March 2004
Best Practices: Just married
Two associations replace their annual shows with a single, more profitable event
By Cathy Chatfield-Taylor

Distance must make the heart grow fonder if newlywed associations can overcome a 600-mile separation to produce a whopping 110,000-square-foot event, then renew their vows for the following year.

“It’s like a marriage. You have to be sensitive to the organization’s culture and the issues going on with that partner,” says Mark Hogan, President of National Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA), Herndon, VA. “It takes a lot of TLC to make sure the partnership is healthy.”

NCMA and Indianapolis-based National Precast Concrete Association (NPCA) held their first joint show last year, replacing separate shows with one Manufactured Concrete Products Exposition (MCPX), Feb. 21–23, 2003, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City.

Discussions began in the summer of 2000, when the associations weighed the pros and cons of uniting their members under one roof. Both the Masonry Expo and the Manufactured Concrete Expo were growing, but their exhibitor bases overlapped. Some exhibitors participated in both events, some chose one or the other, and a number of companies didn’t go to either.

A single show would provide better value for exhibitors, especially if the associations could leverage their combined size to gain buying power with convention centers, hotels, decorators and other vendors. The risks were twofold: becoming too big, which would alienate some members, and failing to blend the cultures of two very different organizations.

“We have to come to common ground and understanding when we do projects jointly,” says Hogan. “Trade shows just happen to be a big project.”

NCMA and NPCA signed a three-year “evergreen” agreement in late 2000, committing to renew annually unless one party cancels by July 1. Planning for MCPX began in 2001, when both associations were still producing their own events, to be held for the last time in 2002. Capitalizing on their relative strengths, they broke the show into components and appointed a staff leader from one association, a counterpart from the other, and volunteers from both to assist with each component. The teams communicated by conference call, e-mail and face-to-face meetings.

Hogan shared the role of show director with Ty Gable, NPCA President. “Ty and I are in constant discussion on every issue,” Hogan says. “Every check that is written by this trade show is signed by both of us.”

Attendance promotion focused on the value of one big show, where members would see more new products. “The products we make are different. The markets we sell to are different. But the processes to make the products are very close,” Gable says. “So there is a lot of value in education and training in the new equipment and techniques.”

With the addition of two affiliate sponsors — the American Concrete Pipe Association and the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute — MCPX brought together three conventions and one short course. Separate programming, including awards ceremonies, preserved the identities of the individual associations. Crossover was possible, but not prevalent.

MCPX 2003 attracted about 6,000 attendees, nearly twice the number at each 2002 show, and 455 exhibiting companies, many of whom bought more space than expected. Show management realized significant savings on registration costs, and exhibitors saved up to 30 percent on drayage.

In the aftermath of success, NPCA and NCMA allowed their partnership agreement to automatically renew for another three years with only one change. The initial partnership agreement split revenues 50/50. But because the show was more heavily weighted toward manufactured concrete than masonry products, the partners rebalanced their revenue to 60/40 in favor of NPCA.

Changes planned for MCPX 2004, Feb. 6–8 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, were minor. “We worked very hard for two years before we did the first one. Because of that hard work — involving our exhibitors, volunteers and staff — we got a lot right on the first go around,” Gable says.

Cathy Chatfield-Taylor is a freelance writer/ editor. E-mail cathy@cc-tunlimited.com.