come and to get education, as well as networking. The move to Rosemont allows us to build that community. Downtown, when the show floor closes, everyone scatters. But in the new location, there are five hotels right next to the convention center so everyone stays nearby.” In addition, the new location is easier to get to, just five minutes from the airport, and the venue is less expensive. All savings will be passed along to exhibitors and attendees, Marsden-Kish says.

Changing Formats. Changes in technology and mergers in the telecommunications industry led to the closing of the Comnet show last year. When Advisor Communications acquired rights to the Comnet name and began plans to re-launch the show, organizers knew changes would have to be made. After numerous companies in the industry had merged or been acquired by others, there was no market for the 1,700-booth, 50,000-attendee show that Comnet once was.

“We tried to determine whether we could make it relevant but not have such a large format,” Sell says. “Lots of companies want to exhibit but don’t want to buy a 50-foot booth. We decided on a summit format, with a heavy conference focus and a small tabletop trade show.” For the first time, this year’s Comnet Summit will be held in a hotel rather than a convention center, which works better for the conference format, Sell says. In addition, show planners have allotted specific times for the conference, specific times for the expo, and specific times for keynotes, so none of the events will have to compete with each other for attendees.

“The new format seems to fit the needs of the industry better now,” Sell says. “Some exhibiting companies used to send several representatives and now may send only one or two people, and we’ve found that those exhibitors want to sit in the conference rooms and hear what their customers are hearing. They may even have the opportunity to answer customers’ questions or to present. We polled some of our exhibitors and visited other shows, and we found that a lot of the shows that are working are these smaller, focused events.”

Changing Dates. Along with a new format, Comnet Summit organizers also found that new show dates were important for their transforming industry. “The show had always been in January, and it had sort of a ‘see-it-here-first’ reputation,” Sell says.

But as budgets seem to have shrunk universally over the past few years, it became less important for the show to be held at the beginning of the calendar year and more important to be at the beginning of the fiscal year. “Our attendees work in the federal government, and government budgets begin in October,” Sell says. “These people have money in their budgets then, so we thought, ‘Why not move it closer to that date?’”

The restructured Comnet Summit will be held for the first time in November 2005. Organizers expect that the new dates, which coincide with attendees’ new budgets, will help exhibitors achieve greater show-floor success.

Adding Value. Rather than slashing programs during an industry’s time of struggle, show managers have found that offering attendees more for their money can help keep the show healthy. At National Manufacturing Week, for instance, organizers have created free educational opportunities, including industry updates and panel discussions, to provide more value for attendees. “With the free education, attendees can learn more about the latest issues and then go out and see what they’ve learned about on the show floor,” Marsden-Kish says.

At the Duty Free Show of the Americas, show managers opted to add value with a goal of building a stronger community. “Tough economic times are not the time to cut back on face-to-face opportunities,” Payne says. “We got more people down to the show and interacting with each other by offering a free lunch for the first time, holding a raffle, and hosting nice entertainment.”

Other groups have added value by creating new marketing partnerships. For example, MacWorld has joined forces with musical acts to host its own music festival in conjunction with the conference. This move will especially draw more attendees from the consumer market, which has traditionally been important to the show and has helped isolate it from some of the struggles endured by the technology industry. “The music festival brings more attention and buildup to the show,” says Richard Fordham, Group Vice President at IDG WorldExpo (www.idg.com), producer of MacWorld. “The festival will also bring more people to the show, as we’re making the music from the festival available to show attendees by downloading it onto their iPods. We just keep doing research to see where people’s interest is and try to find ways to plug it into the show.”

Cutting Costs. Reducing prices is always a sure method to keep the interest of attendees and exhibitors, especially when an industry is struggling. MacWorld, for example, offers group discounts to make the conference more appealing to attendees. “We have lots of different user groups with similar needs, so we offer a lower price level for ‘birds-of-a-feather’ education,” Fordham says.

At National Manufacturing Week, organizers have created less expensive, turnkey packages for exhibitors who need smaller booths. “We leveraged our clout with decorators, contractors and other service providers to create these packages,” Marsden-Kish says. “We guaranteed them a certain amount of work if they would offer a certain discount. As a result, we can offer exhibitors a package where they pay a flat, reduced fee, which includes all their electrical, decorating, and other fees.”

Refocus priorities
When an industry is struggling, a well-managed trade show can be a lifeboat for many of its professionals. But to keep a show afloat during tough times, managers must think long-term and stay focused on the essential goals of a trade show — often, these are the development of a tightly knit network and a forum for open communication.

“Networking and building a strong community is even more important when an industry is struggling,” Marsden-Kish says. “In my industry, for instance, say there’s an engineer working independently in a manufacturing facility, facing challenges. Our show needs to give him something he can’t get on the Internet. That’s the face-to-face value, the peer learning that goes on in person.

“We’re offering group discounts and free education because we have to look long-term,” Marsden-Kish says. “Right now, our goal is to keep creating and nurturing the community, to keep our attendee base intact so they’ll still be there when times are better.”