EXPO Magazine’s 2006 Best New Show Award Winners
5 organizers share their award-winning strategies for launching shows

By Danica Tormohlen



What’s the formula for launching a successful show today? If the winners of EXPO Magazine’s 2006 Best New Show Awards are any indication, it’s not only who you know, but also what you know about the industry your show serves. This year’s winners prove that being entrenched in the industry is a key component to a successful launch. For example, most of the winning shows (all produced by for-profit show organizers, I might add) had active advisory committees made up of industry leaders. Most partnered with association or other key industry organizations. And one even launched a podcast to build a community for an emerging industry.

This year’s winners range from Las Vegas Market, best in the Trade Show Stand-alone Launch category for its home and hospitality furnishings event that attracted 60,000 attendees and 1,200 exhibiting companies, to the Podcast and Portable Media EXPO, best in the Trade and Consumer Show category for its event focused on an emerging new technology that drew 60 exhibitors covering 7,500 paid net square feet.

The Best New Show Award, presented by EXPO Magazine, salutes trade and consumer shows in five categories, including: Trade Show (Stand-Alone Launch), Trade Show (Co-Located Launch), Consumer Show, Trade and Consumer Show, and Nontraditional Event. The program is the only industry honor solely recognizing new show launches.

Each show was judged independently and scored by three judges; their scores were then averaged for a final score. Each show was judged individually based on the following criteria: objective/mission; strategies/execution; and results.

Featured on the following pages are the five winners of the 2nd annual EXPO Magazine Best Show Awards. Find out their award-winning strategies for launching shows. For more information, go to www.expoweb.com/Awards. Stay tuned for details about EXPO’s 2007 Best New Show Awards.

Las Vegas Market
Category: Trade Show (Stand-alone Launch)
Web: www.lasvegasmarket.com
Show Organizer: World Market Center
Dates: July 25-29, 2005
Location: World Market Center & Pavilions and Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas
Show stats: 60,000 attendees; 1,200 exhibiting companies; 1.6 million paid net square feet

Five years in the making: What started out as an idea for a retail mall for home furnishings eventually morphed into a wholesale market and a trade show. After visiting home furnishing malls in North Carolina, real estate developers Shawn Samson and Jack Kashani decided to take the concept West, so they began securing large tracts of land in Las Vegas and leasing the property about four and a half years ago. With leases for permanent and temporary space maxed out nearly a year before the market was scheduled to open, organizers eventually leased 800,000 square feet of exhibit space at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Building a global marketplace: To boost international participation, the Las Vegas Market formed strategic partnerships with Messe Frankfurt and Koelnmesse to bring highlights of their European shows – Heimtextil, Ambiente and IMM Cologne – to Las Vegas as a show within a show, called Interior Lifestyle USA. The events attracted 161 international exhibitors, which represented about 12 percent of total exhibiting companies.
Marketing spend: After building a database of 150,000-200,000 domestic and international prospective attendees, the World Market Center sent about 1 million pieces for each show, says Dana Pretner, Director of Marketing and Public Relations. They sent four direct mail pieces beginning about four months out. In addition to e-mail and online advertising, they ran about 100 print ads a year for both markets, all of which were traded. The cost: About $2 million, says Pretner.

The results: The first show attracted 60 percent of the top 200 U.S. retailers, including buyers from all 50 states and 83 countries, and featured 10 of the top 25 U.S. furniture manufacturers. Capitalizing on the success of the first show and lease-up of the building, World Market Center received $225 million in additional financing for construction of Phase Two, which is already fully leased, and future building at the complex. World Market Center launched the second Las Vegas Market in January 2006.

Lessons learned: Forecasting attendance was a moving target, say Pretner. World Market Center doubled its original estimates. Although most show organizers launching new shows would love to have this problem, an additional 30,000 people made crowd control, traffic flow, parking and shuttle transportation a challenge. For the second market, show management added radio frequency identification (RFID) to badges so they could monitor traffic flow. “We could increase the shuttle schedule and make other adjustments during the show, as needed,” says Pretner.

Staff responsible for launch: Gerald Sawyer, COO; Dave Palmer, General Manager; Briana Mackey, Show Director; Dana Pretner, Director of Marketing and Public Relations; Babs Blair, Director of Leasing; Lois Richards, Leasing Manager, Temp Exhibits; and Tim Branscome, Director of International Business Development.

Kansas City Pet Expo
Category: Consumer Show
Show organizer: Pat Riha Productions
Web: www.patrihaproductions.com/PetExpo
Dates: May 13-15, 2005
Location: American Royal Center, Kansas City, MO
Show stats: 8,700 attendees; 109 commercial exhibiting companies; 69 nonprofit organizations; 15,575 paid net square feet

How the show idea hatched: Eight years ago, Pat and Kate Riha were working at their offices in Kansas City, MO, when they looked out the window and saw a lady beating her dog. They called the police, who arrested the woman and took the dog, Magic, to the animal shelter. When Magic didn’t get adopted, they rescued him and gave him a home. Since then, they’ve rescued another dog and launched a consumer pet show. As successful consumer show producers, the couple’s goal was more about community than profit. “The ultimate goal was to raise money for pet care organizations, while increasing the level of pet care awareness and life quality through educational programs and exhibits,” says Pat Riha, President/Show Manager.

Selling a first-time show: “Our first exhibit sale was not a sale, it was a giveaway,” says Riha. “We worked to bring in the largest local animal shelters first to anchor the show. Without their support, we weren’t going to be able to attract commercial vendors.” Pat Riha Productions invited and selected officers from the four leading nonprofit pet care organizations in the area and asked them to serve on an advisory board, for which the show would guarantee a minimum donation to each organization based on ticket sales.

Nonprofit partnerships: “There was lots of skepticism early on,” says Kate Riha, VP/Administration Officer. “We tried to look at every way possible to establish legitimacy.” To that end, they made sure that every exhibitor and nonprofit that applied was fully licensed. “If we had even one puppy mill exhibitor, it would ruin our show. Once we shared our vision with these nonprofits, they were very supportive,” says Pat Riha. In all, 69 nonprofits participated.

Marketing 101: The show used all major advertising media, including radio, TV, billboards and print, along with grassroots marketing through poster distribution, Web sites and nonprofit member newsletters. Show organizers spent $50,000 on marketing the new show. Because the company produces six other well-established consumer shows in the area, they were able to capitalize on their reputation and on existing partnerships with key media organizations, parlaying their marketing spend into a $70,000-$80,000 value.

The results: The first year-goal was to recoup 80 percent of expenses. While they only recouped 60 percent of expenses, the Rihas consider the show a success with more than 8,000 tickets sold and 100 animals adopted. “What we do isn’t brain surgery,” says Pat Riha. “We’re offering convenience. Consumers make an investment of $60-$70 to bring their families to a show. We have to guarantee them that the value, education and entertainment is worth their investment.”

Staff responsible for launch: Patrick Riha, President/Show Manager; Kate Riha, VP/Administration Officer; Mylane Bryant, Event Coordinator; Gretchen Evans, Sales Manager; Melody Petet, Public Relations; and Jess Bodelson, Accountant.

Industrial Fire & Security (IFS)
Category: Trade Show (Co-located launch)
Web: www.ifsevent.com 
Show organizer: Trade Fair Group
Dates: Nov. 9-10, 2005
Location: Moody Gardens Convention Center, Galveston, TX
Show Stats: 357 attendees; 66 exhibiting companies; 8,500 paid net square feet

Fuel for the launch: Since the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks, industrial firefighters and responders have more responsibilities related to safety, security and emergency response. As producers of the Clean Gulf Conference and Exhibition, which focuses on the oil, gas and chemical industries spill prevention and loss, the Trade Fair Group learned through its program committee of a need for this rapidly expanding industry segment. IFS was officially announced in April 2005.

Co-location vs. stand-alone launch: “The Houston/Galveston area has the largest U.S. concentration of petrochemical plants and refineries, producing more than 75 percent of the petrochemicals in the country,” says Sean Guerre, President and CEO. Since the Clean Gulf Conference and Exhibition was scheduled in Galveston in 2005, the co-location made sense because the average attendee of both shows fit the purchasing profile for most exhibitors. In addition, a discounted group plan offered for both shows allowed these energy and industry companies to send personnel from several departments or plants to one show at a minimal cost.

Getting industry buy-in: For the show launch, the Trade Fair Group put together a conference committee of 15 industry leaders, including companies like ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil. They gathered for an all-day meeting several months prior to the conference and various times throughout the year via teleconference. The committee created a program with 18 conference sessions and two keynotes. “We really rely on our program committee. We think it’s one of the things that associations do well,” says Guerre. “Ideally, we’d like to build the committee to about 50 people.”

Partnerships work: “One of our initial partnerships was with the largest fire training schools in the world, the Texas Engineering Extension Service,” says Laura Liptak, Conference Manager. “As the sponsoring organization of the entire event, they provided committee members, speakers and exhibitor contacts – as well as credibility within the industry.”  In addition, IFS partnered with three industry associations from the fire, security and emergency industries, which allowed IFS to market to their members.

The results: “The co-location was the only reason that we made money in the first year,” says Guerre. “We wouldn’t have been about to if we weren’t sharing facility costs.” In February 2007, the show will be a stand-alone event. “We expect the 2007 event to double in size,” he says. Beyond separate registration, IFS didn’t track how many attendees went to different conference tracks. Guerre predicts about half of the attendees went to both programs, so it’s a big reason he’s predicting such growth.

Staff responsible for launch: Sean Guerre, President and CEO; Laura Liptak, Conference Manager; Christy Williams, Sales Director; Julien DuPont, Sales Manager; Jamie Ressby, Marketing Coordinator; Remi Arimoto, Graphic Designer; Barbara Blair, Office Manager; and Melissa Helms, Office Administrator.

Podcast and Portable Media Expo
Category: Trade and Consumer Show
Web: www.portablemediaexpo.com
Show organizer: TNC New Media
Dates: Nov. 11-12, 2005
Location: Ontario Convention Center, Ontario, CA
Show Stats: 2,037 attendees; 60 exhibiting companies; 7,500 paid net square feet

Show inspiration: Tim Bourquin, a Los Angeles Police Officer turned entrepreneur, launched a daytrading show in 1999, which he later sold to InterShow. After waiting out his noncompete, he launched TNC New Media in January 2004 with a Web site about mountain biking, which used streaming media to put out audio interviews with top athletes. In the fall of 2004, Bourquin read an article about podcasting and starting using it for his site. Upon further investigation, he had a hunch this new technology was about to explode, so he announced the show launch in November 2004.

Educating and selling: Since podcasting didn’t exist before September 2004, most prospective exhibitors and sponsors had never even heard of it when TNC began selling the show in late 2004. “Even those companies that were selling items like microphones and software to podcasters were doing so unaware that this entirely new market was opening up for them,” says Bourquin. “Sales calls quickly turned to ‘education calls’ because in order to know that exhibiting was important, they first had to understand the new trend that was developing.” Podcasting finally hit mainstream when USA Today ran an article on podcasting in spring 2005. and iTunes added podcasts in the summer 2005.

Keep it simple: TNC sold turnkey exhibitor packages (priced at $3,200) that included a 10-by-10 and a standard pod, so that exhibitors could just show up with literature and a computer. “It took out the objection of drayage,” says Bourquin. About half of the exhibitors opted for the package.
Building a community, building an attendee database: “There were no lists of podcasters we could rent, and no media partners we could barter with,” says Bourquin. “Initially, we painstakingly built our attendee list by hand, going through new podcast directories and contacting podcasters individually to ask them if we could send them information about the show.” As word spread through the community, podcasters began talking about the show on their podcasts, and the show’s e-mail newsletter grew from 0 subscribers to more than 5,000 in four months. And in December 2004, Bourquin launched “The Podcast Brothers,” an almost weekly podcast that not only promotes the show but also provides tips and advice about how to make money with your podcast.

The results: “As anticipated and planned for, the show took a small financial loss, due to the fact that the marketing entailed reaching out to an audience in a brand new industry where no lists existed,” says Bourquin. However, he expects the 2006 show to be profitable, with attendance growing by 100 percent and exhibitor participation by 50 percent.

Lessons learned: “I probably should have hired a sales person sooner,” says Bourquin, who was the only person selling the show. “Sometimes I wasn’t always on the phone because I was working on operations. Plus, the sales process was longer because exhibitors didn’t understand the industry. Instead of 2-3 calls, it was 6-7 calls to close a sale.”

Staff responsible for launch: Tim Bourquin, Founder; Luann Alesio, Show Manager; Laura Laflin, Registration Manager; Paul Rahmes, Creative Director; and Bonnie Adama, Conference Coordinator.

Business Facilities LiveXchange
Category: Nontraditional event
Show: Business Facilities LiveXchange
Show Organizer: Group C Communications
Web: www.bflivexchange.com
Dates: Nov. 6-8, 2005
Location: Chateau Elan, Braselton, GA
Show Stats: 30 attendees; 16 exhibiting companies

Brand extension: Group C Communications is a family-owned business that publishes Business Facilities magazine, a monthly site selection publication mailed to more than 40,000 corporate executives responsible for the expansion or relocation of their companies. Group C launched LiveXchange to target a high-level segment of this audience.

Why nontraditional? Taking a page from the Gartner Events and Richmond Events playbook, Ted Coene, President, homed in on the sponsorship-only business model, where attendees are paid delegates. Group C conducted market research to determine whether this concept would be accepted by the industry. After getting buy-in from potential sponsors and attendees, the company announced the launch in February 2005, leaving them seven months to plan.

Attendee qualification: To qualify for an invitation to attend, every delegate had to meet strict criteria, which were established by Business Facilities editorial advisory board and a LiveXchange advisory board. For example, prospective delegates had to have plans to make a final decision on where to expand/relocate between November 2005 and November 2008. The event attracted 20 executives with the potential to create 3,790-6,675 jobs and capital investment of $405 million to $533 million in North America, based on demographic information provided by delegates.

Sponsorship-only business model: Deluxe accommodations and meals at the Château Élan (an upscale resort about one hour outside Atlanta), a golf outing, airfare and ground transportation in Atlanta were provided at no cost to attendees. Economic developers and utility companies were provided the opportunity to hold one-on-one meetings with delegates. Sponsorships were priced at $11,500, with early-bird discounts of 10 percent to 15 percent. For each sponsor, Group C developed itineraries that included 20 meetings with real estate executives over the course of two days. The meetings were based on expressed mutual interest on pre-show surveys of attendees.

Selling a first-time nontraditional event: “You must sell face-to-face for any new event,” says Coene. “The biggest selling points for us were the strict criteria for admission and the one-on-one access to these buyers.”

The results: The goal was a 1:1 to 1:1.5 ratio of sponsors to attendees, says Coene. There’s currently one project, a $100 million deal for one of the sponsors, worth about half a billion in economic impact. “With nearly $250,000 in revenue, we managed to be in the black in our first year,” he says.

Lessons learned: “We now require Business Facilities subscribers to provide e-mail addresses so that we can market via e-mail,” says Coene. “In 2005, we only had 8,000-9,000 e-mail addresses. Now we have about 20,000.”

Staff responsible for launch: Ted Coene, President; Karim Khan, Editor in Chief; Jim Semple, Sales Manager; and Donna Venito, Event Director.

More on EXPOWEB.COM
Find these related EXPO archived articles on launching new shows, including:
• Step-by-Step: Budgeting for a new show, April 2005
• Launching New Shows: A step-by-step guide, April 1997
• Researching New Shows, September/October 1993
• Promoting New Shows, July/August 1992
• Launching New Shows, March/April 1991