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January 2008
5-minute interview: Britton Jones, President and CEO, Business Journals Inc.
Britton Jones is President and CEO of Business Journals Inc., a family-owned and managed b-to-b diversified media company. Business Journals Inc. produces 17 events per year, including the AccessoriesTheShow series of events, held several times a year in New York and Las Vegas. These shows are among the fastest growing events in the country. Other shows include the Moda Manhattan, a series of highend women’s apparel shows, FAME and an upscale menswear show, MRket. The company also produces four trade magazines, 52 custom publishing titles, seven Web sites and a database of fashion retailers. Britton also serves on the Executive Committee and the Board of the Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO) and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the American Business Media (ABM) as well as Chairman of ABM’s Trade Show Council.
EXPO: AccessoriesTheShow is one of the fastest-growing shows in the country, yet it isn’t a new show or a new market. What do you believe are the key factors of its success?
Jones: When we acquired AccessoriesTheShow 10 years ago, there were a lot of people that weren’t happy with the shows that existed in the marketplace and had stopped relying on shows to meet their goals. Instead, they had their own showrooms or sent out sales representatives. At the time we acquired the show, it was pretty much out of business. We began to build it back over time. I remember going to one of my first SISO meetings right after we acquired the show and the topic was whether shows have a life cycle. I thought to myself, “Oh no, does this mean that just when we hit the sweet spot, it will all be over?” What I’ve learned since then is that if you produce the same show time after time, then yes, a show will have a life cycle. Eventually exhibitors and attendees will get bored. We work hard with AccessoriesTheShow to never produce the same show twice. We hold the New York show three times a year, and the Las Vegas show twice a year, but we spend a lot of money so that the show never looks the same. We also make sure that at least 10 percent of the exhibitors at each show are new. We have a juried show, so we are able to control the mix of exhibitors. Finally, as the shows have grown in square footage, we’ve increased the investment we’re making in attendance promotion. Thus our shows have a healthy traffic density.
EXPO: Do you think the level of growth the shows are experiencing is sustainable? And is that even a long-term success marker for you?
Jones: Right now the growth of the shows is limited by the size of our facilities. Our New York shows are at Javits and we’re out of space. We’re also going to need more space at the Venetian in Las Vegas. That being said, growth has never been a mantra at Business Journals. Our primary goal is to help our exhibitors do their business better. That is our focus, and when you have that focus, success follows.
EXPO: Growth often comes with its own set of challenges. What challenges, if any, has the growth of your shows created?
Jones: Yes, it does create challenges. Our challenge has been to manage the waiting lists for our events. To do that, you’ve got to manage exhibitor expectations. As I said before, our shows are juried. We have to weigh what’s hot, what we want on the show floor, the right mix of types of accessories such as hats, or handbags or belts against how long a potential exhibitor has been on the waiting list. The other challenge is making sure you maintain customer service as you grow.
EXPO: What’s your long-term vision for the shows your company organizes and for the trade show division in general?
Jones: We want to continue to develop our shows so that they best serve the marketplace. I do think they will grow. I think eventually the expansion at Javits will happen. But, ultimately, we’re always on the lookout for opportunities. Last summer we acquired a men’s apparel show that we’ll be re-launching in February called MRket. We saw it as a great opportunity. And, we’re not just interested in the fashion market. We don’t want to produce shows just because we can, but we’re always interested in markets where there’s an unmet need, an opportunity.
EXPO: Do you see any issues on the horizon that you believe will greatly impact the exhibition industry, that are perhaps not getting enough attention from the industry as a whole?
Jones: The industry is doing a really good job with some ongoing issues that are of great importance, like, for example, the visa issue. But one thing I think we, as an industry, really need to keep our eye on is the value equation events offer to our exhibitors. The costs for exhibitors to participate in shows is on the rise. It’s something we’re especially sensitive to producing shows in New York and Las Vegas. There are more and more exclusives in certain facilities. These cost issues are something we, as an industry, really do need to work with the vendors on to create success for everyone. |
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A Red 7 Media publication - 7015 College Blvd., Suite 600, Overland Park, KS 66211, USA
Tel 913.344.1376 — Fax 913.469.0806
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