July/August 2005
Association show makeovers

Associations rely on built-in constituencies to support their annual conventions and trade shows. But decisions to attend are no longer automatic for members and vendors.  Find out how market intelligence fuels changes — from modest to extreme — for three association shows.

By Maxine Golding



The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) board of directors listened closely to the compelling presentation.

Its long-time consultant, Steve Miller, told them point blank how trade shows can fall of cliffs. The leadership knew that maintaining the status quo — in a marketplace crowded with four shows within weeks of each other — was not acceptable if it was to protect the association’s future value to members. “Ours shouldn’t be the one that goes from successful to defunct,” the board told CEO Steve Mona.

By their very nature, associations rely on built-in constituencies to support their important annual conventions and trade shows. But decisions to attend are no longer automatic for members and vendors. Associations must proactively answer the hard question: “How do we maintain our trade show’s relevancy and vitality?” This is especially crucial when show revenues contribute inordinately to association operations — an average of 12 cents of every association revenue dollar comes from trade shows, according to the 2005 Association CEO Survey, conducted by the Professional Convention Management Association’s (PCMA) Education Foundation.

GCSAA opted for an extreme makeover. After a few years of discussions with the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA), a natural partner, the two merged their shows. In 2007, they’ll pull a third partner, the Club Managers Association of America (CMAA), into the mix.

Is it time for an extreme makeover for your show? Or, is refreshing your show with new features — like product pavilions, new educational programming or co-located events — enough to keep exhibitors and attendees coming back? Find out how market intelligence fuels changes — from modest to extreme — for three associations.  

Extreme Makeover: Two Golf Industry Associations Merge to Grow
Before: The International Golf Course Conference and Show of the GCSAA (www.gcsaa.org) brought in 20,000 attendees, 250,000 net square feet of exhibit space and 750 exhibitors. The NGCOA Solutions Summit and Trade Show of the NGCOA (www.ngcoa.org) drew 700 attendees, 20,000 net square feet of exhibit space and 130 exhibitors.

After: The two shows merged into the inaugural Golf Industry Show (GIS), with 22,723 attendees and 829 exhibitors in 270,760 net square feet.

Market Issues: At the start of each year, four shows vied for industry attention in a six-week period. Expenses aside, some people did nothing but travel to these shows for much of the first quarter, says Mona, of the 21,000-member GCSAA. Four issues faced association leadership:

1. Exhibitors wanted to support all the producing organizations, but no longer four shows. Industry pressure to compress the number of shows built to a critical mass.

2. Despite healthy numbers, GCSAA’s trade show had declined since its high-water mark of February 2001 and seven consecutive years of increasing attendance. The ensuing fall-off couldn’t be attributed simply to the economy or destination, but to systemic change.

3. Years of effort to draw owners, club presidents and general managers (core constituencies of NGCOA) to the show did not result in significant success. Yet those who did attend left with a real appreciation of the superintendent profession, so the idea of mixing the two gained impetus.

4. As GCSAA’s No. 1 asset, the show served as the association’s biggest platform. It needed to grow, not shrink.

Financial Impact: GCSAA’s conference and show contributed at least 25 percent of the $20 million revenue stream flowing annually through the professional society, for-profit communications subsidiary and charitable affiliate. Like GCSAA, NGCOA’s numbers, though stable, were not growing.

Behind the Makeover: Questions about the long-term viability of the four industry shows surfaced as far back as five or six years ago. In considering merger opportunities, the only charge the GCSAA board gave staff was to “stay within golf.” For its part, NGCOA’s board understood the changing business dynamics and that staff was encouraged to execute a deal. Over the years, discussions between GCSAA and NGCOA went through fallow periods — when one association or the other would get busy and a merger would not be at the top of its agenda.

However, the two national organizations clearly realized that members could model the way they do business together at a merged show. For example, as owner and superintendent walk the show floor and look at product together, the owner could begin to understand why a $40,000 lawn mower was needed. “It’s hard to describe on paper why a green needs to be rebuilt, but it takes on a different dimension when you can see it visually,” says Mona.

Once internal processes within each organization ran their course, serious talks began after GCSAA’s 2002 show in Orlando. “The general industry slowdown coming out of 9/11 really drove a heightened sense of urgency to do the deal,” says Michael Hughes, CEO of NGCOA.

Bottom Line: The revenue-sharing arrangement is based on the number and size of exhibitors that each organization brings. “As the larger organization, we get the higher percentage,” says Mona. However, each partner has to deliver a minimum level of attendees and exhibitors. As these numbers grow, both partners share in the upside.

The association partners knew they would incur one-time expenses — for additional meetings, resources and all-new signage — on the front end. Even with this investment, the first merged show in 2005 delivered more to GCSAA’s top and bottom lines than if the organization had “gone it alone,” says Mona, and both groups exceeded projections. In addition, the two partners are offering incentives to ancillary organizations that want to join in; they can revenue-share based on the exhibitors they bring to the merged show.

Make It New: A hub-and-spoke aisle layout gave the show floor a completely different look and a real “wow” factor. Most prominent in the middle was a golf green, built from scratch during the course of the show through a partnership of show sponsors American Society of Golf Course Architects and Golf Course Builders Association of America. Solution Centers (for turf selection, for example) were created to enable attendees to view specific technologies and techniques.

Lukewarm reaction by attendees to the new concepts was bound to arise before the show. Yet, by retaining a sense of community through separate educational conferences and recognition events, “members could see their chums, and it still felt like the old show,” Mona notes.

On the other hand, exhibitor response pre-show was very positive to a new exhibit hall layout, since “we were taking four shows to two [by 2007] and bringing more qualified buyers and decision-makers,” he says, “as well as owners who ultimately write the check.”

Synergies: Despite different cultures, a cooperative spirit has grown between the two organizations. Everyone acknowledged the inevitable incompatibilities and differing paces of decision-making going in, and that helped frame the atmosphere and lower frustration levels. A cross-functional team worked out strategic and tactical issues in face-to-face meetings, conference calls and e-mails, Mona says.

The show’s larger, more complicated scale, however, called for adjustment in staffing and skills. Hughes explains: “We underestimated the number of hours required to pull this off, but until you went through this one time, you didn’t realize what it would take.”

The partners are already talking about collaborating on educational programming where it makes sense for both groups. GCSAA’s conference, an “800-pound gorilla” with 50 hours of free sessions, 100 seminars and 7,000 paid participants, is a huge attendance driver.

On the Horizon: In 2007, the Golf Industry Show will welcome the CMAA as a full-fledged partner, and additional second-tier partners.

What Will Change: Tweaking for 2006 began before the 2005 event closed. For example, the two associations bent over backward to banish their logos from the trade show floor. “Perhaps we went too far in removing our brands,” Mona says. Badging was “a little too subtle,” adds Hughes, making it difficult for exhibitors to sort out owners at first glance.

NGCOA’s conference took place at the hotel next to the convention center, maintaining continuity for returning attendees. But it was not close enough to the exhibit space, nor was enough time allowed for transit, so the conference will move to the convention center next year.

Space requirements will be further tested when CMAA comes on board in 2007; the substantial educational conferences and special events put on by all partners will have to be staggered.

Moderate Makeover: AGA Prunes, Then Blossoms
Before: At one time the American Gas Association’s (AGA, www.aga.org) Operations Conference and Biennial Exhibition was one of the biggest events in its industry, peaking at 250-plus booths, 200 exhibiting companies, more than 1,600 in attendance and a 1:1 ratio of attendees and exhibit personnel. By 2000, however, all statistics had dropped by about 25 percent, with a ratio of two exhibitors to one operator in attendance. Not only was the industry at a low point, but since the association trailed the industry, it anticipated that the numbers could dip lower. 

After: A series of changes ushered in since 2000 is helping return the event to its premier position:

• The event has been condensed to one and a half days because show participants no longer have the luxury to be away from their businesses for as long as two and a half days.

• Exhibit hours have been cut back and those hours fully dedicated to exhibits rather than keeping the exhibit hall open all hours of the conference.

• Extended lunches and cocktail receptions were sited in the exhibit hall to generate more exhibition traffic and garner greater attention from attendees.

• To make sure exhibitors know that someone at AGA is working on their behalf, AGA’s Director of Engineering Services Kimberly Denbow became their contact at sign-on, instead of an exhibit management company.

• AGA ensures that the conference agenda taps into hot regulatory issues for operators, such as pipeline integrity, to draw exhibitors who provide specific solutions. “I use it as a carrot — we’re talking about these topics and you need to be here,” says Denbow.

• By personalizing the show — such as delivering a signed thank you letter to all attendees after the opening reception — attendees feel obligated to return to the show the next day.

Bottom Line: The event’s 2005 numbers, compared with 2000, are up 20 percent. The trade show hosted 240 booths (175 companies) in nearly 50,000 net square feet. Meanwhile, attendance stood at 550 operators to 600-650 exhibiting personnel, approaching the very desirable 1:1 ratio. In odd-numbered years (like this one) when the exhibition takes place, it also draws more attendance to the conference.

Behind the Makeover: Denbow was given a clean slate in 2000 to grow the exhibition, while sharing responsibility for the conference agenda. There’s a good reason for her to have a “stake in both pots,” as the connection is crucial to attract the right management personnel and operators.

Early on, she learned that many exhibitors were first-timers and shouldn’t be there in the first place. “They weren’t the right market for our attendees, and so became unhappy campers,” she says. Indeed, they were not fulfilling the event’s objective: to bring exhibiting companies that mattered to operators and bring operators that mattered to exhibitors. “In the past, no one ever looked at balancing the formula that way,” she notes.

The result: AGA stopped taking “everyone and anyone for the income,” according to Denbow, turning away potential exhibitors who don’t belong. She also made it a high priority to spend time talking not only with exhibitors but operators. The latter even provided her with lists of companies they wanted to see at the show, and many were exhibitors not pursued before.

The conference agenda also was revised to draw the right crowd. More topical and timely presentations were geared specifically toward the directors, managers and vice presidents who make the decisions — not toward the top-tier group that “meets and talks,” Denbow explains.

Vendor Support: Throughout the year, AGA gains critical input for the exhibition from a managing committee made up of two dozen associate members (vendors and service providers). They are on board from the beginning, and all major decisions fall on them for approval, so the exhibition becomes their product, rather than AGA’s.

On the Horizon: Because no single formula always works for every destination, AGA continues to tweak its exhibition. Show hours for the next exhibition in Dallas in 2007 will be adjusted to fit how exhibitors and operators plan to participate at that location. “AGA is the bridge between the two parties,” Denbow says. “The show is the neutral territory where they want to meet.”

Modest Makeover: NRA Adds New Components
Before: Despite its success, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show (www.restaurant.org) found its base consolidating along with the economy prior to and after 9/11. The show peaked in 2000 with 85,000 attendees and 2,067 exhibitors covering 630,000 NSF. The development of more chains and fewer independents was reducing the number of purchasing offices. Yet at the same time, new opportunities abounded; lifestyle changes were increasing the dollars spent on food outside the home, and the tastes and demographics in America were quickly evolving.

After: NRA decided to drill deeper within all facets of the industry and aggressively built new show innovations that met and anticipated the changing needs of both exhibitors and attendees. New technology, design and equipment pavilions, accompanied by related educational programming, are broadening the show’s reach, to more than 40 attendee specialty sectors.

These pavilions also help the audience more easily digest the breadth and scope of such a large show. For example, eight industry experts reviewed more than 100 products from around the world to come up with 19 products that are showcased in live demonstrations in the Kitchen Innovations Pavilion, which debuted in May. Similarly, the new International Cuisine Pavilion sources food and beverage to satisfy the increasingly diverse and adventurous tastes of diners. And The Franchise Pavilion, which appeals to corporate restaurant groups, has grown to three times its original size.

Bottom Line: In 2005, the show drew approximately 73,000 attendees, and 1,950 exhibitors from 100-plus countries covered 563,000 NSF. (Final statistics were still being tallied at press time.)

Behind the Changes: A new feature like Kitchen Innovations would be judged a success, says Mary Pat Heftman, Senior Vice President, Conventions, not according to an ROI formula, but if it were truly able to identify and showcase innovations, and raise excitement from the dealer-distributor community, the press, and ultimately the attendees. The companies whose products were selected already gained “huge” promotional benefit pre-show, she points out, and her team could not wait to gauge reaction on the show floor.

Also new in 2005, “Ask the Design Expert” (in cooperation with Foodservice Consultants Society International) emerged last summer during the development of Kitchen Innovations. Free 30-minute consultations are offered each day on the show floor for operators facing functional challenges in the kitchen or front of the house. NRA hopes these sessions will provide recommendations that will stimulate purchasing. No revenue is assigned to this space, which NRA sees as “ a great giveback” to help restaurateurs enhance their operations.

“Sometimes you see what steam an idea is picking up on the outside, sometimes you have to run with your gut,” Heftman says. “That’s the benefit of being a trade association: our first priority is to create things for the extended value of our audience.”

Secret Weapons: With a show of this size, NRA cannot afford to simply “add heads” when developing new show components. It augments in-house staff with outside project coordinators well versed in specific industry sectors; they gather deep intelligence on new concepts and put a sharp focus on their execution, reporting back to staff throughout. “It’s been a terrifically successful model for us,” Heftman says.

For example, NRA hired two coordinators from different parts of the industry to test Kitchen Innovations at the 2004 show. They walked the concept to key exhibitors, asking, “Can you envision it? Do you have a product to submit? Do you see value in this?”

NRA also shifts responsibilities among staff to match changing needs with the required skill sets. It recently added two strategic leaders in marketing and in sales to put those disciplines on the same par with operations and logistics.

Finally, NRA taps its active exhibitor advisory committee for vital thinking about new show concepts. An outline of the new International Cuisines Pavilion circulated to key committee members to review and test the concept. It passed with flying colors. “They know the show must reflect the dynamic nature of the business they’re in,” Heftman says.

On the Horizon: It should be no surprise that NRA is considering a new area of focus — the beverage category — for the 2006 exposition. Indeed, NRA’s general services contractor tells Heftman that no show puts up as many event areas as this one. Expect the course to continue.